La Crosse Tribune,
September 26, 2005 . . .
Rosemarie Link
named Mrs.
Oktoberfest
By Geri Parlin
It may be the
worst-kept
secret in town:
The new Mrs.
Oktoberfest is
Rosemarie Link.
At Roncalli
Newman, where
she is a member,
a festmaster
congratulated
her during
services, hugged
her, and told
her to get used
to hugging.
Her children
were told in
June, and the
word spread to
their friends.
"It's very hard
to keep a
secret. It's so
wonderful," Link
said, to be the
one trying to
keep the secret,
instead of
trying to guess.
"In past years,
I've been part
of that game,"
she said with a
laugh. "People
devise who it is
by who gets an
invitation."
2005 Mrs.
Oktoberfest
Rosemarie Link
and husband
Charles
If your
whole book club
got invited,
it's probably
one of the
members, she
said.
Link found out
her good fortune
when she was
invited to past
Mrs. Oktoberfest
Patt Boge's
house to talk
about
renovations at
the Newman
Center. But when
she arrived, two
other past Mrs.
Oktoberfests
were waiting as
well.
"I was so
nervous. I was
just dying.
You're just so
blindsided," she
said.
She kept it
secret for about
four months but
news started to
leak out. Don't
worry, her
husband Charles
told her, it's
not the
Manhattan
Project.
The Links came
to La Crosse in
1968 with their
five small
children. Having
grown up in
Waukon, Iowa,
Link was
familiar with La
Crosse and soon
plunged into
community life.
Part of that
life was
Oktoberfest, she
said, and her
family loved the
Maple Leaf
Parade. But she
will be doing
something for
the first time
this year —
attending the
Torchlight
Parade.
Because it's on
a Thursday
night, she said,
she and the
family usually
were mired in
homework or
school
activities.
"We're looking
forward to it."
And she's ready
with her wave
for Saturday's
Maple Leaf
Parade, which is
still among her
favorite
activities.
"I love a
parade."
And she's going
to love being
Mrs.
Oktoberfest,
said the woman
who has been
christened "Queenie"
by her new
Oktoberfest
family.
"I have never
been chosen to
be a queen or a
celebrity," she
said. "I've
never won
anything in my
life."
