Heading toward harvest

By WANDA WAYFARER

Mid August is upon us. Local foodstuffs have reached their peak and are ripe for the harvest. This time of year calls for a celebration of summer’s bounty and our last couple of weeks of warm weather.

This Friday, you will want to head over to the Alpine Wurst and Meat House in Honesdale, PA for their annual (and early) Oktoberfest (570/253-5899). The celebration of everything German will start with music by The Kapella Fellas underneath the tent in The Alpine parking lot, and continue for a week.

The Alpine, a wonderful German restaurant, bakery, butcher and delicatessen, has thrown this annual August party for 29 years, designing it to mirror Germany’s famed Oktoberfest.

Besides German music under the tent, The Alpine’s celebration is also about the German fare. They have a huge barbeque going and will grill up ribs, chicken, homemade sausages and wurst. Side dishes will include hot potato pancakes with applesauce, rich German pastries and, of course, beer. Frisch vom Fass, a brown German brew, will be offered on tap.

Of course, you can always eat inside the Alpine as well. The dinner menu offers a variety of the restaurant’s homemade sausages, fresh pork dishes, hand-cut meats and out-of-this-world red cabbage. On Saturday and Sunday, live zither music will be played in the restaurant.

You can come to the Oktoberfest dressed in lederhosen, but jeans will do. The cost of admission to the event $8, a cover charge that does not include food. Tip: bring your appetite with you; both the food and drink at the Oktoberfest are so delicious it’s hard to stop eating.

Saturday morning, head over to the Lackawaxen Fire House for the fire department’s annual Craft Fair (570/685-7330). The fair starts at 10:00 a.m. and runs until 3:00 p.m. inside the firehouse. A $1 admission will get you into the doors to view all sorts of local crafts.

Each year the selection of crafts get better. Last year I purchased some really beautiful homemade curtains at a cost that was comparable to what you would have to pay in one of the big-box stores.

The vendors will sell everything from T-shirts to Christmas ornaments. There will also be a bake sale during the show; who can resist?

Parking is free for the craft show, and they will also be giving away door prizes. And don’t worry about the August heat being too much for you; the firehouse is air-conditioned.

Don’t leave Lackawaxen after you are done shopping the craft show. From 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, a Steak Bake/Scholarship and Fundraiser will take place at the Lackawaxen Volunteer Fire Department Pavilion (570/685-1650), located in back of the firehouse.

The Steak Bake fundraiser is being thrown in the memory of Jacob Beisel, who lost his life during his second tour of duty in the war in Iraq. Jacob’s family established this scholarship fund in his memory at the Wallenpaupack Area High School.

Tickets cost $20 per person, and include the steak dinner with all the fixings and entertainment by the band REWIND. A children’s menu and a cash bar will also be available underneath the pavilion. So come out for some delicious food, some great ‘60s and ‘70s music and a wonderful cause.

On Sunday, pay tribute to great orchestras and head over to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, NY for the performance of The Boston Pops, led by Keith Lockhart and featuring Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley (866/781-2922).

The performance, starting at 7:00 p.m., will be a tribute to Oscar and Tony award-winning music. I attended the Boston Pops performance last year, and cannot tell you how impressed I was by Keith Lockhart’s leadership of the Boston Pops Orchestra. The music hypnotized everyone in the audience into show-tune frenzy. This is a show that shouldn’t be missed by anyone who enjoys music from Hollywood or Broadway. (See page 11C for more details).

Be sure to get out and enjoy the weekend, packing in as much as possible. After all, the summer days are growing shorter and shorter, and before you know it, Labor Day will be here and fall will be upon us.