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Lustige Leute News Sept / Oct 2023

Howdy Friends!  And welcome to our new Friends!

 
It's our favorite time of year, and the season is really off to a fun start!  It's still quite warm, but it's always nice when we get to see you, and wonderful to make so many new friends too!  Addison Oktoberfest and Fort Worth Oktoberfest were both fantastic this year!  Great crowds, nice audiences, and we were surrounded by so much talent on the stages!  Not only getting to work next to our friends in the business, but also getting to meet new friends and hear their performances!  

 

September public performances:

 

Mommas at Sengelmann; 531 N Main, Schulenburg, TX
Thursday Sept 28; 7pm - 9pm;  Dinner and an Oktoberfest show with the Duo

 

Saint Arnold Oktoberfest, 2000 Lyons Ave, Houston, TX; Das ist Lustig 4 piece band plus dancers in the Biergarten at Texas' oldest and award winning craft brewery!
Friday Sept 29; 4pm - 9pm
Saturday Sept 30; 4pm - 9pm
This year, there's a whole party package!  The brewery will have their limited edition festival blend on tap; the Prost Y'all!  Tanzenfest Volkstanzkreis will perform both days from 5:15 - 5:45 - Don't miss their authentic presentations!



 

October Public Performances:
 

HEB Grocery Oktoberfest, 10200 Hwy 242, Conroe, TX
Sunday Oct 1, 1pm - 4pm  Strolling the Bier aisle, so you can polka while you shop!
 
 
KC Bier Company Oktoberfest; Crown Center, Kansas City, MO; 4 piece band with Ross, Robert, Rick and Valina
Friday Oct 6; 5pm - 6pm & 7:00 - 7:30 at the Main Stage
Saturday Oct 7; 2pm - 6:30 at the Polka Stage
 
The Union Kitchen Katy; 9920 Gaston Rd #100, Katy, TX
Wednesday Oct 11; 6pm - 9pm
All inclusive Oktoberfest dinner with beer pairings - Admission information  (281) 665-3007

The Union Kitchen Kingwood; 23918 US-59 North, Kingwood, TX
Thursday Oct 12; 6pm - 9pm
All inclusive Oktoberfest dinner with beer pairings - Admission information  (832) 644-9067
 

Clyde Oktoberfest; 222 Oak Street, Clyde, TX; 4 piece band with Ross, Robert, Rick, and Valina
Saturday Oct 14  Times TBA
Sunday Oct 15  Times TBA
Evelyn singing and yodeling on guitar and Tanzenfest Volkstanzkreis performing too!

Tulsa Oktoberfest; River Park, Tulsa, OK; 4 piece band plus dancers
Wednesday Oct 18  (corporate night) Times TBA
Thursday Oct 19  Times and location TBA
Friday Oct 20 Times and location TBA
Saturday Oct 21 Times and location TBA
Sunday Oct 22 Times and location TBA

Galveston Oktoberfest; 1st Lutheran Church, 24th and Winnie, Galveston, TX
Saturday Oct 28; 3pm - 6:30pm; 4 piece band plus dancers

Lutherfest / Fall Festival;  Our Savior Lutheran Church, 5000 West Tidwell, Houston TX
Sunday Oct 29; 11am - 3pm; The Duo
Das ist Keine Kunst also performing 

 

We will be at Wurstfest Nov 4, 5 ,8, 11, 12  and are planning to have our annual breakfast gathering on Saturday Nov 4 at 9am.  We have not chosen a location yet, but may be returning to Golden Corral if they still have the same excellent management and service they had last year.  
 

For our North Texas friends:  If you haven't yet made plans for the weekend of Oct 6 - 8, may we recommend the Muenster Oktoberfest?  It's the same venue and staff who organize the Muenster Germanfest where we usually play in April each spring.  Muenster Oktoberfest will happen Oct 6 - 8, and our new friends from Germany, the Happy Hour Oktoberfest Band will be there!  This is the first German party band we've seen come over and actually perform the German Oktoberfest songs!  Follow the link for the entertainment schedule.  
 
 
Christmas is coming!  Das ist Lustig & the Overalls of Texas are already scheduling Christmas shows!  We can play for you as a duo unplugged, or we can bring the sound equipment and specialty folk instruments.  We tailor our set up and repertoire to your needs!  In addition to our German / Austrian / Dutch / Czech repertoire, and old country, we now offer original songs, and some Irish folk music too!  We've quite a few traditional German Christmas songs, as well as many of the standards everyone loves to sing along to.  Let us know if we can send you a quote!

 
Hosting our trips:  We are taking registrations!  Would you like to join us for the 3 week trip to Franconia, former East Germany, the Bohemian area of the Czech Republic, and Bavaria next summer?  The brochure, front and back, is attached below.  We're going to see so much!  History going back as far as 1000 years, Architecture spanning centuries of styles!  A music festival, a palace, water engineering, a chocolate factory, breathtaking panoramic views, local cultures, delicious foods, discoveries, laughter, mountain tops, riversides, nature and adventure.  With 19 days, you'll get to cover lots of ground, and still completely immerse yourself in that amazing "haahhhhhliday, vacation" feeling.  There's even an open day in the itinerary while in Bavaria where we will be polling you to decide on where we go and what we do on that day!  What other tour organizer does that for their guests?  Live music is part of this trip, sometimes by locals, and sometimes by us, your hosts!  Our airport meeting point is in Munich.  Once you're there, you'll ride in comfort in our luxury private coach, and you're in the capable hands of us, and our friendly driver.  This trip is just 8 months away!  We've already sent deposits to hold the bus and hotels.  We are now accepting installments to hold your spot.  The rest of the details are in the registration form, which we will be happy to mail to you at your request.  
 

 
Website:  You can always find out what's happening at http://www.prostyall.com.  We update our calendar as information becomes available, and always keep the upcoming gigs and last minute changes on the home page.  The shop page https://www.prostyall.com/shop has all sorts of fun things available, including the new design "It's All About The Ponytail" t-shirt. 

 
Social Media:  You can find us on Facebook, and Youtube.  You can subscribe to our Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/valinapolka , friend us on Facebook: Valina Polka  "like" us on facebook: Das ist Lustig   "like" our alter ego on facebook: The Overalls Of Texas     We have an instagram, but don't know how to use it.       
 
 
 
 

Behind the scenes:   Touring feels a little different this year, with Ross' Dad and my Mom and their health struggles.  We're thankful for every day Ross' Dad is still with us.  He's stable, and comfortable for the most part.  In a good facility with good hospice care.  Ross' mom can stay there with him as much as she wants, and it's close by home.  Ross drops in between our road tours to visit, play and sing for him.  My mom's radiation treatments have created a problem with her breathing and lungs.  She's in the hospital this week getting oxygen, and being monitored for changes.  She made it to the Walburg Fest at the beginning of this month, but has been feeling worse and worse since then.  We're praying the Drs can get this cleared up and she can go home.  No more radiation, because of the way it's affecting her.  Possibly more chemo, but not until she can get her strength back.  She's mad that she can't go to the festivals and see all of you - she misses y'all and all the fun, and so does my dad.
Lots of the Houston area has gotten rain, but somehow, not our neighborhood.  The water bill to keep the foundation from drastically moving, and keeping Ross' fruit trees alive was the highest it has ever been this past billing cycle.   

The Fayette County Record wrote a really nice article about Oktoberfest - they interviewed us between shows in Addison.  Here's a link to the entire article:  https://etypeproductionstorage1.blob.core.windows.net/$web/Production_Prod/Jobs/67/2023-09-21/364174/PreProcessedPDF/fcr_360431_prep_20230921092214910.pdf

In the office, we're still booking a few Oktoberfest shows that are filling in on Tuesday mornings, and Christmas calls are starting to come in. We even got invited to come to Idaho in January, but we can't figure how to make the logistics work to cover the travel costs.  But still a thrill to be recommended and requested from so far away!  Maybe someday - preferably in the summer months!  Contracts for the Tomball German Christmas Market are coming in. The schedule is almost set.  It won't be long, and I'll be filling in the breaks with all the folk dancers as their teachers and parents approve the requests.
News from the benefit for Michelle Yglecias is great!  Over 20,000 was raised, and every penny is going to help pay her medical and living expenses.  She is still recovering from all the injuries, misses her husband terribly, and is unable to work, but she's home and healing with family members helping out. Many of you donated, and we want you to know that she sends her love and thanks to each and every one of you!  
Ross's birthday is this week, we're heading to the Code 49 (Sauer Kraut Grill) for dinner and some non-working time for him to chill and celebrate with friends and family.  

I'm very excited about the most recent song I wrote.  The one called Paint Me A Picture.  We've played it with the full band at the last two festivals, and I've been blown away at the response it's getting.  The Lord blessing me with a new gift at this stage in my life is so exciting, and I can't wait to see what else I get to create with His whisper in my ear.  It's going to take time and a lot of work, but hopefully we'll be able to create an original album in the next couple of years.  That's something I NEVER thought I would even dream of when we started playing German folk music in 2007!  
 

We hope we get to see you somewhere on the Oktoberfest trail!  Stay cool, stay healthy, be happy, travel safe, share a smile with a stranger, and Polka On.  Prost Y'all!

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