For 39 years Oktoberfest has ruled one weekend in the village. You either love it or you hate it. Most shops along the street hope for added foot-traffic to generate much needed revenue, the 'best weekend of the year'. Of course bars and restaurants flourish. Yet, some shops suffer during the three day event. Hair salons, for example, can't book appointments because of the added challenge for clients to find parking.
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Yet, every business and resident in the village and surrounding areas hunker down and bear the brunt called Oktoberfest because it's good for the city, it's good for the village and it's good for some of their neighbor merchants.
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But there is a responsibility in the sponsoring organizations to make sure that the area is left in a clean working condition at the end of the event. Unfortunately, that time for clean-up comes after 72 hours of hard work, at about 8pm Sunday night when you are dog tired, sunburnt, and your entire body aches. That's when the clean-up begins and the rush to have the streets open by midnight.
La Mesa Village Merchants Association (LMVMA) has been running the Oktoberfest from the beginning, and they do a great job under the direction of Mr. Oktoberfest, Richard Felix. Richard takes all year to plan this huge event. He is the one out there, managing all 5 blocks, making sure everything is set up and running smoothly. He's the man on call for the entire weekend. Richard started his Oktoberfest career as a boy in the 1970s working beside his father, George Felix, at the very first event.
Richard ensures that the trash is picked up, the street sweeper completes his job and the sidewalks are power-washed. That's the right thing to do, leave the area in a better condition than it started.
While LMVMA manages the vendor booths along the boulevard, they do not manage the Allison Beer Garden nor the east end food court at Fourth Ave.
Take a gander at these photos of Monday morning before 8am, when the village is suppose to be open for business. How could anyone have thought they were done cleaning?
"Ho hum, bedtime! I'll come back tomorrow and finish clean-up."
No, that's not the way it should be. When outside entities come into our village, they should treat our village with respect. Shame on the food vendors for leaving so much trash behind, and the lack of supervision in this area.
