Don't eat the schnitzel; they're using schnauzer
Break out the Lederhosen and the funny hats. It's that time of year again. If you live in Milwaukee, the odds are that you have some German heritage. This weekend is German Fest at the Summerfest Grounds. Unlike TechEd, "I'll be There" for German Fest.
For all of the out-of-towners, the Summerfest Grounds are host to Summerfest, a massive music festival with about 350-400 bands playing over an 11-day period in late June, early July. The rest of the summer months at the Summerfest Grounds are allocated to different ethnicities and their appropriate festivals:
- Festa Italiana
- Irish Fest
- Asian Moon Festival
- German Fest
- Polish Fest
- African World Festival
- Mexican Fiesta
- Indian Summer
- Arab World Fest
- Pride Fest (not exactly an ethnicity, but its a festival)
- And many others . . .
Pretty much, these festivals are an excuse to drink significant quantities of beer (with the Miller Brewing guys headquarters in town; yeah that's right, we have the beer and Harley headquarters here), listen to lots of music, dress up in ethnic garb (if that's your thing) and have a good time on the shores of Lake Michigan. Rumor has it that the lower cased one has been to most of these. His favorite, and you can quote him on this: Pride Fest. He especially liked the parade where everyone noticed his "cop" outfit (he's on the far left, but don't let the makeup fool you). I think he even tried to arrest a few people at the end of the parade route when the TS wasn't looking. Luckily, most of these leather-clad men caught on when he flashed his "cop tool belt" (man, I'm gonna get it for that comment).
Seriously, I'm Welsh, Polish and a bit German, so I fit in at most of the festivals. But my favorite is German Fest. The food is a bit expensive, but outstanding German cuisine. My average German Fest weekend for cards, cigars (2-3 per day), beer (very little), soda (lots), food, souvenirs, parking, tickets, etc. is about $350. The main reason that I go this shindig is Sheepshead. For those of you that play this card game, the German Fest tournament is one of the biggest events on any national Sheepshead calendar.
The tournament is split into 29 one-hour sessions played 10-10-9 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each one-hour session (last year was $2/hour) consists of 15 games of Sheepshead where it is Called Ace-Leasters rules (yup, that is 435 hands of cards over three days for those of you that can multiply). Standard 1-2-3 double on the bump scoring is used. The top player of all tables by points for the hour wins the hourly prize, a trophy and gets their picture on the high scores board. The hourly winners names are entered into the grand prize drawing on Sunday night. TVs and other big prizes have been given away at this event. So, yes, I do have a few hourly trophies from past years. Bragging rights for tournament hourly high score are always on the line . . .
If you are within a few hundred miles of Milwaukee this weekend, stop by for this festival. If cards are your thing, hit the Sheepshead tent just inside of the main gate. You can spot me on Saturday and Sunday (alas, this is the first year in eight that I'll miss my Friday session due to heavy deadlines at work). I'll be the guy stinking up the joint with cigars and wearing a dark heather grey Loden Hüte (or Loden Huete; traditional Bavarian Alpine hat) with forest green piping and a brown feather. Trust me, I'm likely to be one of the only ones foolish stupid idiotic fashionable enough to wear one of these things on a hot summer day.
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As usual, feel free to contact me here if you are Welsh, German or a big old Pollock (I'm part Polish) or are a Sheepshead player that doesn't mauer. If you require more pictures of the lower cased one in his Pride Fest "gear", I can't help you.