BSV invites community to monthly Biergarten

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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter

Most Americans are now familiar with Germany’s Oktoberfest – an annual festival celebrated with parades, food, music, and most importantly: beer. The United States has adopted Oktoberfest (although nothing can compare to Munich’s Oktoberfest celebration) and many look forward to it in late September and early October. The Germans also inspired Americans to set up beer gardens – outdoor areas set up with long tables and benches for people to enjoy beer, food, and entertainment.

Walpole’s Boylston Schul-Verein (BSV), also known as the German-American club, helped its friends and visitors ring in the weekend as they hosted an oldies and rock themed beer garden on Friday, July 28.

Visitors and members of the BSV began to arrive at the beer garden at 6:30 p.m., with many enjoying the beer, wine, and a Louisiana BBQ buffet dinner that was available for purchase. The beautiful weather attracted many visitors to the outdoor tables, while others headed under the string lights in the pavilion, where the night’s entertainment was setting up. As the crowd started to fill the tables in the pavilion while the sun set, T.O.A.K. (Three of a Kind) took to the stage to provide the beer garden guests with classic rock favorites and throwbacks that inspired couples to hit the dance floor.

Although the music and food stuck to an American style, the beer garden offered both Germans and German speakers a place to connect and socialize. Werner Gertje of Ashland, Karl Knoblauch of Waltham, and Helga Reinish of Mansfield are members of the BSV and attended the event in support of the club. “The big purpose is to keep he German culture and language alive,” said Gertje, a German-American.

The Boylston Schul-Verein was established in 1874 and consistently proves that the club has many social, cultural, and educational opportunities to offer. Not only does the BSV plan and host events such as the Biergarten and Oktoberfest celebrations, but they also offer German classes for all levels and ages, including an adult German school, for those who are interested in learning how to speak, read, and write in German. The club also has a choir that sings German folk songs and pieces from renowned German composers, a skat club, and a men’s night for its members.

For the BSV, the beer garden evenings are not only an opportunity to get German speakers together, it is also a chance to show its visitors what a real German beer garden is all about: Gemütlichkeit, the German word for having a sense of belonging, and the feelings of coziness and good cheer.