Outtakes

Sometimes the outtakes from the weekend are just too good to be left on the cutting room floor.

Here you will find a hodge podge of what you missed if you were not in the Amana Colonies this weekend.

There was Sunday dinner with my favorite cousin from Waterloo after we had our Moser cousins reunion.




There was a photo opp at the back of a vehicle that was just too hard to pass up






There was proof positive that beer will help facilitate over exposure.










We ran into the Puzzler who has Football tickets to this weeks Buckeye game. He wants to give them to a victim of the Cedar Rapids flood. But after some reconsideration figures those people have already suffered enough.










And then there was Billy's landlady who we caught red-handed.

Lemons, Lemons, Lemons

Every year just as sure as the swallows return to Capistrano, the Lemon Sisters return to the Oktoberfest in the Amana Colonies. I guess its been about 18 years in a row that they have made the trek from their homeland to partake in the festivities.

The Amana Colonies Oktoberfest, which began in 1965, was started by the Amana Colonies Jaycees. That group is now defunct, but the festival continues. It has taken on different formats over the years but the main ingredients are still a parade in the morning, bratwurst, beer music and lemons.

About 18 years back this group of women, all related either as sisters or cousins or mothers and daughters decided to do a weekend getaway and instead of going to Las Vegas stopped short of that goal and landed at the Oktoberfest instead. They were ssinging in the beer tent that very first visit when some old codger remarked that they sounded like the "lemmon sisters". He was thinking of the Lennon Sisters of Larry Welk's TV show....but the moniker stuck and the next year they were all decked out in yellow lemon shirts and hats. The following year lemon earrings were added and so on and so one. Each year they would out do the next. One year they has a Lemmon Sisters Quiz Show for select audiences.

This year with diesel topping four bucks, the big motorhome was not here and several lemmons have been sidelined with illness or other commitments. The headcount this year stands at 15.
One of the charter members, Carrie even showed up in a wheelchair since she is still recovering from surgery. God Bless her. Head Lemmon organizer Cindy had again whipped them into shape for the adventure. You will note that only first names are disclosed for obvious reasons.


The Lemmons participated in the Beer drinking, Brat Eating, Dancing and even the Beer Keg roll and Balance beam competition.

This years' near perfect weather contributed to the record attendance and a good time was had by all.