Hawaii Tribune-Herald Island Beat Thursday, September 8, 2016 9 OKTOBERFEST From page 6 locally-produced beer and wine, live and silent auctions, and an Oktoberfest costume contest. There will also be live music (and the popular “chicken dance”) provided by the “Big Island Beerfesters,” featuring Walter Greenwood, Cheryl Shine, Loren Brownlea, and Larry Broido. “If you want to enjoy a traditional sense of what an Oktoberfest is all about, you should come to this event,” explains David DeLuz, Jr., chairman of the event and president-elect of the club. “We attempt to do it as authentically as we possibly can. I don’t believe anyone else does an event like this here.” The world’s largest Oktoberfest is held in Munich each year. It’s a 16-day party that attracts more than six million people. There is a lot of merriment surrounding this auspicious celebration, both abroad and here in Hilo, and Deluz jokes that people have so much fun at The Rotary Club of Hilo Bay’s Oktoberfest every year, there’s a group of 50 or so guests who don’t want to leave at the end of the night. “The event is allyou can-drink beer, of course (for those over 21),” says DeLuz. “Souvenir t-shirts and beer mugs can also be purchased.” Beer, food, music, costumes and fun. What’s not to like? This year, AJ & Sons will cater the event and plan to bring all the traditional fare that patrons look forward to including, German sausages, potato salad and sauerkraut. Of course, it wouldn’t be Oktoberfest without the beer, and Mehana Brewing Company will be bringing four of their signature beers to the event: Mehana’s Mauna Kea Pale Ale and Tsunami IPA, as well as Hawaii Nui’s Kauai Golden Ale and Southern Cross. The Kauai Golden Ale is a light-bodied craft beer with classic hop aroma and dry finish. Then you have Southern Cross, a Belgian-style double brewed red ale. Mehana’s Mauna Kea Pale Ale is an American pale ale made with malts and hops from the Northwest. Finally, there is the Tsunami IPA, an all-malt American-style India pale ale made with more than 15 pounds of hops, which delivers an herbal infusion of fresh citrus and crushed black pepper. “The Tsunami IPA won a gold medal in the World Beer Championships last year,” explains Mehana Brewing Company COO Scott Thompson. “It’s always good to have an IPA at any drinking event like this because beer lovers enjoy these different profiles of beer.” Thompson says at last year’s Oktoberfest, Mehana went through “a lot of beer.” “I think we went through about six kegs of beer at the last Oktoberfest, which is quite a bit of beer for an event of that size,” he says. “We’ve done this event just about every year since it started. Everyone is always happy with it.” He adds that Mehana Brewing Company does events all over but always enjoys an East Hawaii event. “We are a local company that brews and packages our product right here in Hilo,” Thompson says. “It’s always nice to support local events and have local patrons support local businesses.” Thompson, who lived in Germany as a child, says Oktoberfest celebrations all across the world are a great reason for communities to come together and socialize. “It’s a fun event even for non-drinkers,” he says. “It’s a good place to meet a lot new friends and to see your old friends, too.” Muller says the event has been going strong, year after year. “I sell about 50 or 60 tickets myself every year,” he says. “My friends call me and say, ‘Don’t forget, I want to go!’ I think it’s great. It’s a fun evening.” The proceeds from Oktoberfest are doing a lot of good for the community as well. “This is our one big event for the year,” DeLuz says. “Pete Muller and Roberta saw Oktoberfest as an opportunity to raise the kind of funds we needed to help the community in the ways we wanted. It essentially went from a handful of people putting it together to now involving about 48 club members.” Locally, the Rotary Club of Hilo Bay provides scholarships for high school seniors, emergency relief and exchange student sponsorship. Money also goes to the Rotary Centennial Park (Kuhio Kalanianaole Park). “Our local community service depends so much on the funds we raise at Oktoberfest,” DeLuz says. “Besides our local scholarships and service, we are also hoping to help eradicate polio across the globe through Rotary International.” Proceeds, which totaled more $30,000 in the past two years, go back into helping the community, and patrons of Oktoberfest get to enjoy beer, food and merriment, says DeLuz. “We want to get to a larger cross-section of people who haven’t experienced Oktoberfest before,” DeLuz says. “We hope people will come experience a unique part of our European culture that’s right here in Hawaii.” The Hilo Bay Oktoberfest is a family friendly event; children younger than 10 years old are free. General admission tickets are $50 pre-sale and $60 at the door, and are available through club members or online at www. hilobayoktoberfest.com. Sat, Mon & Tues - Sept. 10, 12 & 13 at 7pm CAFÉ SOCIETY(PG13) DRAMA / COMEDY / ROMANCE Starring: Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively Directed by: Woody Allen A bittersweet romance set in the 1930s. NY Observer: “Romantic, bittersweet and funny as hell, Café Society turns Hollywood inside out, rooting through the superficial tinsel to find the real tinsel. You go away gobsmacked, beaming and happy to be both.” Special Showing! Sat - Sept. 10 at 2:30pm HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE (PG13) One of the films we had to cancel because of our projector problems, this adventurous dramatic comedy focuses on a defiant city kid placed in a New Zealand foster home. LA Times: “Every once in a while, a small, unheralded film comes along, so smart and funny, such a pleasure to experience, you canʼt believe your luck.” $8 Gen. - $7 Student/Senior 38 Haili St. • 934-7777 www.hilopalace.com HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald Beer is poured during the 2015 Oktoberfest put on by the Rotary Club of Hilo Bay at Sangha Hall.
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