Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Is it Deutsches Fest or Deutchesfest??
Sherie Heimbigner, Ellen Schafer and Peggy DeWulf made kartoffel 'n' kloess at Das Kraut Haus, which will begin serving that dish, sausage and their special hot mustard Thursday evening during/after the bed/tricycle races.
Garrett Jensen, Andrew Schafer, Ted Bruya and Marlon Schafer work on the decorative brick surrounding the base of the First Avenue trees. Also involved but not pictured was Dale Ramm.
Welcome to the 44th annual Odessa Deutsches Fest celebration! Odessa has been gearing up, preparing, cleaning and getting the word out for most of the summer, but the conversation about what to do for Fest really takes place all year.
We have had several enquiries over The Record's use of "Deutshes Fest" as opposed to "Deutschesfest." A little history is in order. The Fest began in 1971, and up through 1990, it was spelled as two words in every issue of The Record. In the May 23 issue of 1991, long-time editor and publisher Tom Bertsch sold the newspaper to Odessa native Don Walter, who operated the paper until his death in 2008. When the Fest rolled around in September of 1991, "Deutschesfest" became the new spelling, which continued until 2013.
At that time, a native speaker of German told The Record that the more grammatically correct usage was with two words. So, given our background in languages and grammer, we felt compelled to follow that advice and switch back to the original two-word spelling.
So now that we have given the Odessa Chamber of Commerce another topic for endless debate, we can move on to this year's Fest and its outlook. The folks who arrive about a week early are already here and have staked out their camping spots. By Friday, RVs and campers of all kinds will be pouring into town and parking at the athletic fields.
What's new?
One of the food vendors not yet mentioned in discussions about Fest is J's Kettle Corn, which will have a booth on First Avenue in the empty lot between Eldridge Chiropractic and the old Empire Electric building. Also in that empty space will be a booth for a pitching contest. The Odessa-Harrington Athletic Booster Club and the Titan baseball team are raising money for Titan sports. They will have a pitching cage with a radar gun. One prize will be awarded each day for the fastest pitch recorded.
Northwest Inflatables will be here for the first time this year. They will be set up at the former Chevron gas station on west First Avenue across the street from the grocery store. This vendor was at the Lincoln County Fair this year and drew a large crowd.
It should be a successful Fest. The weather is looking favorable, and the Chamber phone has been ringing and ringing with folks wanting information about the Fest. Enjoy yourselves and stay safe.
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