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Annual Oktoberfest event celebrated without a hitch

Sidney's 41st annual Oktoberfest celebration attracted locals and out-of-towners for hometown fun this past weekend.

With a parade, entertainment, food and brew, a car show, crafts, horseshoes, a farmers market and wiener dog races, there was something for everyone of all ages to enjoy.

Hundreds of people attended each event despite the cold and rainy weather.

According to Judy Harris, president of the Oktoberfest board and entertainment chair, this year's event was a success.

"It was a little cold, but that tends to keep people in the tent drinking and eating," Harris said. "If it's too hot, it will get too hot in the tent. We had a great turnout and sold more beer than last year. The proceeds were more than last year and everybody that we worked with were just wonderful."

The Oktoberfest parade went off without a hitch, although it was shorter due to the weather conditions.

Every band and float that participated in the parade were critiqued and judged by locals, who were picked to be judges at random.

"We are really just looking at participation, theme and the appearance of each float," said judge Nyla Hobson.

Parade winners included:

Adult Organization Category

1st Place: Patriot Guards and the Junkyard Dogs

2nd Place: Sidney Feed and Seed

3rd Place: Adopt-A-Dog

Youth Category

1st Place: Jobs Daughters

2nd Place: Sidney High School Cheerleaders

3rd Place: Sidney High School Danz Team

Novelty Category

1st Place: Larry Nelson's Military Uniform Truck

2nd Place: Cheyenne County Fair Queen

3rd Place: '47 Willy's Military Jeep

Business Category

1st Place: Jimmy's

2nd Place: Sidney Regional Medical Center

3rd Place: Hillside Bar & Grill

Another big event at the Oktoberfest celebration included the 13th annual Oktoberfest Running of the Wieners race. There were 26 dogs entered in various categories.

Maggie, owned by Jessie Large of Dalton, won first place in the "Little Sizzler" division as well as the youngest competitor award at 9 weeks old.

Winners in each division were:

Frankfurters Division (ages 1-5)

1st Place: Ellie, owned by Trevor and Alicia Brady of Sidney

2nd Place: Dixie, owned by Alicia Leis of Sidney

3rd Place: Rocky, owned by Chaz Persino of Sidney

Senior Sausage Division (ages 5-10)

1st Place: Larry, owned by Christi Hernandez of Sidney

2nd Place: Buster, owned by Brent Leis of Sidney

3rd Place: Vinnie, owned by Brooke Lloyd of Sidney

Antike Viener Schnitzel Division (ages 10 and older)

1st Place: Izzy, owned by Season Uhrig of Sidney

2nd Place: Scooter, owned by Brooke Lloyd of Sidney

3rd Place: Tinkerbell, owned by Ed Meisburger of Greeley, Colo.

The oldest racer was Kathoga, owned by Sharlene Withens of Sidney. Ollie Mae traveled the farthest for the event coming from Kearney. According to Judy Scott, the coordinator of the event, there were about 200 spectators at this year's race.

"This was another successful year for us," said Master of Ceremonies Chris Gabis. "We still have a lot of mugs and pitchers for sale, but we actually went through more beer than last year. The craft fair and farmers market were both very busy over the weekend, and we had so many talented performers this year, it was incredible.

According to Gabis, a new favorite was our visitors from Southern France, La Compagnie Maribel.

"There's so many volunteers to thank who made this weekend possible, so a special thank you to everyone who helped," he added.

 

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