First stop was at the Kegel Club for a potty
break and a cocktail. Predictably, the next stop
took the tour downtown to the B&L and
Mowan’s bar. After that the group got creative
and had their driver Mark Tauer take it back
across town to the newest addition to the
Schell’s facilities, the Starkellar. When they
finally got back to the fest grounds (now with
21 riders) around 6:15 a nice batch of grilled
pork chops along with Larry’s famous
sauerkraut and various crocks of beans and
potatoes supplied by Lori, Sharon and Barb
were ready to go. The band and karaoke folks
were also set up and primed for the evening.
About that time we were invaded by the next
generation of potential
collectors (gotta love our kids and their friends) which kicked the bonfire
back into high gear along with a tournament on the giant bean bag boards.
People kept dropping in throughout the evening and by the time our fill-in
auctioneer Nick Schultz was ready to roll we had a full house. Got him
warmed up with a few donated pieces from my collection and ended up with
the two 2018 commemorative pieces bringing nice money and both going to
the same buyer. More music and singing followed, our sober cab driver (my
daughter Becky) had a couple of hours of deliveries to make, and the
official last beer of the fest was poured a
about 2:30 am. Cannot say “Thank You”
often enough to all of you who
donated, helped organize and participated
in what was truly one of better gatherings
on record. As a side note, earlier in the
evening I happened to walk into a
conversation between my son and one of
his best buds which basically ended with
the statement “You know that when these
guys get too old to do this we are going to
have to take it over”.
Like I said earlier, you gotta love those
kids.