This post documents my experience on August 10, 2013.
On the grounds of Amherst’s Sandstone Village…
…the Historical Society celebrated its one-day German Fest…
…with some German-American dancing…
…German style food…
…(from one main food vendor – hence the long line)…
…some German style desserts from another vendor…
…and German beer.
Beyond that, activities were more family-fest oriented…
…with an animal show (Lake Erie Nature and Science Center)…
…pony rides…
…face painting…
…balloon animals…
…and festival gambling (aka gift and 50/50 raffles).
And while I understand how the activities may not have been particularly Germanic, I felt the location actually muddled the festival theme…
…by transporting festival goers to a historic fire station…
…a blacksmith…
…an auto service garage (with vintage bikes)…
…a stable…
…a caboose…
…and various other buildings…
…all lacking German decor, history or connection.
So was the Sandstone Village simply within regular business hours as the festival took place or was it operating for the German Fest?
Definitely hard to say.
But I will say this…
…I had to go really deep and out of the way to find this lone gift vendor…
…so I hope he was given a great price to set up shop there.