Burgermeister Jon Childers waves from his float as it makes its way to the Festhalle for the official Oktoberfest keg tapping Friday, Oct. 3. With Childers is his wife, Tara. (Winona Whitaker/Hometown Current)

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AMANA — Visitors to Amana hobnobbed with Burgermeister Jon Childers before the official keg tapping that opened the 60th annual Oktoberfest last weekend.

Joining Childers at the Amana Heritage Museum for beer and brats were retired Burgermeister Pat Kellenberger, the Beer Man Group, members of Amana Heritage Society and visitors to the Amana Colonies.

Cheryl and Dallas Gamble, of Des Moines, celebrate their anniversary at the Amana Colonies every year during Oktoberfest. (Winona Whitaker/Hometown Current)

Cheryl and Dallas Gamble of Des Moines sneaked a kiss on the museum grounds. They’ve been attending Oktoberfest in Amana for 17 years and, since 2011, they’ve celebrated their wedding anniversary there.

“We met on the third. We got engaged on the third,” Cheryl said during the pre-party Oct. 3.

They even ended their honeymoon at Oktoberfest after getting married in 2011, Cheryl said.

The couple started dressing in period German clothing about five years in, said Cheryl. They started with one outfit each and added to their wardrobe over the years.

The couple spends the entire Oktoberfest weekend in the Amana Colonies, they said. They stayed at Zuber’s Homestead Hotel until it closed.

Derrick Andrae, of Moline, Illinois, and his parents, Angie and Brian Andrae, of Orion, Illinois enjoy refreshments in the shade on the grounds of the Amana Heritage Museum Oct. 3. (Winona Whitaker/Hometown Current)

Derrick Andrae, of Moline, Illinois, and his parents Angie and Brian Andrae, from Orion, Illinois, enjoyed their brats and beverages in the shade on the museum grounds.

“We come every year,” said Angie.

The family had visited the Amana Colonies for years but didn’t know the community had an Oktoberfest celebration until about 15 years ago, Brian said. Now they make it a point to come every year.

Elise Heitmann, program director for Amana Heritage Society which hosted the pre-party, counted money out of a large donation jar after the brats sold out.

All of the money from the pre-party at the museum will help Amana Heritage Society maintain the Amana Heritage Museum, the Homestead Folk Art Museum, the Homestead church, the communal kitchen in Middle Amana and the general store in High Amana, said Molly Kephart.

Elise Heitmann, program director of Amana Heritage Society, counts money as the pre-party at Amana Heritage Museum ends Friday afternoon, Oct. 3. (Winona Whitaker/Hometown Current)

The German burgermeister is similar to a town’s mayor, but in the Amana Colonies, the burgermeister isn’t elected and serves until he no longer wants to.

Childers, who has been involved extensively in Oktoberfest, took the position at the request of Kellenberger, who wanted to retire. Kellenberger became burgermeister in 2010 when Burgermeister Carl Oehl retired.

Retired Burgermeister Pat Kellenberger, right, talks with Burgermeister Jon Childers at Amana Heritage Museum Oct. 3 before riding to the Festhalle for the official Oktoberfest keg tapping. (Winona Whitaker/Hometown Current)

Oehl did a lot for tourism in the community, Kellenberger said. He became burgermeister in 2002.

Kellenberger has been involved with every one of Amana’s 60 Oktoberfest celebrations, he said. He, started in the high school band playing polka music.

Margaret Trumpold, of Amana, and Kathy Kellenberger, wife of the retired Burgermeister, visited near the woodshed on the museum grounds as they waited to board the burgermeister’s float for the trip to the Festhalle grounds. Kellenberger said she and Pat have been married for 53 years.

The float, with a beer keg, the burgermeisters and their families followed the drumbeat of the Beer Man Group down 220th Trail just before 2 p.m., a crowd of Germanophiles in tow.