West Acton business owners have celebrated Oktoberfest for a couple of decades* and this year’s event was as large and lively as ever. Participants of all ages found activities to draw them in.
“I think it was the best attendance we’ve had so far,” said organizer Annette Lochrie, secretary/clerk of the West Acton Village Merchants Association (WAVMA). “I am very pleased.” WAVMA has about forty business members.
In previous years, Oktoberfest took place on Mass. Ave. and Windsor Ave., with live music set up in front of Middlesex Bank. The configuration of the popular, newly renovated, and accessible Gardner Field makes a performance space less convenient, so this year’s event did not have that feature. But it did have a 9 by 20 foot bouncy house which was a big hit among the younger crowd. Lochrie says that each year WAVMA learns something new and makes some changes to make the next year’s event even better.
The forty outside visiting vendors and 29 members of WAVMA shared their wares and wisdom with hundreds of attendees. Five members of WAVMA sold food: True West Brewing Co., New London Pizza, Legend Cafe, West Side Creamery, and Eve and Murray’s. The multigenerational nature of the event was evident at the food stands, where some business owners put their progeny to work; Dino Bottos, owner of New London Pizza, and Jingbo Li, owner of Legend Cafe, had their sons working at Oktoberfest. Li’s son Mark came home from college for the occasion, Lochrie said.
*Do you know when Oktoberfest was first produced? Was it Skip Kennedy who organized the first one? True to our name, the Acton Exchange, we turn to you, our readers, to provide us the history of the event. Our question of the week–asked in the newsletter sent to subscribers–is thus about Oktoberfest. Send your memories of West Acton Oktoberfest to our letters team. Instructions are at our website. If you have memories of similar fall fairs wherever you grew up, send them along in a letter as well!
Franny Osman is the Editor-in-Chief of the Acton Exchange.
