Some 300 residents converged on the dining room the other night to enjoy a succulent German dinner with German beers and wine. These pleasures were followed by singing and dancing in the auditorium with The Little German Band.

Resident John Haynes had set the mood for the festival a few days earlier with a presentation on the trips that he and his wife Alice had made to Germany over the course of more than two decades.

John followed up by devising a German Trivia Quiz which appeared over the course of 15 days on MeadowLife, the community website. The point of the quiz was to encourage residents to discover all the information available on the in-house site. The prize for getting the most correct answers was an authentic one-liter beer stein direct from the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. It turned out that three residents had all 15 answers correct. After a drawing, the stein was awarded to resident Margaret Siefert.

Another dimension of the fest was a Castle Building Contest. Carolina Meadows is divided in to Precincts. Each was invited to create a “castle” out of odds and ends like empty toilet paper tubes, cereal boxes, and plastic cups. The resulting creations were amazing! Eight precincts participated and their work displayed in the Club Center for all to admire. With Carolina Meadows employees serving as judges, The Blue Ribbon was awarded to the castle produced by Bill Teulings of Precinct 3.

With the dismantling of the castles, the multi-faceted Oktoberfest came to a satisfying conclusion.

By Dorothy Mahan