A German tradition in Wisconsin
My hometown La Crosse, WI hosts an annual Oktoberfest celebration. Over 100,000 people attend, which is double the day-to-day population. The city crowns an Oktoberfest King and Queen, and people dress up in lederhosens and dirndls. At our elementary school, a man showed up every year with an accordion and belted out a tune with heavy emphasis on “No Homework!”
The explanation always given for the roots of the Oktoberfest, which is a copy of the Munich Oktoberfest, is “La Crosse is a German town”. Or, more specifically, “La Crosse was founded by German immigrants.” I never actually investigated how true this is. No time like the present. Here is what I found.
According to the La Crosse Historical Society, the first white man to settle in La Crosse was Nathan Myrick. Nathan was born in New York, and nothing is mentioned of his ancestry. Certainly, no historian mentions he bore an affinity to Germany. What is known is that he speculated in land and traded with the Native Americans. However, it is true that later waves of immigration to La Crosse included Germans. Many also came from Norway, although the one source I found said Germans were the most.
The official narrative of Oktoberfest yields a few more details. The city wanted to create a new festival, as the old Winter Carnival was defunct. This coincided with an interest by G. Heilemen Brewing to promote their beer. A couple German immigrants at the company suggested Oktoberfest, and the city ran with it. Therein lies the rub. Gottlieb Heileman, also a German immigrant, is perhaps La Crosse’s most famous businessman. His brewery was once the third largest in the USA, and in Wisconsin, beer is king. Raise a glass, and as the Germans say, Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke Hoi Hoi Hoi!
Maple Leaf Parade
I didn’t attend many Oktoberfest festivities as a spectator, but I actively participated in the events during high school. The main event, besides drinking beer and eating brats, is the Maple Leaf Parade. Our high school marching band featured in the parade every year, along with several other area bands. Rumor had it that drunks used to try and throw beer cans in the tubas. I played trumpet, so that never affected me. In addition, during my years they moved all the bands to early in the parade, so people had less time to drink.
We put a lot of effort into our performance. In fact, there was a competition amongst the high school bands. Judges stationed themselves at one section of the parade route, and graded the bands based on quality of music, synchronization of moves, and so on. Some walked around with counters, catching mistakes and deducting points.
We routinely won the event. Those later summer practices probably had something to do with it. That, and our kickass music selections, like Pirates of the Caribbean and Brooklyn. While the football team never beat the crosstown rivals, at least in marching band we held our own.
Usually for cars, today for bands
The parade typically happens the last Saturday of September. Perhaps the weather will be chilly, but more often than not it is hot. Marching around with heavy instruments, in full costume, is a legitimate athletic event. The parade route starts at the Northside Festgrounds by Copeland Park and ends downtown, nearly 2.5 miles. The students carrying the bass drums get big props. For me, the challenge was maintaining my ability to hit the higher notes throughout the day.
Most of the route goes down Copeland Avenue. There are several classic La Crosse restaurants along the way, such as Sloopy’s Bar & Grill and Rocky Rococo Pizza. Today, a new bar called 608 has joined the ranks. Its name references the area code.
Here’s the best Maple Leaf Parade tale. Before my time, our band marched in the parade as they usually do. When they marched over the Copeland Avenue viaduct, an unusual thing happened. The viaduct, a concrete bridge, hit a resonant frequency and started oscillating up and down. The band immediately stopped and got off the bridge. It was the steady and uniform footsteps of the 100+ person band that created the conditions to start shaking the concrete. Ever since, all bands are required to stop marching and walk over the viaduct.
