Raise a glass to Oktoberfest
Matt Van Vlack, left, works to saw a log with DJ Hickman in front of the crowd at the Great Northwest Oktoberfest in Whitefish Thursday evening.
Mike McNamara takes a drink before the start of the stein-holding competition.
The Western Senators, a Canadian polka band, performed at the event.
Sarah Peterson focuses on holding a container of beer during the stein-holding competition. Each stein weighed in at about 5 1/2 pounds.
Donnie Clapp demonstrates how to throw a keg for competitors in the Keg Hurling Contest Thursday evening at the Great Northwest Oktoberfest in Whitefish. The event continues through Sunday at Depot Park.
Ryan McNeil sends an empty keg flying through the air.
Diane Ward, left, swings her grandson Owen Croskrey, 3, under her legs on the dance floor.
Andre Vanterpool held his two souvenir beer glasses high and the crowd cheered at the end of the men’s log-sawing contest under an enormous white tent in Depot Park in downtown Whitefish Thursday night.
Vanterpool, of Whitefish, had emerged the winner of the first qualifying rounds of both log sawing and the men’s keg-hurling contests at the first Great Northwest Oktoberfest. Winners received giant beer glasses — full, of course — and the chance to compete in Saturday’s final round of the contests.
His keg toss of 25 feet, 3 inches was about 2 feet farther than the second-place finisher, Dustin Zeigler. The two men then teamed up to win the log-sawing event with a time of 29 seconds. Another team also finished in 29 seconds, but suffered a five-second penalty for leaving a chip of wood on the bottom of the log, preventing a tie.
Vanterpool said he’d never tried to toss an empty beer keg around before Thursday night, but signed up because “it sounded like it would be fun.”
Keg tossers demonstrated multiple approaches to tossing, but Chad Malcott of Whitefish said “technique does not matter.” Malcott tried a shot-put style throw for one of his two tosses — quickly acknowledging that didn’t work well. Nonetheless, the contest and the Oktoberfest were fun, he said.
The world record keg toss stands at 34 feet, 11 inches, Whitefish Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kevin Gartland said.
Later in the evening, eight women crowded onto the stage to see how long they could hold a full beer stein, each of which weighed about 5 1/2 pounds.
The women could use only one hand to hold a stein and were required to keep their arm at or above shoulder height. Elbows couldn’t be bent and competitors couldn’t drink or spill their beer to lighten the load.
In the end, JeanAnne Swope of Whitefish emerged the winner, after holding her stein for about two minutes.
“It felt like a lot of weight — more than five pounds,” Swope said.
Stein competitor Liz Maul said the full stein “felt more like 10 pounds.” She chose to hold the mug by its handle and speculated that it may have been easier to grip the body of the glass.
“My forearm wore out,” Maul said. “I should have lifted weights to prepare.”
Whitefish Chamber board member Donnie Clapp said he was “pleasantly surprised” with the crowd size Thursday. “I knew we’d be full by Saturday,” Clapp said, but a big crowd on opening night was a bonus. Midway through Thursday night, about 450 people had passed through the entrance.
Chamber leaders staged the Oktoberfest to boost off-season tourism in Whitefish, Clapp and Gartland said.
“We have empty hotel rooms and empty restaurants in the fall,” Clapp said. “We want to find ways to bring people to Whitefish during those slow months.”
Oktoberfest runs until 6 p.m. today.
Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by e-mail at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.