We had another great year at the 41^st Annual Hamler Summerfest!! Everything was great… including the weather, the crowds, the German food, and especially the cold German Leinenkugel beer!!

The event kicked off on Thursday night with a free Interdenominational Church Service at 8:00. Over $700 was raised in the free will offering this year! All proceeds went to the local Shalom Food Pantry to help feed the needy.

            On Friday the gates opened at 4 and Neal Zunker’s Music Collection from Wausau Wisconsin started playing at 5. Neal’s band played a diverse mix of polkas, waltzes, and big band music that kept the dance floor packed throughout the night. Fred Ziwich and the International Sound Machine gave Neal’s band a break at 6. Fred’s Cleveland based band played a unique mix of German and Slovenian music. And did anyone notice their “guest” drummer? Ted Lange from Squeezebox was beating the base drum and smashing the cymbals for Fred’s band all night! I must admit… he did do a pretty good job as a drummer, especially for an accordion player! Then starting at 7, the 4 time Grammy nominated Polka Family took the stage. This Pennsylvanian band played with a lot of energy and talent! They kept the joint a jumpin’ for the next hour and then all 3 bands alternated throughout the rest of the night until 1 in the morning! Yes – even the polka people still party until the wee hours of the morning.

            On Saturday the gates opened at 2 and Gary’s Ridgeland Dutchmen kicked off the music at 3. Gary’s band, from Cashton Wisconsin made their first ever appearance at The Fest. After watching how well they played they will probably be back! Neal Zunker’s band took the stage again after Gary’s and then the local favorite Ted Lange & Squeezebox got ready to perform. The crowd let out a big round of applause after Ted announced that their vocalist Mollie Busta won the 2008 USPA Female Vocalist of the Year!!! The United States Polka Association has an annual contest to award the best musicians in the Polka Industry. Then as the band started to play, a huge crowd gathered in front of the stage to listen to Mollie’s vocal stylings. Last but not least in the rotating lineup was Duane Malinowski from Toledo, Ohio. Duane’s band has always been a big hit at the Summerfest and this year was no exception! The party lasted until 1am again (unfortunately I didn’t quite make it that long).

            Sunday was another big day at The Fest. Gates opened at 11 with Gary’s Ridgeland Dutchmen starting at noon and then alternating with Ted Lange & Squeezebox throughout the day. A long standing tradition was kept alive on Sunday when many of the local assisted living homes brought in their clientele to enjoy a free meal and some great polka music. Sunday also hosted the 2^nd annual Cornhole Tournament. This was a big hit with the crowds. There was an adult and a 16 and under tournament. There were also free inflatable rides for the younger kids to enjoy. There was definitely something to do for every age group on Sunday!

            We’d like to thank everyone who attended for another great year at the Hamler Summerfest. Our 41^st year was a big success and we are really looking forward to keeping the tradition alive for years to come.

The 1^st Annual Hamler Country Music Fest, held last June, was a big hit for everyone who attended! We heard so many great comments about the event from everyone. The most common one was, “We can’t wait to come back next year!!” Even the event planners were surprised about how good the bands were. There was a lot of pickin’ and a grinnin’ goin’ on that weekend. These were some of the best country bands that people have seen in quite a long time.

Friday opened up with Clay Underwood. Clay got the crowd going with some hits off of his new CD. Next to take the Stage was Tyler Farr. The crowd got even more into it as he sang some good ole’ country tunes. Following Tyler was Rhett Akins. Rhett belted out some of his current hits like “Friday Night in Dixie” and “Hung Up”. You could tell that the crowd really liked these tunes from all of the dancing that was going on! A few of the “cowgirls” in the crowd even got up on stage to dance with the band! Shilo was up next. They played some southern style country rock that really whipped the crowd up into a fury at times. No one was in their seats any more when Shilo was playing! A large crowd gathered in front of the stage dancing and whoopin’ it up! As Shilo started to feed off of the energy of the crowd, they took their performance up even another notch! With both a male and female lead singer they could really perform a wide variety of country tunes.

As hard as it was to top Friday, Saturday turned out to be even better. Shenandoah was first to take the stage. Those boys can really do some pickin’!!! Every single song that they performed was a number 1 hit!!! You don’t see that every day! “Two Dozen Roses”, “Church on Cumberland Road”, the hits went on and on!!! Following a band that was really hard to beat was The Honky Tonk Tailgate Party trio of Trent Willmon, Mark Wills, and Jeff Bates. Believe me; they were up to the challenge. Trent got the party started with some hits off of his latest album “Broken In” plus some favorites from previous albums. Mark Wills was next. He was a crowd favorite as he sang “Jacobs Ladder” and his number 1 hit “19 Something”. The last of the Honky Tonkers to take the stage was Jeff Bates. Let me tell you, he hit a deep note in one song that shook the whole building!!! And it’s a pretty strong building! They closed out with all three stars on stage at the same time. This was really a sight to see! Just when you think you couldn’t possibly have any more country music fun, Tony Rio took the stage. I defy anyone to show me someone with more energy than Tony!!! He was a non-stop joy ride the entire time; from when he had an afternoon water fight in the middle of the corn hole tournament, until he closed the show down later that night! Tony had the place “on fire” during his performance! It was standing room only in front of the stage as he rocked it out country style. My favorite was his rendition of “She’s Country”. The crowd wouldn’t let Tony quit as he ended up playing well past his allotted time. What a way to end the night!!!

The weather was great, the food was good, and the beer was cold, it couldn’t get any better than this!!! The campers seemed to have a pretty good time too (some of them almost too good of a time – I won’t mention the golf cart races). I still remember the New Bavaria bunch with their kiddie pool; it was really refreshing on a hot day. The beer can tree was cool too. Everyone also seemed to really enjoy the Cornhole Tournament. Some of the southern crowd got their first experience at Cornhole and really seemed to like it. (No pun intended) The crowds were pretty good for being a first time event. Overall it was a really good event that can only get bigger and better as time goes on. If you did end up attending, please spread the word!!! Word of mouth is one of the best advertising out there today. We hope that everyone had a great time and we can’t wait to see everyone again next year!!!

Check out the website to see if you’re famous!!! On the main page of our website, in the upper left hand corner, there are a couple of links to see pictures of both the Summerfest and the Country Music Fest. Check ‘em out when you get some free time. (Please not all at once or I’m sure you’ll crash the site) Tell all of your friends to check ‘em out too. If they didn’t make it to one of the events, they will be able to see what they missed! From the pictures it looks like everyone had a really good time so we are hoping that next year will be even bigger!