I’ll confess up front that I had no idea the town of
Mount Angel, Oregon is home to the state’s biggest Oktoberfest celebration. In
fact, If you asked me to put Oregon and Oktoberfest together in the same sentence I would have done so by saying
something like "Oregon and Oktoberfest both begin with O" and that would be about it. But it turns out that
the first sentence above is correct. And not only that, but for Oktoberfest connoisseurs, those who revel in Bavarian
bliss, the Mount Angel Oktoberfest is about to get even more rapturous. Why? How? You ask. Well, the town is investing
in what is said to be the nation’s tallest glockenspiel. (gasp!) No!
Yes, dear people. The 49-foot
glockenspiel (for the initiated…i.e. those who have never been to Munich…a glockenspiel is a clock tower with
animated figures that sing and tell stories…sort of like the Osmonds meets the It’s a Small World ride at Disneyland)
will be the tallest in the United States and a photogenic centerpiece for the town’s famous Oktoberfest.
Of
course, no town would undertake such an expenditure without hoping it will draw crowds…so it’s no surprise that the
city is also building up its Oktoberfest celebration, getting the word out big time and having their PR folks blanket
the media. That’s cool, though, right? I mean, it might be nice for you West Coast folks to have a glockenspiel of your
own. Those flights to Europe can take like, eight hours. Now you just have to go to Oregon, where the Helgas will bring
you beer in fleece and Birkenstocks.