Old Forge's Snowy Celebration

Old Forge's Oktoberfest draws people in for end-of-the-season fun

Story and photos by Ashlie Doran

With a steady beat, the drummer kept the Bavarian dancers in time. One, two, three, one, two, three and around they went. Step by step each dancer moved across the floor.

The Enzian Bavarian band, utilizing a mix of instruments from guitars to tubas, filled Maloy's Restaurant in downtown Old Forge with sounds of Germany.

The dancers smiled broadly in their traditional dance outfits, waltzing about the room as the crowd peeped from every corner to get a look. With an outstretched hand, the dancers invited audience members to dance. Many would graciously accept and be led patiently into the rhythm of the dance.

"It is the best treat we've had in years"

The Central Adirondack Association (CAA) business group decided in April to use Oktoberfest as a reason to party, Chip Kiefer, the former Town of Webb publicity director and a CAA member, said. Why not have Oktoberfest in Old Forge as an excuse for people to come here in the off-season? Kiefer asked.

"People need to come to Old Forge. I love living up here. [There are a] bunch of tourists, but local people have fun, too," Max Cohen, a Old Forge resident, said.

Harvest festivals have been celebrated in Old Forge for about six years. This year the CAA decided to hold the festivities on the weekend of October 20. The CAA wanted to make the celebration special by bringing it closer to the heart of the town. However, the weather changed the plans for the celebration.

It snowed. The festival was planned to be celebrated in the street near the busy corner of town. However, cold temperatures and snow moved the party inside. Maloy's Restaurant welcomed visitors into Old Forge with a good, German meal and Bavarian dancing instead.

Visitors came from all over. More than a hundred people took the Adirondack Scenic Railroad train from Utica to Old Forge. Then, they were shuttled from the train station to the center of town.

For visitors unfamiliar with lush green trees sprinkled with clean, white snow blanketing everything, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

"It is the best treat we've had in years," said Sandra Passdon from Charlotte, North Carolina. "I haven't seen snow in years and when you are from the South, snow is a treat."

The family event was a treat in more ways than one. Passdon, like others, traveled north to Old Forge for a family reunion. The Trencansky family members enjoyed a fine meal at Maloy's Restaurant.

Others, like the Fazeli family, traveled north from Syracuse just to see the Adirondacks, but saw the crowd and decided to stop and enjoy a family meal of a different cultural cuisine.

Music filled the restaurant while the line for specially made German food grew. Potato pancakes, rotisserie chicken, black forest cake and pastries were a few of the items featured for the celebration. Gisela Bronga, formerly of Southern Germany, took pride in having black forest cake available for everyone to try. "She's added a lot to the event," Kiefer said of Bronga.

The crowd seemed to enjoy the small shops, and the friendly atmosphere of Old Forge. Some have even made the event a tradition.

"It's great," George Braun from Waterloo, New York, said. "It's getting better every year. I like it all. I honestly do."

Ruth McKenna, a local resident, thought highly of the event, as well. "Everything up here is getting bigger. [The Harvest Festival and Oktoberfest] are a good draw for people and [it] prolongs our season," she said.

The only thing missing from the celebration was dark German beer, although, regular beer varieties were available. This disappointed Bronga because she believes "dark beer is like holy water."

This seems especially true when thoughts drift toward what Oktoberfest in Germany is known for—beer, beer, and beer.

"Germans know how to keep a party going. They start with summer fest and slide into October," Grace Schell, one of the Bavarian dancers, said. "It may have started in Southern Germany, but Americans celebrate it more."

"It's a party. Beer! Beer!" Karl Wuerslin, another Bavarian dancer, shouted.

Schell continued, "You see so many happy people. You can have Oktoberfest anywhere."

As the song ended, one gentleman finished dancing and inquired of his wife, "Now can I get a beer?"

Go ahead, grab a beer. Dine with your family. Do everything you like while experiencing the charming Adirondack town of Old Forge, New York, during its annual Oktoberfest.

Do you have any memories from Adirondack Oktoberfests?

Bavarian Dancers

Traditional outfits

Dancer's tracht – German name for type of clothing worn while dancing.

Dirndlkleid - German name for whole female dancer's outfit.

It means the woman's dress, white blouse and white apron.

Lederhosen – German name for the male dancer's outfit.

Each dancer wears a green hat with an ostrich feather on top. However, male and female hats are different.

Dances

The harvest dance is called the sesentanz. The men stand in a circle with the women creating a circle around them spinning around making their skirt float out. The men do a little jig that resembles the German men sharpening their scythe. Then, the dance moves show the men cutting the hay and then put it on the wagon. It's a display of everyday life for German men.

"A lot of traditional German dances illustrate a story. Some of the dances are from different regions in Germany. There are a lot of differences with each dance, according to which part they are from. However, the basic structure is the same. The most distinctive dance is the schuhplatten. [However], there are a lot of waltzes and polkas," Grace Schell said.

Schell has a lot of experience dancing and teaching dancing to elementary and middle schools. She knows many dancing styles, but German folk dancing is her favorite. She spent a lot of time in Salzberg, Austria, to learn more about German culture, the language and especially the dancing.

Although, not everyone involved in the dancing was German, everyone was proud to promote the culture.

"It's nice to keep traditional dances alive," Karl Wuerslin, who was born in Germany, said.