Early festival
Minster residents have put out the Oktoberfest welcome mat for more than three decades. The three day festival, which takes place September 29th to October 1st, draws thousands of visitors to a celebration of the community's rich German heritage. Ancestors did the same thing back in the days when the Wooden Shoe Brewing Company was part of the business community. The celebration, complete with beer, sausage and sauerkraut, was simply called German Day.
Brewmaster Joseph Brinkman was crowned king August 15th, 1935, and Minster became his kingdom for the day. Townspeople proclaimed Brinkman, who had the brew recipe committed to memory, King Gambrinus (the patron saint of beer), according to historical accounts. Brinkam sat on a throne atop an elaborate float brewery workers made for the occasion. It reportedly featured a wooden shoe, windmill and tulips. Men, tabbed as escorts, donned Dutch costumes for the occasion. The celebration gradually faded from the scene, only to be resurrected in 1975 and renamed the Oktoberfest.
Margie Wuebker