Steeleville celebrates Oktoberfest festivities
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Samantha Biermann of Steeleville was crowned Miss Oktoberfest 2008 on Saturday, October 11. Biermann will carry the title and crown until next year's Oktoberfest. Bierman was the winner of three candidates to raise the most money. The total sum of money all three raised was $7,500. The money will go towards the many charitable projects the Steeleville Jaycees do throughout the year.
The 2008 Oktoberfest has come and gone, but not before hundreds enjoyed this year's festivities. This year brought a new concept to the annual celebration that represented what the Steeleville Jaycees is all about. This year co-coordinators Dave Knop and Renee Rheinecker decided to give back by donating the proceeds raised during the walk/run to the St. Jude Children's Research Center.
Things kicked off at 6 p.m. on Friday with over 200 walkers participating in the St. Jude's walk. Some of those who participated, had to run back to get in line for the parade. Hundreds lined the street to see what kind of floats would appear. First National Bank of Steeleville showed off their creativity with the "Super Heros of Banking" float. They included catchy names such as Super Branch Man, The Loan Arranger and Lady Lender.
Another creative group, Steeleville Family Practice, ripped their themed float straight from the movies. The group chose Forrest Gump. Members dressed and acted out their parts holding signs either saying vote for Forrest or funny quotes from the movie. Dr. Bob Platt ran the streets representing the running Forrest, while Rodney Rohlfing sat in the "Jenny" fishing boat "calling out the storm."
On Saturday, over 25 runners participated in the St. Jude's 3K run. Erik Westland of Belleville won overall in the male category with a time of 12:10. Lindsey Eggemeyer of Steeleville won the overall for the female category with a time of 13:38.
Over seventy-five craft vendors turned out to sell their goods at this years Oktoberfest. Crafters from as far away as St. Louis lined the streets offering anything from homemade crafts to sports memorabilia.
Twelve teams participated in this year's washer tournament hosted by the Steeleville Eagles. Darin Gerberding and Cale Young beat out Jamey Fletcher and Andy Gerlach for first place. Richard McCowan and Gary Bassett from Mt. Vernon took third place, while Bill Ingles and Dane Patterson took fourth place.
Thompson Ward featuring Steeleville local Tim Beattie rocked the house with their original "Porch Funk" sound on Friday night. The band featured a talented medley of country music with a southern rock Mississippi Blues feel. Local band Overboard took the stage Saturday to close out this year's festivities.
While this year had new events, the Steeleville Jaycees kept the same home-town feel.