It's just about September, can you believe it?!? We're 2/3 of the way through this wacky year! It's nearly autumn; it's nearly Oktoberfest season, so time should start to fly a little bit! Hang in there, things are slowly going to get better. In the mean time, we'll keep staring 2020 in the eyes and take what it throws at us the best we can with a smile on our faces and a prayer for strength in our hearts.
Things around the Lustig Haus have remained busy busy. Ross is continuing to devote 6 - 8 hours a day to accordion and alphorn rehearsal, vocal warm ups, and working on a few very difficult new songs. I've stayed busy with promotions, and am coordinating Tomball's German Christmas Market. In preparation for Oktoberfest season, I've made another batch of Sauerkraut. It's fermenting as we speak, and will be ready on Sept 28! You can watch the video here. I did forget to mention in the video to add caraway seed - as much or as little as you like to your taste. Also add a little water so it reaches the top of the tamped down cabbage. The cabbage, salt, caraway mash should sound like this before you close the lid.
We know there are many of you who still can not get out to do things in public, so we are continuing our online shows for the time being. We're moving to Wednesdays at 7pm and will begin again on September 9. We're always happy to play requests. We also plan to share some footage we'll gather while at the Walburg German Restaurant over Labor Day! All of the live online shows are broadcast from my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/valinapolka
Oktoberfest season: We are able to offer something this year that we have not been available for in a long time. With the big festivals being cancelled, it has freed us up to play for Oktoberfest parties at private homes! Would you like to have a party in your backyard? In your 2 car garage with the doors open to the driveway? On your large covered porch? At your airport hangar? Paulaner USA just provided us with two boxes of decorations and party swag to bring to your event! Even a couple of cool German hats for the hosts of the parties! I've attached a flyer to this e-mail. We have several dates still available to offer. We can also play a private online party for just you and your friends if you'd like!
Below are the dates and locations that are booked:
Thursdays Sept 3, 10, 17, Oct 1, 8, 15, 29 we'll be at The Sauer Kraut Grill at 734 Crabb River Rd, in Richmond, Texas from 6 - 8pm. They have excellent food, and a great Bier (lots of Paulaner, and local craft brews!) and Wein selection! Picnic tables outside if you feel safer dining in the fresh air. We'll come out and play for you if you like!
Friday - Sunday Sept 4 - 6; Walburg German Restaurant, 3777 FM 972, Walburg, TX. Three bands will be there; Alpenmusikanten, The Walburg Boys, and Das Ist Lustig! Jeff will join us on the drums, and we can't wait! The Bier tent and Biergarten will have music from 6 - 12 Friday and Saturday, with lots of space to spread out. Sunday Gospel service at 11am, then live music from 12 - 6.
Friday, September 18; private party near Allen TX.
Saturday, September 19; private party near Oklahoma City.
Thursday September 24, we'll be at the KC Bier Co, 310 W 79th St in Kansas City, MO from 6 - 9pm. There's a nice outdoor Biergarten where we'll be if the weather is good. If the weather is naughty, we'll be inside the Bierhalle.
Friday September 25, we'll be at Siegi's Sausage Factory and Restaurant, 8104 S. Sheridan Rd, Tulsa, OK from 6 - 9pm. Siegi's is a large restaurant, so there is room to spread out and still enjoy the music and great food.
Saturday, September 26; private party near Oklahoma City.
Sunday, September 27; pending private party near Ft Worth, TX
Saturday Oct 2; private party in Houston, TX
Saturday Oct 10; private party in Houston, TX
Sunday Oct 11; pending private party in Houston, TX
Friday - Sunday Oct 16-18 pending in central TX
Thursday Oct 22 pending in central TX
All other weekdays / weekends in October and November are currently available. We'd love to bring the Biergarten to you! There are even possibilities for specials through Paulaner USA - We'll hook you up! Of course, with the current circumstances, things can change rapidly, so always check our website, facebook, or the website of the public event to make sure it's going as planned or if it requires reservations before you leave your home.
Hosting our trips to Europe will resume as soon as international travel is wide open again. The trip we were going to host this year going to Germany and the Czech Republic has been postponed and reserved for next June, 2021. Target dates are Tuesday June 8 - Tuesday June 22. The itinerary will follow the same plan (as much as possible) we had in place for this year's trip. If changes to the itinerary take place, it will be because of airline schedules and other factors beyond our control. If you'd like to join us for travel to Europe in the future, let us know! Our small groups have a ton of fun together!
Website: You can always find out what's happening with us at http://www.prostyall.com. We update our calendar as information becomes available. The store page has shirts and hat pins to get you ready for the Oktoberfest season. Also, make sure to subscribe to our youtube channel, as we are loading the live shows from facebook up to youtube each week for those who prefer to stay away from facebook. And you never know in this crazy world, there may come a time when we are broadcasting live on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/user/valinapolka
Behind the scenes: Ross is looking forward to his 50th birthday. Funds are super tight, but we had set a little aside over the years with the hopes of going somewhere fun for this milestone birthday. We can't afford what he originally wanted, but we are going to get to do some neat things! Sandwiched between performances in Oklahoma and Missouri, we are going up to South Dakota to see Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, and whatever else tickles our fancy in the 2 days we'll have while in that area. We'll leave Oklahoma city early Sunday morning Sept 20 after playing a couple of Backyard Oktoberfest parties. We plan to stop and see the Largest Hand Dug Well, the Largest Czech Egg, and the Largest Ball of Twine while driving through Kansas. We'll make some short videos at each stop to share with you on our live online shows when we're back home. We'll sleep in the van a couple of nights - it's plenty comfy in there. We'll see Scott's Bluff on Monday, then head to the Black Hills for Monday night and Tuesday. We'll certainly have some neat views to enjoy while we eat picnic meals from our cooler! Wednesday, we'll need to start south again for the scheduled shows. It will be a whirlwind trip, but Ross is very excited, and so am I! I think the van is ready to get some road under its wheels too!
Keep your hands together that the world will heal enough that we can get back to celebrating together again in person at these fun events! We look forward to seeing you sometime soon! Stay healthy, stay safe, and stay cool! Prost Y'all!