ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
October has arrived, and autumn is in the air. A big celebration for the month in many communities worldwide revolves around German culture, and Saturday, Oct. 11, Liberal will be hosting its own version of Oktoberfest.
Seward County United Way, Tortuga Brewing Company and Oktoberfest Liberal KS are bringing the celebration to town, and the fun will start at noon on Saturday, Oct. 11 and run until midnight.
SCUW Board Vice President Katie Taylor said the day will feature food trucks and other local vendors, as well as some local bands and DJs providing music.
“We’re trying to get as many German-themed vendors and food offerings as we can,” she said. “We also have at this point two confirmed breweries – Tortuga and Dodge City Brewing Company – and There are two more that are still pending. We aren’t sure if they’ll be able to make it or not.”
The local Oktoberfest celebration will take place in the area near Third Street and Lincoln Avenue, and there will even be an area with some fun and games for children.
The City of Liberal recently designated much of the downtown area as a common consumption area, a designated public space, established by local ordinance, where individuals can legally possess and consume alcoholic beverages purchased from participating licensed businesses within the area.
Taylor said this includes streets, sidewalks and crosswalks, but parking lots are excluded from that designation, and therefore, parking lots in the area of Oktoberfest will be used for children’s activities to keep kids away from drinking areas.
“They do not allow drinking in the actual public parking lot, so we have decided to use that area for the kids,” she said. “There’s going to be bouncy houses. There will be Giant Jenga, human pool. Baker Arts is going to come. I believe they’re doing face painting for the kids, but they may change what they decide to do. They’re going to come and do some free things for the kids. Everything in that area will all be free to participate in, and we’re trying to have a lot of family friendly options. There will also be a cornhole tournament.”
Attending Oktoberfest is free, but for those who do attend and want to purchase items from breweries, they must do so by purchasing tickets for drinks from United Way.
“We pay them for the cost of their alcohol, and United Way profits the rest of it,” Taylor said. “With everything, United Way is the beneficiary. Vendors will profit from their own booth, but the whole purpose of the event is to bring something to the community that is family-friendly and enjoyable for the entire community that is going to help United Way raise funds.”
Taylor said the vast majority of funding collected by SCUW stays in Seward County, with the remainder going to surrounding communities. She added some people do not fully understand what United Way does.
“We support the local food banks,” she said. “We support the ministerial alliance and all of those other local entities. A lot of the funding they operate off of comes from us, and if they have issues throughout the year and need additional allocation, we’re the ones who meet those needs and fill that gap for them.”
Taylor emphasized money collected by SCUW does not go to national or state United Way organizations.
“It is Seward County, and if it’s outside of Seward County, it’s not very far,” she said. “Guymon is technically in our chapter, but we haven’t gotten any requests from them. When you’re supporting the Seward County United Way, this is not money that is going to some random thing somewhere far away. It is helping the most needy in our community locally.”
Taylor added the assistance provided by SCUW and its agencies comes through a screening process.
“Even if we send them to one of the agencies we support, those agencies have a screening program,” she said. “The chance a person is not already working is very low. If they aren’t working, it’s because there are some sort of health constraints that are not allowing them to work. Not only is it staying local and your money is being utilized by those in your community, it’s people who are working and people who are contributing to the community and to the tax dollars that go in here. It’s not a person who has chosen not to be employed and just wants help or wants a handout. These are people who are doing everything you want them to do, and in today’s economy and the way the world is right now, they’re still not able to make it.”
Taylor said she feels this is a valuable distinction to make.
“It’s not just going to anybody who comes in and asks,” she said. “We also have the requirements not just on their income and their working hours, but we will only help you once a year. They’re not coming repetitively. It’s a single stop gap measure for those who need a hand up, not a handout.”
With much transition in SCUW in recent years and changes in the economy affecting fundraising efforts, Taylor said needs are much greater than United Way’s fundraising has been able to accomplish. Because of this, she said United Way leaders were determined to come up with a major fundraising effort.
“Unfortunately, with the common consumption area getting in place, it’s taken us a little longer to be able to really do a lot with it, but we’re hoping for this to be an annual event we can build on and grow and every year have something that gives back to the community, offers them a fun, family friendly way to interact with their friends and neighbors and to support local vendors,” she said. “The big focus for this is everybody’s going to be as local as possible and to be able to offer something like this and do it in a way that will raise funds for the United Way so we do have the ability to support these agencies that rely on us to make things work.”
This is the first Oktoberfest for SCUW, and Taylor said she simply hopes everyone will be patient and understands the breadth of such an undertaking.
“I hope everyone gives a little grace to be able to do our best this first year and build on this in the future,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of people who have been very good to us in building this event, and we think we’re going to have some good support in putting it on. I’ve done lots of events for many years, and I know the first year is always going to have some hiccups.”
Taylor likewise hopes the public will support United Way through Oktoberfest and give organizers some grace and knowledge of the hard work done to make something good for the community.
“It’s a fun thing we’re trying to do, and we’re trying to focus as much as we can around German vendors, German offerings, but we certainly want to include and celebrate the entire community, German or not,” she said.
Taylor too said United Way officials have gone to great lengths to make sure Oktoberfest provides something for everyone.
“Most adults around here really like cornhole, so we’ve got the cornhole tournament,” she said. “The live bands, the DJs, there will be the music to give you that great atmosphere and make things much more enjoyable. We have quite the extensive offering of kid things. We’ve filled that parking lot area with kid-friendly activities and purposely put in an area where there won’t be any drinking so parents can feel comfortable.”
The setup of Oktoberfest, Taylor said, allows parents to experience vendors while keeping an eye on their children.
“We made a very strong effort through all of this to keep families in mind,” she said. “If the community doesn’t come out, support us and enjoy it, it’s not going be a successful event, and we can’t benefit the community without their participation. We wanted to be very conscious and mindful of that while we were putting this together, and we had something for people of all ages and something to enjoy.”
With alcohol being served, Taylor said security members will be in place along with other measures to keep the public safe.
“We have arranged for Linda’s Taxi to be available for sober ride services, so we’re making every effort to make sure we do this in a safe, responsible way so people can enjoy without over-enjoying and doing it in an irresponsible way where it’s going to be a detriment to the community,” she said. “We wanted to be very careful to avoid that.”
Taylor said United Way is looking for some major sponsors for Oktoberfest at this point.
“We have plenty of space,” she said. “We would love a major sponsor. We have not been able to find one of those yet. I grew up here. This is a very generous community. If the right people know there are things that need to be done, if the word is out, I really feel we’ll get more support than we have now.”
For more information about Oktoberfest visit the Seward County United Way page or the Oktoberfest Liberal KS page on Facebook. Taylor said all those helping with the event are simply donating time.
“It’s all volunteers,” she said. “It’s not what it would be if this was our first job.”
With much still to be done, Taylor said she is very excited about Oct. 11 in Liberal.
“If we got a major sponsor, I would feel much more relaxed about it, but hopefully, we’ll be able to pull that together,” she said. “We’ve got some good smaller sponsorships, but it’s not a very cheap endeavor to start. If we had the benefit of building off a prior year, we’d be in a much different situation, but unfortunately, that first year is never easy. We’re aware of that. We have reasonable expectations, and we’re doing the best we can knowing the first year is the first year.”
Taylor added while work still needs to be done to make Oktoberfest a reality, plans are falling into place nicely for the event.
“We have all the necessary elements, all the things we need to do,” she said. “We should be okay. We’ve just got to experience that fun first year of growth.”
