By Danielle Smith

Leader Staff Writer

No plane tickets to Europe were required this past weekend as local residents had their fill of brews and eats at the first ever Oxtoberfest.

The action took place in Centennial Park where guests could be seen enjoying live music and local food and brew. While it was an abnormally warm day for it being late September, that didn’t stop visitors from checking out this local spin on an international festival.

Guests were able to enjoy food from 5-1 Diner, The OX Bar and Grill, Victoria’s, Vendetti’s Pizza and Pasta, Evergreens

Coffee and Bake Shop, The Oxford Tap and 925 Social. The suds were provided by HomeGrown Brewing Co. and Gravel Capital Brewing.

Children could be seen scarfing down cotton candy and popcorn, making art projects and dancing to the tunes played by band members from Holy Cross and Living Word while the balloons tied to their wrists danced with them.

The idea of Oxtoberfest came from the mind of Pastor Matt Schuler, lead pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church and Christian Preschool. Once Schuler had a plan, he had six weeks to put this plan into action.

“I went door to door, I sent out notes, I sent out requests, but I also just went in and checked with as many people as I could and there were folks that wanted to jump on board,” Schuler said. “We were hoping that this first year is just a ‘taste and see, Oxford is good,’ and that we build from this.”

While Oxtoberfest provided community members with an afternoon of activity, the main purpose of the festival was to raise funds for Love in the Name of Christ (Love INC) of North Oakland County, a nonprofit serving residents in the area.

“(Schuler) reached out to me and said (he) was thinking of having this event in downtown Oxford and (he) would like (Love INC) to be the beneficiary,” said Patricia Duke, director of Love INC. “We don’t really have a lot of money of our own, but…when we do get some funds coming in, we want to give folks a hand up and not a hand out, so we will use some of those limited funds to help people get out of some of the emergency situations that they are in and help them get back on their feet.”

“We sold approximately 400 tickets and are donating at least $2,000 to Love INC,” Schuler wrote in a text message to this reporter. “It was an awesome day and we’re already working on ideas to make it better for next year.”

With support from other local churches, the village council, Downtown Development Authority, Oxford Chamber of Commerce, Oxford Police Department and sponsors: Curtis Insurance, Thrivent, Oxford Bank, Frontier Distributing, Genesis Systems Integration, Apothecary and Co. and The Oxford Tap, Oxtoberfest was given a solid foundation to expand on in the coming years.

“I’d love to see it…be the full length of Oktoberfest, which would be like a two week event and in years to come, maybe we would have a launch party and a finish party and then we’d go from restaurant to restaurant throughout the two weeks. I think the sky’s the limit,” Schuler said.

Allison Kemp, a village council member said, “I love (Oxtoberfest). I love seeing the community come out and all of the volunteers putting it together. I think it’s a great opportunity for the community for adults and kids alike to celebrate all that Oxford has to offer.”

Kemp, who volunteered for the event, compared Oxtoberfest to other events she experienced in Oxford while growing up and believes these events are a great way to meet your neighbors and hold onto that “small-town feel.”

“I think it’s an awesome opportunity to just eat, drink, be merry and ultimately, Holy Cross wanted to do this because we love Jesus and Jesus loves people and Jesus enjoys food and drink with people,” Schuler said. “What a great opportunity to do that with the people of Oxford.”