Marco Lutheran Celebrates Annual Oktoberfest

A little slice of Germany came to the heart of the island on Saturday at Marco Lutheran Church as part of its annual Oktoberfest celebration, honoring the German heritage of many congregation members.

The church’s Great Room filled with traditional German music, performed by a band with an accordion and guitars, while a slideshow played and asked guests to guess the meaning of a variety of German words. Sausages, potato pancakes, beer, and other German food were prepared by the parishioners to enjoy over conversation and games.

Several participants wore traditional German clothing, including 88-year-old parishioner Wanda Schmelzer. Having come to America from Germany when she was young, Schmelzer said she’d sewn her own outfit and had worn it to every Oktoberfest celebration at the church for the last twenty years. This year, she also prepared a full platter of potato pancakes.

Senior Pastor Jim Thelen led the group in a prayer to bless the meal and commemorate the German heritage that meant so much to many of those present.

“We thank you for all that is connected to them and for those that made their way over here to America, which is now a melting pot of so many. But we thank you, especially in October, for our German brothers and sisters. May our time together be a celebration of that heritage,” Thelen said during the prayer.

During the festivities, they also celebrated the 84th birthday of one of the parishioners, Sal, presenting a cake decorated with an American and German flag crossed over each other.