The retrospect of some of the past Oktoberfest’s were
obtained by information provided by past trailbosses, old Spot-Lites and
conversations with attendees.
Special thanks go to Sheila Donigan for her efforts in performing
the research and assembling the historical data.
The Board of Directors of the California Chapter hopes that you
enjoy some of the history of this very successful rally.
None of the fun enjoyed over the years could be accomplished without
the generous assistance of the hundreds of volunteers.
Many thanks to everyone who volunteered in the past and will
continue to do so in the future.
1976
The first Oktoberfest rally was held on the end of an island at a
mobile home park in Lake Havasu, Arizona.
This rally was the brainchild of Elwood & Janet Bowles F3542
and Otto & Vivian Rosentretter F1694.
Otto and Vivian’s German heritage made this rally a true success.
One hundred seventeen (117) coaches from all parts of California,
drove the long distance not knowing what to expect.
The excited attendees wore lederhosen, alpine hats and dirndl
skirts. Some were authentic
--- others, well!!!! Saturday’s
dinner was hot dogs with sauerkraut and draft beer.
The rally was so thoroughly enjoyed by all, that it was decided to
make this an annual event.
1977
The second Oktoberfest was again trailbossed by Elwood & Janet
Bowles at the Lake Havasu Trailer Park in Lake Havasu, Arizona.
Some interesting information about this rally:
Pre-registration for 2 people per coach was $10.00, each additional
person was $3.00, and parking fee per night was $2.00.
Attendance at this rally was 175 coaches, 370 adults and 33
children. Again the area
around the swimming pool was turned into a German beer garden. Eight kegs of beer were served along with polish sausage,
wienershnitzel and sauerkraut. Duke
Larkin played polka music at the electric organ. A few overly enthusiastic dancers ended up in the swimming
pool. Sunday morning a
pancake breakfast was served before everyone headed home.
1978
This was the last year the Oktoberfest was held at Lake Havasu and
was trailbossed by Otto & Vivian Rosentretter.
That year the weather was unseasonably warm.
The temperature reached a high of 118 degrees!
Several members had to leave their coaches and rent motel rooms to
stay cool. A few members
visited the local hospital for heat exhaustion.
The hearty group who stayed at the rally site sat in a line at the
waters edge and visited before the party began.
The attendance was 140 coaches with 296 adults and 17 children.
The local mobile home owners did not take our party too kindly.
They stayed in the swimming pool and splashed water on the dancers.
Again this year some members were in the pool, some by design after
removing some of their party clothes and others accidentally.
One member suffered a broken ankle.
The rally was topped off by one of our members returning after
leaving the rally and asking the trailbosses to cash a check for him.
He had left his wife at a local restaurant as a security deposit
because they wouldn’t cash an out of town check for him.
1979
The fourth annual Oktoberfest rally was trailbossed by Stan &
Millie Gerstenfield at a new location.
President Sheila Donigan selected the Orange County Fairgrounds in
Costa Mesa, California. The
change was determined by the hot weather at Lake Havasu, rising fuel
prices and the unwelcome behavior of the mobile home residents towards our
members. When the change in
location was announced it was not warmly received.
However, by the time this rally was over, everyone was thankful
that this beautiful site was chosen.
This Oktoberfest rally was the first rally our trailbosses ran.
They sold ceramic beer mugs to attendees.
Afterwards, every participant was given one as a souvenir.
The party was held around a covered patio with barbecues that the
members christened “The Rathskellar.”
Entertainment was provided by our own musicians; Bob Gobrecht, Gene
Diver and Al Krasic and the All American Boy Chorus provided a concert.
Our first men’s beard contest was held.
One hundred fifty (150) coaches were in attendance.
For first time trailbosses Stan & Millie Gerstenfeld hosted a
great party.
1980
Jack & Toni Semmelrath trailbossed this fun rally.
This year Biermeister George Thornhill served Loenbrau beer until
the kegs ran dry. Dewey
Hodgkinson entertained at the organ along with our talented members, led
by Bob Gobrecht. Food served
this year was a giant deli sandwich and assorted cold salads.
Added entertainment was provided by the California Repertory
Amateur Players (that’s CRAP to you).
Needless to say a great time was had by all.
This rally had 208 coahes and about 615 people in attendance.
This was the largest rally to date.
1981
Mac & Jerri McGinnis hosted the Oktoberfest again at the Orange
County Fairgrounds. Members
were asked to bring their “family crest” to display. Jerry made triangular flags with the name of every coach
owner who attended and they were proudly displayed at the “Rathskeller”.
Member Vince Still won the “family crest” contest.
His crest was a metal display that looked like an old time liquor
making still.
Attendance at this rally was 237 coaches and almost 600 members and
guests enjoyed the party. Some
interesting statistics on what was consumed at the party on Saturday: 12
kegs of beer, 4 cases of pretzels, 22 pounds of cheese, 20 cases of soft drinks, 1600 pieces of
chicken, 32 gallons of beans, 32 gallons of potato salad, 69 dozen rolls,
8 pounds of spread for the rolls and 200 pounds of perspiration by the
volunteers. Everyone was
served in less than 25 minutes.
Twenty-two pounds of cheese and thirty pounds of sausage enhanced
Friday’s chip and dip spread. Everyone
went home many pounds heavier. Entertainment
was provided by the Chapter’s version of the Village People.
The hilarious Joan Bentz led our Village fraulein’s.
The rest of the group was Peg Bower, Margaret Land, Toni Crawford,
Jean Cohen, and Jan Prosser. Their
performance brought hoots and howls from those watching.
Bow Howell and his hurdy-gurdy along with his trained ape (wife
Phyllis) brought lots of laughter from the children.
1982
This was the first rally to be hosted by Gene & Shirley Le Meur.
Attendance rose to 287 coaches and this was the first Oktoberfest
to have handicapped parking assigned.
The Le Meur’s announced we were having a beard contest.
The first prize would be a lady they did not know personally or
could ask if she was willing to participate.
The lady was Sheila Donigan. She
was dressed as a bag lady with large shears, with one tooth blackened and
in a wheel chair pushed by George Platter in full clown attire.
When the beard contestants were gathered and looked at Sheila,
contestant Carl Outzen threatened to shave on the spot!
The “Rathskeller” was decorated with trees and flowers loaned by
the FFA class from Costa Mesa High School and Christmas Lights were hung
in the trees around the “Rathskeller”.
The TATS were treated to a pizza party around the swimming pool at
the Le Meur’s home.
Glen Smith’s band played every kind of music for entertaining and
members contributed cash to keep the music going into the wee hours of the
morning.
George Thornhill literally fell off the beer wagon.
Our personal biermeister sampled TOO much of the beer he was
serving.
Sunday morning at the General Meeting, Sheila Donigan cleaned up her
act and presented a bottle of German wine to the winner (Carl Outzen)
while wearing a French maid’s uniform and 3” heels.
Carl said he was glad he didn’t shave.
1983
This Oktoberfest was the first rally that had two couples as hosts.
Marty & Inez Kruty and Roger & Evie Klatt hosted 331
coaches for another fun filled successful rally.
FMCA National President John Liebaugh and his wife Johnnie told
their hosts that this was the best chapter rally they had attended.
Friday night’s pizza party was a big hit.
One hundred forty three family sized pizzas were devoured in one
hour and forty-five minutes.
Members and guests were treated to informative seminars and
hilarious skits by Chapter members and a professional group of costumed
German Dancers.
1984
Trailbosses were Mel & Dodi Murrow.
No details of this Oktoberfest could be located.
1985
Trailbosses were Paul & Sheila Donigan.
Four hundred and twenty seven (427) coaches attended this
Oktoberfest rally. For the
first time the Chapter rented a building for the activities along with the
“Rathskeller”. To
commemorate this Oktoberfest, Bev O’neill gave members and guests
personalized coffee mugs with their names calligraphed.
Much to the members and guests surprise, the beer garden was opened
by twelve beer maidens dressed in German attire with yellow yarn braids.
During the early morning hours on Saturday, people were awakened to
fire engine sirens blaring in the sky. Just before dinner was served, the trailbosses were told that
the restaurant that was to cook the evening meal had burned to the ground.
With dedicated help, the caterer farmed out the meals to various
restaurants and the meal was a great success.
FMCA’s sweetheart Alice Detrick performed along with the German
Oompah band that grew later in the day to a 15 piece orchestra.
When everyone left they said another successful Oktoberfest was
enjoyed by all.
1986 through 1990
Trailbosses were:
1986 John & Shanti Jesse
1987 Byron & Marge Reid and Mel & Dodi Monroe
1988 Jack & Pat Sullivan
1989 Marty & Inez Kruty
1990 Bob & Maijane Guthrie
No details of these Oktoberfests could be located.
1991
This Oktoberfest had the highest number of coaches in attendance,
702. FMCA Senior Vice
President Charlie Atkinson and his wife Marsha who attended the rally said
they had not seen anything like what occurred at the rally.
Co-trailbosses Frank & Vivian Firlein and Bobbie & Emil
Orlando went all out for everyone’s enjoyment. This rally was the first one to have our German biermeister
as our continuing logo. There
were lederhosen contests, dirndl contest, cane contest and beer drinking
contests.
1992
This Oktoberfest was the last one held at the Orange County
Fairgrounds, with Mel & Debbie Cohen as trailbosses.
Special highlights at this rally were the fabulous ice cream sundaes
that were served and the appearance of Tex Beneke and his orchestra.
Members and guests danced until 11:00 P.M.
Unfortunately the tram suffered a breakdown and the party goers
were shuffled home in golf carts.
Two couples who arrived together as friends “over indulged” on
liquid refreshments and became entangled in a brawl and unfortunately were
asked to leave the rally.
1993
This was the first time an Oktoberfest was held in Victorville.
George & Ann Rogers along with Bill & Char Larsen kept
their fingers crossed that all would go well.
The registration for the rally was $95.00 with two dinners
included, with one being a traditional German meal.
This dinner was not the highlight of the weekend.
The coach count for this rally was great with 519 member coaches
and 115 commercial vendors. They
did have a few minor accidents with a few broken bones and scraped knees,
but all in all, the new site was well received.
1994
Bill & Char Larsen and Dick & Sue Engel hosted the second
Oktoberfest at the site in Victorville.
The Larsen’s were so eager to become involved they purchased
their first computer to do the registration for this rally. Packing all of the paraphernalia in their coach took every
inch of space. After arriving
at the rally site the Larsen’s unloaded everything and went out to
dinner with friends without leveling or hooking up.
When they got back to their coach after dark Bill did the necessary
chores and went to bed. The
next morning the Larsen’s were greeted by a chorus of “friends” who
shouted ---- “Larsen what are you going to do, give it a brake job?”
All wheels were off the ground, but the coach was level!
Our highlight of the rally was the attendee who brought his pet
chimp. The owner said the
chimp liked beer and ladies. Since
animals aren’t allowed in the food area no one knows to this day if he
had any beer or found any ladies. There
were 449 members coaches along with 132 commercial vendors.
1995
Dick & Sue Engel hosted the 20th anniversary of the
Oktoberfest at Victorville. This
special rally had over 600 coaches in attendance.
They had bingo on Thursday night, lots of seminars, the fun Oompah
band Friday and Saturday with hot dogs and frothy beer and sodas.
The food and entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights were well
received. This year the
registration for the rally was $50.00.
According to the Engel’s “everything went real well and
smoothly” and everyone had a fun time, which is what Oktoberfest and all
of the other chapter rallies are all about.
1996
This year’s rally was trailbossed by George & Marie Pugh with
Jim & Marty Moir as their assistants.
They had 672 coaches with 135 walk in day passes.
The Odessa Chuck Wagon Gang provided dinner and of course they made
it look easy. There was
dancing and entertainment on Friday & Saturday nights that had
everyone out of their seats on to the dance floor.
From the discussions that took place it was heard that many lives
were threatened for one of Gloria Loritz’s teddy bears that she donated.
1997
Jim & Marty Moir dared to be different at their Oktoberfest.
Their registration was $65.00, which included all meals.
They erected a large tent next to the outdoor pavilion for shaded
seating along with a shade covering over the lattice area.
The Moir’s hard work resulted in the most door prizes given at an
Oktoberfest and the four signs contributed by Sheri Chandler are still in
use today. The total effort
consumed most of a year in planning and executing and the results were
very rewarding to everyone. The
coach count was 688 registrations and display coaches.
1998
This year started out with a bang with Chuck & Claudia Blackwell
as trailbosses. There was a
switch in assistant trailbosses with Chris & Michele Krys taking over
the job. Claudia kept
everyone on their toes and probably sent out the most information to each
captain that has ever been done.
Sadly to say, just three weeks before the Oktoberfest Claudia took
ill and passed away. Cleo
Hamilton and Chris & Michele stepped in and made sure that the
Oktoberfest went off without a hitch (well almost).
They dedicated the rally to Claudia.
They did have one major problem and that was the fairgrounds had a
potty back up and all the motorhomes in the center had to close their
tanks. Poor Michele truly did
have brown eyes. But true to
CCFMCA spirits, everyone took it in stride.
1999
What’s that old saying: “Let’s
party in 1999”, well that’s exactly what trailboss Cleo Hamilton did.
Since Cleo had worked for many years behind the scenes it was
decided by the powers to be that he trailboss one.
Well, what can you say, it was a great rally.
There were 400 coaches and 112 commercial coaches.
The parking lot was full of motorhomes to sell.
It was decided at this rally all captains had to be trained in
driving carts. Claude Miller
tried to run down Jim Farley with a temperamental cart.
Hank Romero forgot that he had an electrical cord attached to this
cart. He took off and
destroyed the cord by dragging it around the fairgrounds.
Someone else was not looking and ran into a main water line that
required calling out the fairgrounds to fix.
Everyone was in for a surprise when they had no water.
Not only did we experience driving difficulties but so did the
motorhome dealers. They had
one of their drivers get into a truck and back into a new motorhome.
Needless to say they took that one right out and fixed it the same
day. The poor truck took
weeks to fix. Then last but
not least as the motorhomes were leaving they took out a sprinkler head
and water went everywhere.
Al in all, it was just a normal Oktoberfest and a great time was had
by all.
2000
The 25th Annual Oktoberfest started with a bang.
Since this was a very special rally.
Trailbosses Chris & Michele Krys along with Assistant
Trailbosses Dave & Karen Brooks decided to try some new things.
First the gates were opened on Wednesday afternoon for members to
enter and reservations were taken for members to park together in groups.
Gone was the vendor party and in its place, was an Hors d’oeuvre
party for all. A members
craft fair and pet costume parade were added.
Dinner was hosted by Home Town Buffet and a magician was Saturday
nights entertainment.
Although the attendance was low, it was a great celebration of 25
years of Oktoberfest.
Editorial Comment
Preparation of this document provides current and future members
with a historical account of the chapters traditional Oktoberfest Rally.
It is desirable to be as accurate and complete as possible.
If anyone has any additions or corrections or can provide
information for those blank years (1984 and 1986 through 1990) then please
contact your Spot-Lite editor.
You may contact us any way you desire either by mail, telephone,
E-Mail or send us a note including your telephone number and we’ll call
you.
Your Spot-Lite Editor is:
Saundra King
Jamul, Ca. 91935
619-468-3765
slking1@hotmail.com
castleroamer@hotmail.com
