By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The 45th annual Oktoberfest will kick off at 8:30 a.m. Friday at Municipal Park, Fourth and Main streets, with friends, food and beer.

The Volga German Association Centennial Association of Ellis and Rush Counties has organized 44 vendors, even more than last year.

Most of the vendors will be serving food for the annual event that honors the community’s Volga-German heritage. There is no admission cost.

Between 8,000 and 15,000 people are anticipated at the event.

Some of this year’s foods will include many of the community’s German favorites along with such oddities as chocolate-dipped bacon and bacon-wrapped potato tots.

Other cultural groups will participate including the FHSU Chinese Student Group; African student group, which will serve a twist on bierocks; Hispanic students, who will be serving walking tacos; and the Black Student Union, which will be serving fried chicken and cornbread.

NCK Tech will have its drive-through for food again this year. Customers can call 785-625-2437 or 785-301-2309 to place orders. Also connect with Oktoberfest Hays on Facebook.

The beer bands will cost $2 again this year and will be available between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., when beer sales close.

Both American beers and Defiance Brewing Co. craft beers will be available.

This year, the woman of the community have requested a non-beer option, which will be Mike’s Hard Blood Orange.

There will be history re-enactors offered by the Hays Community Theatre. This will include such characters as Catherine the Great and a Volga-German farmer. The Hays Community Theatre will also present Wild West shootouts.

German educational opportunities will occur throughout the day coupled with German music and polka dancing.

The event will have a sauerkraut-making demonstration as well as actresses demonstrating early female settlers’ work.

Nick Werth, whose family helped create the festival, said the event serves as a means for many nonprofits to raise money and a place for people to visit and come together.

“A lot of people only come back for Oktoberfest and homecoming,” Werth said.

There is no designated parking for the event, expect for the parking lot next to the shelterhouse, which is for handicap only.

The Volga German Association provides a scholarship for students of Volga-German decent. The group is working to develop a similar scholarship for NCK Tech.

Any additional money raised through Oktoberfest is dedicated to help Volga German communities and churches in case of disaster.

Oktoberfest 2017 Schedule

• 8:30 – Oktoberfest grounds open to public
• 8:30-noon – Face painting
• 9 a.m. – Vendor booths open
• 9-9:30 a.m. Hays Community Theatre performance
• 10-1 p.m. Joe Dolezal and Galen Schmidtberger
• 10 a.m. – Beer banding booths open
• 11 a.m. – Opening Ceremonies
  • MC Mike Cooper
  • National Anthem by Jackie Maxwell
  • Invocation by Father Josh Werth
  • Welcome by Nick Werth
  • Volga German Welcome Tom Haas
  • FHSU Welcome Interim President Dr. Andy Tompkins
  • FHSU Alma Mater Dr. Terry Crull
  • FHSU German students
  • NCK Tech President on stage and possibly welcome speech
  • Ellis County Historical Society Welcome Lee Dobratz
  • Sunflower Chapter of AHSGR Welcome Kevin Rupp/Janel Moore
  • Catherine the Great Welcome – Cheryl Glassman
  • Award presented by Nick Werth
    • Northwest Printers
    • Midwest Energy
  • City of Hays Welcome by Mayor Shaun Musil and tapping of the keg
  • Beer Song by Joe Dolezal Band
  • Ringing of the Bell by Nick Werth
  • Oktoberfest is officially open
• 1-1:30 p.m. – HCT reenactors
• 1:30-4 p.m. – Ron Werth Band
• 4 pm – Hays Community Theatre performance
• 4:30-6:30 p.m. – Ron Werth
• 6 p.m. – Beer Banding booths close
• 6 p.m. – Beer sales end
• 7 p.m. – Oktoberfest officially closed until Sept. 28, 2018

NCK Tech is the signature sponsor for this year’s event. The beer tavern is sponsored by EnerSys. Other sponsors include the Hays Convention & Visitors Bureau, Golden Belt Bank, Uber, Cedar Lodge Dental, JD’s Country Style Chicken and Jeff Pinkney, CPA. In-kind sponsors include John’s Fencing Services, Nate’s Liquor, BOS Motorsports, Carrico Implement, Copper’s Carts, Northwest Printers, Hays Professional Fire Equipment, Budweiser, Coors, RD Graphics, Defiance Brewing Co., Nex-Tech, Emily Knowles Designs, Orscheln, Hadley Center, Western Extralite and Ralph’s Electric. Cash and in-kind donors are B & B Taxi and Taco Shop.