Women Today

It’s not quite Friday yet, but I’m already looking forward to the weekend. One of my favorite events, Appleton’s Octoberfest, takes place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

My husband and I love walking down College Avenue on Friday night and checking out the classic cars, and our whole family likes sampling caramel apples and gyros on Saturday while taking in area bands.
Here’s what the schedule has in store for us this year:

Thursday, September 25 – Heritage Day from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. in Houdini Plaza.

A brat or hot dog and a soda will be available for $2 as two bands take the stage to provide German-themed music. Children’s entertainment will include the talents of the Ringling Brothers clowns Miller and Mike, as they roam and delight children of all ages from 5 to 6 p.m.

On-air personalities of radio stations of Woodward Communications will be participating in the event, and will have their 1978 Trans Am on display, and raffle tickets will be for sale. The car was actually made for the movie “Smokey and the Bandit” and comes with a certificate of authenticity. Area radio stations 1150 WHBY, AM 1570 The Score, 105.7 WAPL, 95.9 KISS FM, 104.3 the Breeze and 94.7 Razor will all be there.

Friday, September 26 – License to Cruise from 6:00 to 10 p.m. on College Avenue. Hundreds of classic cars will line the street which will be closed to traffic. At Houdini Plaza, RPM will be the musical entertainment and The Touch of Old Barbershop Quartet will be the roaming entertainment.

The Model T and Model A are this year’s featured cars. In addition, the Model T Assembly Show will be done at the intersection of College Avenue and Oneida Street.

In 2002 a representative of Ford Motor Company approached the Wisconsin Capital Model T Ford Club and asked if the club could put on a car assembly demonstration during its 100th birthday celebration. Over the next six months the club put together two teams and modified a 1923 roadster for the demo. During the celebration in 2003 in Dearborn, MI the car was assembled over 20 times in four days. Ford estimated over 30,000 people watched the demo. Since 2003 the car has been disassembled and reassembled over 200 times. License to Cruise will be the last time the club performs using this car.

Saturday, September 27 – Octoberfest, the grand daddy of celebrations. Five stages feature music to entertain, and more than 100 food vendors will be available. There will be plenty of family activities for the kids including arts and crafts featuring 150 crafters. The event runs from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with music starting at 11:00 a.m.

Valley Transit will again offer free bus service beginning at 3:45 p.m. Friday for the License to Cruise event through the sponsorship of Teamsters Local 662. Persons interested in using the free Friday night service are invited to catch the bus at any one of the Valley Transit’s convenient bus stop locations throughout the Fox Cities. On Octoberfest Saturday, Valley Transit will once again offer its popular park-and-ride service to festival-goers for just $.25 per person. Park-and-ride lots will be located at Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton East High School, Goodwill Industries on Valley Road in Menasha and near Valley Packaging Industries on North Roemer Road in Appleton.

Maps and complete event and entertainment information is available on the Octoberfest Web site at www.octoberfestonline.org.