Geneseo Rotary Club is a group dedicated to community service on behalf of the Rotary International Foundation. On Oct. 5 the Rotary Club will be hosting an Oktoberfest event on Center Street in Geneseo. During this event community members are invited to support Rotary and enjoy the activities provided (courtesy of Geneseo rotary club).
Oktoberfest is no longer exclusive to Munich where it began, nor Berlin or any other German city. Now an international phenomenon, Oktoberfest has stretched as far as South Korea and Australia and more than 500,000 people attended an Oktoberfest in Cincinnati where it was affectionately named Oktoberfest Zinnzinati. In Munich, the location of the first traditional Oktoberfest that began back in the 1800s, more than 7 million people attend each year and more than 7 million liters of beer are consumed every festival.
This year, Geneseo Rotary will put on a local Oktoberfest on Center Street on Oct. 5 from 12-5 p.m. This will be Geneseo Rotary’s first Oktoberfest and it is advertising all the steadfast facets of Oktoberfests, from traditional German bratwurst to music to traditional German beers.
Geneseo Rotary Club has been serving the community since 1925. The club is excited to be throwing this Oktoberfest and can’t wait for the town of Geneseo to be able to show up and enjoy themselves right on Center Street. One of Rotary Club’s members, Don Livingston, is especially proud of the plans for the club event.
Livingston joined Rotary five years ago and was integral to creating and finalizing Geneseo’s Oktoberfest. Livingston is also involved in other local Geneseo events such as the upcoming Chicken Wing Festival on Sept. 21 through the Association for the Preservation of Geneseo.
“We will have authentic German food, with bratwurst, bruhwurst, German potato salad, stuff like that,” Livingston said. “We’re going to have [the band] 78 RPM. They’re known for their Oktoberfest music, so there’ll be music and dancing. We’re going to have a tent with traditional German beers as well. We’re trying to do as much as we can in a traditional German style.”
The beers will be available for any patrons aged 21 or older. Rotary Club is committed to the authenticity of this year’s Oktoberfest.
“We’re going to have a bunch of different contests that people can enter,” Livingston said. “I just hope that everyone enjoys the event and that it’s a good and successful Rotary.”
Tickets are on sale now and are $15, but children under 12 are free. Geneseo Rotary Club can’t wait to give Geneseo the chance to gain cultural experience, meet and support Rotary members and have an all-around great time.