Oktoberfest celebrated heartily in Vandergrift

Vandergrift played host to its second annual Oktoberfest on Grant Street on Saturday afternoon — a perfect day for an outdoor party in the Alle-Kiski Valley.

Hundreds of folks took advantage of the sunshine and mild temperatures to socialize, drink beer, eat some delicious food and enjoy good music.

The music was supplied by the Kiski Valley Community Band and accordion player Pat Septak, who serenaded the patrons with polka music and pop songs, including Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” “Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” by The Beatles — all on the accordion.

“The turnout is good so far, and if it’s anything like last year, it’s going to be a fantastic evening,” said Robert Buchanan. Buchanan is president of the Vandergrift Business Association and co-owner of Allusion Brewing Co., the entities behind Vandergrift’s Oktoberfest, which was scheduled to run until 9 p.m.

But how did this event get its start?

“Two years ago we brewed an Oktoberfest Marzen at the brewery, a style of German beer indicative to Oktoberfest. And it was a huge hit, it’s wonderful. The beer is just malt, water, hops and yeast that are typically used in German beers. It’s just a very clean, solid bodied, crisp, malty German beer,” Buchanan said. “People absolutely loved the beer.

“And we had no less than 200 to 300 people ask us when are you doing Oktoberfest? When is the Oktoberfest celebration?”

Buchanan just wanted to brew the beer, but now he had a party to plan. And based on the demand, he planned for the inaugural Vandergrift Oktoberfest.

“We expected it to be a nice little town party,” Buchanan said. But what he got was 4,000 to 5,000 people showing up.

“This came about because of people in the town expressing the desire for it. We ran out of German sausage in 2.5 hours. They’re all about eating, drinking, live music, dancing, having fun,” he said. “That’s it. There’s no agenda, there’s no political anything to it. It’s just a fun celebration. We’re way more prepared this year.”

Along with dancing in the streets, there was plenty of eating going on. And anyone looking for good German food needed to look no further than Allusion Brewing, which was serving up Oktoberfest beers to go along with its wurst plate filled with bratwurst, knockwurst and Weisswurst (veal sausage), and mashed potatoes, stone ground mustard and homemade sauerkraut.

The kraut is extraordinary — made with thyme, brown sugar, Oktoberfest Marzen beer and chopped sweet apples, Buchanan said.

There was plenty of other food, as well, including Del Vecchio’s Italian food, and Flavor Burst Combo Cones for dessert. And anyone who had too many beers could duck into Grant Avenue Coffee Co., co-owned by Karen Heilman, for coffee and the ultimate Oktoberfest treat, a German Chocolate Cake Latte.

“This is actually our first Oktoberfest,” Heilman said. “We opened last year in November. So there was a lot of anticipation for this. So far, it’s exceeded my expectations. We usually close at 2 o’clock. Today we close at 9 p.m. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Debbie Cupec, 64, Vandergrift, who stopped by the coffee shop was having a good time.

“This is great,” she said. “I love the beer stein holding-competition. It’s fun to watch.” Contestants have to hold out a glass beer stein — filled with water — out straight. You can’t bend your elbow.

“The man who just won hit four minutes,” Cupec said. The popular event was held several times throughout the day.

Steffani Swinehart, 31, Vandergrift, stopped into Allusions Brewing with her husband for a wurst plate. She liked the way Oktoberfest was bringing the community together.

“It’s a fun time for everyone,” she said. “We just moved to town this year and we heard a lot about this from our neighbors, and we wanted to check it out.”

Jack Radke, 69, of Peters Township, was celebrating an annual brothers weekend. While neither Jack nor any of his three siblings live in town,

they thought Oktoberfest in Vandergrift sounded like a good time.

“It has exceeded our expectations,” Radke said. “It is the quintessential Western Pa. experience, and I mean that in the classic sense, because this has been fantastic. We’ve had ethnic dancing, the accordion player playing polkas, and people enjoying a fall afternoon as only Western Pa. can do. We’re enjoying the afternoon.”