Lustige Leute Newsletter October 2021

Oktoberfest is in full swing, and it has already been a wild ride!  A bit of an emotional roller coaster between reading the news, hearing from friends who are suffering injuries and sickness, having a few hurdles of our own, and then the utter joy while playing music for crowds of people who are smiling, laughing, and leaving the world outside for just a few hours.  It's a blessing to do what we do, and we are blessed to be surrounded by those who appreciate what we do.  Have I said yet how wonderful it has been to see so many of you in north Texas and Houston these past couple of weeks?  Thank you for coming out! 

Those mid August and early September Oktoberfest shows got us in the mood and worked some of the kinks out for the 4 piece band.  After all, when the band members live in different cities and are all self employed with multiple irons in the fire, it's nearly impossible to rehearse together.  We record tracks to send back and forth, we meet in trio to go over arrangements, then get together on stage with lots of prayers and open minds.  We are blessed with talented colleagues!  The season started in earnest for the Duo with a couple of nights playing for Fresh by Brookshire's in Tyler.  The Addison Oktoberfest started right after that... 6 days on stage started with a big bang (Look for the ** Below), then a couple of days off spent with friends, followed by the Oktoberfest Fort Worth (click the link to watch Sheryl's video), followed by a swanky lawn party at The Houstonian's "Manor Haus"!  We were on stage 18 days, with 34 hours driving to and from gigs in September.  Everyone is making up for lost time last year, and there are no holds barred in the level of celebration we see in our audiences!  No holds barred on our part either!  Yodelayheeeyippeee! 

Oktoberfest Season performances: 

--The Sauer Kraut Grill, 734 Crabb River Rd, Richmond, TX; Stubenmusi (pub music unplugged) with the Duo 
Thursdays Sept 30;  6 - 8pm 

-- Saint Arnold Oktoberfest, Saint Arnold Brewing Co, 2000 Lyons Ave, Houston, TX; 
Friday Oct 1; 6pm - 9pm; Ross, Robert, Jeff, Valina & dancers 
Saturday Oct 2; 6pm - 9pm; Ross, Robert, Jeff, Valina & dancers 
Sunday Oct 3; 1pm - 4pm; Ross, Kerry, Jeff, Valina & dancers 
Free Admission, get there early! 

-- Oktoberfest, The Sauer Kraut Grill, 734 Crabb River Rd, Richmond, TX; 
Saturday Oct 9 1:00 - 2:45; The Duo; Outside under the tents 

-- Oktoberfest, Roughtail Brewing, 320 W Memorial Road, Oklahoma City, OK;Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Oct 15, 16, 17; Ross, Robert, Jeff, & Valina; Times TBD; General admission, and VIP tickets available; Scroll down on their website to October to find the links. 

-- Linde Oktoberfest, River West Festival Park, 2100 S Jackson Ave, Tulsa, OK; Oct 19 - 24; Ross, Jeff, Valina, and dancers Zach and Piper; 
Tuesday Oct 19; 7:10 in The BierGarten 
Wednesday Oct 20; 5:00 - 6:45 in The Bierstube 
Thursday Oct 21; 5:00 - 6:30, 6:45 - 7:15 in The Bierstube 
Friday Oct 22; 3:00 - 6:45 in The BierGarten 
Saturday Oct 23; 3:00 - 7:15 in The BierGarten 
Sunday Oct 24; 12:00 - 2:30 in The Warsteiner EssZelt 
"ADMISSION:  In order to manage attendance effectively, all admission tickets and packages must be purchased in advance as there will be no walk-up sales available at the main entrance." 

-- Oktoberfest Show, Momma's at Sengelmann, 531 N Main, Schulenburg, TX; 

Wednesday Oct 27; 6pm - 9pm; The Duo 

-- Lutherfest, Our Savior Lutheran Church, 5000 W Tidwell, Houston, TX; Sunday Oct 31; The Duo and Dancers; 11:30am - 1:30pm   Attend 9:30am service, then enjoy the fellowship afterwards, and learn a little about reformation and Marin Luther. 

-- Wurstfest, Landa Park, New Braunfels, TX; 
Das Kleine Zelt: 
Saturday Nov 6; 6:05 - 7:05, 8:40 - 9:35, 11pm - 12:00;  Ross, Robert, Jeff, Valina & dancers 
Sunday Nov 7; 3:30 - 4:50, 6:30 - 7:30, 9:05 - 10:00; Ross, Jeff Valina & dancers 
Stelzenplatz: 
Tuesday Nov 9; 6:45 - 7:40, 8:55 - 9:45; Ross, Robert, Jeff, Valina & dancers 
Wednesday Nov 10; 5:30 - 6:25, 7:50 - 8:45; Ross, Robert, Jeff, Valina & dancers 
Friday Nov 12; 5:30 - 6:35, 8:15 - 9:20; Ross, Randy, Jeff & dancers 
Saturday Nov 13: 2:10 - 3:10, 4:50 - 5:45, 7:15 - 8:15, 9:40 - 10:35; Ross, Randy, & Jeff 
Sunday Nov 14; 2:15 - 3:15, 4:50 - 5:50, 7:30 - 8:30; Ross, Randy, Jeff & dancers 

The homepage of our website reflects every performance except the private ones.  Often when we're on the road, we don't have access to update our facebook pages, but will always (as long as my cell phone works) update the home page on our website if there is a last minute change.  You're always welcome to give us a call or send a text if you want to make sure we're going to be where our calendar shows we're going to be. 

Looking ahead: 

These shows are tentative: 

Sauer Kraut Grill most Thursdays in November / December 

Dec 11 - 12; Tomball German Christmas Market; Times and stages TBD 

Wed Dec 22; Krause's Cafe in New Braunfels; 6pm - 9pm 

Host your own Christmas party!  Call us for pricing and availability if you have something to celebrate in November / December!  We're available to play for you as a duo unplugged, or we can bring the sound equipment and specialty folk instruments.  Nothing says Christmas like German Christmas carols played on Accordion, and even Alphorn! American ones played on Accordion and cowbells!  Need an authentic European (Dutch) Saint Nick?  We can offer him as well!  Our Saint Nick is fluent in Dutch and German, and knows the history of how Saint Nick came to be. His beard is real, and his robes are hand made. 

Hosting our trips to Europe   Both trips for the summer of 2022 are close to capacity.  Would you like to travel with us to Germany and the Czech Republic, Tuesday June 7 - Tuesday June 21, 2022?  Or to the Black Forest and Switzerland June 22 - July 7, 2022?  Our small groups have a ton of fun together!  Can't choose?  There is an option (and a discount) if you go on both trips.  There are two double rooms left available on the first trip June 7 - 21.  The Swiss tour June 22 - July 7 has one double room available, and we're talking to the hotels about adding another.  The number of guests for each trip will not exceed 24, so social distancing will be possible, even on the bus.  If you're interested, let us know soon!  https://www.prostyall.com/lustig-tours-holiday 

If you'd like to join us for travel to Europe in the future, we'd love to have you!  There have been many requests to return to Austria, The Netherlands, and also requests to do a Christmas Market tour.  Let us know what you would like to do in 2023.  We tailor these trips to your wishes! 

Website:  You can always find out what's happening with us 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 koozies! (they fit party cups, pint glasses and Wurstfest cups!)  The famous "Prost Y'all" sign is in stock again and available for sale too!  Won't that look awesome on the wall of your favorite relaxation spot!  We also have shirts, hat pins, and CD's that can make great gifts for your Biergarten loving friends. 

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: http://www.facebook.com/valinapolka  "like" us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prostyall/  We have an instagram, but don't know how to use it. 

**Behind the scenes - special edition: 

  On Sept 9, the weather people started talking about a system that might develop in the gulf.  By Sept 11, they were pretty sure whatever developed would come up through the Houston area.  We began prepping for a 2 week road tour, and squeezed in some house and yard prep for the storm.  We got home from a gig on Sunday Sept 12 at 10pm, stayed up all night doing the tasks we'd left for Monday (because we'd planned to leave for Tyler on Tuesday morning). With the storm bringing potential calamity, we departed on Monday morning instead.  Ross had about 4.5 hours of sleep, Valina just 3.  But come heck or high water, we're not going to miss a gig!  Especially after last year's shutdowns.  So, we drove in to Tyler, and got checked in to our hotel room around 3pm, very "jet lagged".  We both passed out for a couple of hours.  I woke up around 5:30pm, and fixed dinner.  I brought our leftover chicken and rice dish I'd made, put it in the micro, and we feasted like royalty on home cooked food with fresh tomatoes and avocados too!  Then Ross realized he needed something from the van.  He went outside around 7:30, and came running back in telling me he had an accident.  He had fallen from a disappearing sidewalk and faceplanted.  Thankfully the bill of his ball-cap came between the pavement and his glasses; but still his glasses cut in to the bridge of his nose.  There was blood all over his face.  He went to the bathroom to start trying to clean up and stop the bleeding, I went to get ice to put on him.  Then we called our friend Tammy, who just retired from ER nursing.  She walked us through what to do and how to bandage it over the phone.  Early Tuesday morning, Ross was still bleeding ever so slightly, so we headed over to an Urgent Care to have him checked out, cleaned up, and bandaged.  He said he was not in pain.  ER people said we did a good job with the ice, because swelling was at a minimum for the injury. Tammy gave us excellent tele-ER care!  He had a little swelling on his nose and some scraping.  Doc gave him an ointment for that, and gave us instructions for how to care for the wound.  We went back to the hotel and rested, then loaded in to the gig at Fresh.  The weather was wet, a heavy drizzle, so we tarped as we loaded our stuff to the covered patio.  Ross' German work ethic was in full swing, and the gig went off just fine.  I don't know that guests could tell anything was wrong with him.  Wednesday was beautiful weather and another great gig, Moved to Addison Wednesday night, and performed there Thursday - Sunday.  By Friday in Addison, he was looking pretty normal, and never got the black eyes they warned us he could get.  By Friday in Fort Worth, he looked so healed, you couldn't tell anything had happened unless you looked real close. 

Ross celebrated his birthday this year with a healed face, and a day off; dinner and margaritas with family on Monday night at our favorite hangout, Lopez in Houston.  Always excellent service, good food, good prices, and good bar!  He's been watching his Batman TV series DVDs that we got him for his birthday.  Pow! Bam! Biff! hehe.  I've been busy busy in the office with contracts, invoices, Tomball planning and tour paperwork, turning merch around for the next shows, laundry and ironing, and managed to mow the grass and rake the heavy stuff this morning before the rain.  ...who ever said this life is glamorous?  I'll get my day off after Wurstfest, hopefully in a hammock surrounded by bird feeders, visited by as many birds as visited last time we relaxed at that little cabin for a few days. 

With all the wonders of joy and happiness at Oktoberfest, we have not forgotten the sadness and sickness around us.  But man can not survive on sadness and worry.  We must allow joy and hope in our lives!  It is a blessing to do what we do.  We pray every day that health and strength will remain for our friends, family, fans, and ourselves, so we can continue passing happiness on to others.  We thank the Lord every day for the talents he loaned us and the people he has brought around us.

That's all for this newsletter.  Your support and friendship means so much to us!  Stay healthy, stay safe, share a smile with a stranger, and we hope we get to "prost y'all" along the Oktoberfest road soon!

Leave a comment