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ST. CLAIR SHORES — Pull out your lederhosen and put on your best dirndl for Shorestoberfest, presented by the St. Clair Shores Cool City Committee and the Lac Ste. Claire Kiwanis.
Jason Miller, chair of the Cool City Committee, said to expect a lot of fun at the annual event. It is taking place from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sept. 30 at Veterans Memorial Park. Park passes are not needed for entry.
“It’s basically a German-themed Oktoberfest celebration,” Miller said. “So as like in the German Oktoberfest, it’s a celebration of (the) end of harvest, end of year.”
Various beers will be on tap for the event featuring local breweries including Copper Hop Brewing Company, Baffin Brewing Company and others. Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill will also be featured with their hard cider.
Food trucks will be available with Oktoberfest-themed foods for everyone to enjoy. Also featured are a couple of contests.
“We have a dress up in your best costume contest. We’ll have that and then also the stein holding contest,” Miller said.
The Cool City Committee hosts the event in partnership with the Lac Ste. Claire Kiwanis. The event is a joint fundraiser for both groups.
“This is such a large event at Veterans Memorial Park and having such a large space, we need to have a lot of volunteers to cover because it’s such a big event,” Miller said. “We work together as partners on this and we pull this off and we put on this event.”
Shorestoberfest is for people 21 years of age or older because it is a German beer fest.
“So we’re going to be IDing people at the gates and stuff,” Miller said. “That’s part of the responsibility and also part of the state license. We have to have that level of security.”
There will be a $10 admission charge because of the nature of the event.
“The reason being is … we use that for fundraising. This is our one-time-a-year fundraiser,” Miller said. “So that allows us to use that funding for future events.”
The need for fundraising has increased in part due to the success of the citywide garage sale, rising expectations and other events.
“If we do (a) citywide garage sale again, it’s going to be bigger and better than this past year, which means is, we’re going to have to do (a) bigger budget,” Miller said.
Miller said the park will be shut down by 6 p.m. for this special event.
Miller said the two groups collectively raised around $9,000 last year before expenses.
Some of the money raised supports programming such as Halloween events and the kids’ zone in the social district.
“Funds that we earn on that gets turned right back around into putting on a really neat event,” Miller said.
To volunteer for the event, visit www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0D48AEAB2DA 2F85-scsshorestoberfest.
