Deutchesfest it is- Chamber opts for one word- 44th Fest is a success

By majority vote of the members present at Tuesday's meeting of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, the group opted to continue to use the term Deutschesfest as a single word, deciding that another change in spelling would be counter productive to the name recognition achieved over the past 20 years of using the single-term noun.

The 44th Fest has come and gone, by most accounts another successful event for Odessa and its businesses, churches and other non-profit organizations.

The initial estimate of gross revenues from the Biergarten was approximately $70,000 compared to about $67,000 last year when rainy skies, especially on Sunday, prompted many visitors to head home early. That gross revenue figure will drop, of course, when all of the Fest expenses start flowing out of the treasury, including about $18,000 to the beverage distributors and several thousand dollars in payment for entertainment on the Biergarten stage.

This year the weather cooperated with sunny skies and warm temperatures the whole weekend. The Thursday and Friday crowds seemed a bit sparse to some, but there were more RVs parked at the ball field than there had been for several years. Saturday's crowd was fabulous, however, with plenty arriving in time for the parade and staying for lots of eating and shopping. Even Sunday morning was quite busy, with all of the shaded picnic tables on the Festplatz filled for the community church service performed by three of the local churches.

Biergarten chairman DeJay Buck reported that the kitchen ran out of pickles and soft pretzels before Fest was over. One of the imported German beers also sold out, although only a limited number of that brand had been ordered.

According to Marlon Schafer, Das Kraut Haus did well, selling out of mustard (30 gallons), "even though we made more than we ever have. Almost sold out of Kartoffel 'n' Kloess even though we'd made some extra. And we only have about 100 pounds of sausage left versus two or three times that much last year."

We also heard unconfirmed reports that the kraut ranzas, cabbage rolls and apple strudel sold out before Sunday was over with.

The most-heard negative comments about Fest among those who were present at Tuesday's meeting were that there was not enough for kids to do, i.e., no youth garden, no carnival. Although NW Inflatables was set up at the former Chevron station, it was a last-minute addition to the weekend and therefore publicity for it was lacking. Some also complained that the cost for participating was too high.

Although the outdoor entertainment committee did its best to bring in more events for kids, its best efforts were thwarted time and again by unreturned phone calls and emails, problems regarding insurance coverage and the like. With the kitchen project eating up most of Chamber's money this year, so to speak, the members were unwilling to pay the prices demanded by some vendors to bring their kid-friendly events to Fest.

Fun Run results

The annual Fun Run put on by Odessa Cub Scout Pack #784 was another well attended event.

In the 5K men's event, first placek went to Kyle Lampi who finished in 18 minutes flat, second place to Brendan Dowling who finished in 20:18 and third place to Travis Schuh of Odessa who finished in 20:28.

In the 5K race for women, first place went to Danielle Lampi in 19:47, second place to Kaci King of Odessa in 23:02 and third place to Katie DeWulf of Odessa in 24:38.

The 10K men's race, first place went to Jeremy Heimbigner in 39:22, second place to William Russell in 46:50 and third place to Kit Hanson in 48:39.

The 10K women's race had first place going to Anna Heninger of Odessa in 57:16, second place to Koree Smith in 65:27 and no one placing third.

The runners and sponsors of the race help pay for Odessa scouts to attend Cub Scout camp.