During the inaugural German-American Festival in 1966, crowds so overwhelmed the ticket booths that those taking the cash were forced to stuff the admission money into their pockets because there was no place else to keep all of the incoming revenue.
With the Oregon event celebrating its 50th birthday this year, Festival Chairman Tim Pecsenye laughs about such first-year issues, including running out of toilet paper.
"We've come a long way," he said. "We now do a lot of online and credit card transactions. We've introduced technology into it."
Sponsored by the German-American Festival Society, the annual German-American Festival runs 6 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday, 2 p.m.-1 a.m. Saturday, and noon to 11 p.m. Sunday at Oak Shade Grove, 3624 Seaman Rd. Tickets are $8 for adults, with children 12 years or younger free all weekend when accompanied by a parent or guardian. For more information, including ticket discounts and shuttle information, visit germanamericanfestival.net.
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Last year's Oregon festival drew a near-record 33,000 revelers, a success attributable to many factors, Pecsenye said. These include the area's dense German-American population and being "a great event for kids," with a selection of amusement rides including bumper cars, a merry-go-round, superslide, funhouse, and a tilt-a-whirl. Of course, there's also the attraction of "lots and lots of German beer and the food stations," he added.
In fact, there are 50 beers at the festival. For the full listing, check out bit.ly/1E3449Z.
As for the food, the German-American Festival serves everything from the ever-popular potato pancakes and bratwurst to schnitzel sandwiches and homemade potato salad.
Another popular food item, the potato salad was the source of some last-minute drama at last year's event when 3,500 pounds of it — enough for the whole weekend — were ruined because of smoke damage after a fire in the refrigerator trailer where it was kept.
It was a near fiasco not easily forgotten by Pecsenye, who has been involved with the festival since 1975 — and served as its chairman for a total of 10 years.
He said he was awoken by a 6 a.m. phone call with news of the fire.
After a few more desperate calls by Pecsenye and others, they quickly assembled teams of volunteers to buy 400 to 500 pounds of potatoes, and by 9 a.m. to start boiling them in water, and an hour later peeling them. One of the groups included one woman who wasn't a member of the G.A.F. Society but had heard about the fire and wanted to come out to help.
"It was extremely gratifying," he said. "The next day some of those folks and other people came in and peeled more to finish up for the weekend."
But when an event has been around as long as the German-American Festival, it's bound to have its fans.
The festival was created by representatives of seven German and Swiss societies who met to discuss creating a “Continental Day” to unite those of German and Swiss heritage.
The German-American Festival, thus, was born as a two-day event, Aug. 27-28, 1966, at Raceway Park, where it remained until 1974. The festival was subsequently relocated to the Lucas County Recreation Center, and in 1987 to its permanent home, Oak Shade Grove.
About 3,500 volunteers, G.A.F. Society members and non-members, participate in the German-American Festival each year, which helps set it apart from similar events across the state and nation.
"None of the other festivals are organized like we are, where it's a volunteer operation," Pecsenye said. "Our people are the ones who prepare and produce the foods, whereas a lot of the other festivals use concessionaires."
The G.A.F. Society also owns Oak Shade Grove, which was originally used as a central cultural center for various local organizations. The festival was created as a means to fund the creation of that cultural center, and now pays to keep the center going.
"It cost $170,000 annually to run the place," including taxes, insurance, and utilities, he said. "We're just happy that we are able to hit that $170,000 nut."
Only a decade ago, though, German-American Festival attendance was waning, down from a record crowd of 36,000 in 1996 to approximately half that number in 2006.
"So we just had to rejuvenate," Pecsenye said, which included substantially expanding the beer selection, particularly the German varieties, and later introducing the shuttle service from and to local taverns.
"We had a bunch of forward-looking people saying what would this take to make a cool event."
And that includes no more toilet paper shortages, correct?
"Correct," he said.
Contact Kirk Baird at kbaird@theblade.com or 419-724-6734.
First Published August 27, 2015, 4:00 a.m.