Oompa Oompa for a good cause: Oktoberfest raises money for Carson City Library

As an oompa band called Sauerkraut pumped out the lively beat of the "Beer Barrel Polka" Saturday afternoon, Earl Case gave everyone a free polka lesson during the Carson City Library Oktoberfest at the Pony Express Pavilion.

For flavor and to raise funds for the library, volunteers were dishing up German and Swiss varieties of bratwurst and pouring Beck and Clausthaler beer.

Right up in the front row was Carson City Supervisor John Plank, outfitted in lederhosen, suede leather shorts and suspenders, and a trachten hut, a German hat.

Plank is of German heritage himself, though he was born in California. His connection with the old country is more immediate, since his wife Rita was born in Munich. They met in exotic Elko.

"We go over to Germany about every six years to see Rita's family and they come visit us in between," Plank said.

It was during those visits, which have included a few to the original Oktoberfest, that Plank collected his lederhosen, trachten hut, German shoes and everything else for an authentic Oktoberfest outfit.

Sauerkraut band leader Curt Freemont has put together a pretty good lederhosen collection himself, spending hundreds of dollars for a dozen sets so he can outfit a small band for several German music dates each fall. Such combos are of flexible membership since the musicians are part-timers and enthusiasts.

"Sometimes, the morphology of a particular player doesn't conform with my selection, so he ends up just wearing shorts," Freemont said.

Freemont recruited about half the band members from Carson City - Ken Wilson on keyboard, Bunky Jones on bass and tuba and Tony Chieffo and Ross Price on sax.

"We're playing polkas, German marches and schottisches, as well as requests from the audience, who sometimes want old favorites that aren't German at all," Freemont said. "But the German sometimes think we Americans are pretty funny about what we think is German music, like 'Edelweiss,' which is from a Broadway musical, not Germany."

Among the books selected for sale from the library's Browser Corner were some Deutsche bcher, German-language books, with titles like "Der Grosse Fluss im Meer" and "Einsame Weltreise."

Patrons could guess the number of pretzels in a gallon jug or stick their faces through a painting to get a photo of themselves in an Alpine setting. They also could look over several examples of German craftsmanship - an Audi A4, a BMW 528i, a Volkswagen New Beetle GL and a couple BMW motorcycles, all lent by Reno dealerships.

Over a thousand people bought tickets by 5 p.m., the gatekeepers said.