La Crosse Tribune,
September 28, 2006 . . .
Longtime volunteer this
year's
Mrs. Oktoberfest
By Anne Jungen
The meeting
should have been
a clue, Sue
Schultz said.
Sharon Imes told
Schultz she was
being
interviewed for
a commemorative
article on Kids
Coulee, a
volunteer
project they
worked on more
than a decade
ago. Mary Patros
would be
photographer.
Both just
happened to have
been Mrs.
Oktoberfest,
from 2004 and
1998,
respectively,
but Schultz said
she didn’t make
the connection.
Then 10 minutes
into the early
May meeting,
Patros slid a
white binder
upside down
across the
kitchen table.
The other side
read “Sue
Schultz, Mrs.
Oktoberfest
2007.”
“I’m going,
‘What? What? I
don’t believe
this,’” Schultz
said. “Sharon
said, ‘You
better say yes
or we’re going
to talk you into
it.’”
Mrs.
Oktoberfest
2007
Sue
Schultz
and
husband
Marc
No convincing
needed. Schultz,
60, accepted the
title and was
officially
introduced
Wednesday.
“It’s a chance to represent La Crosse, and I think La Crosse is a fun
area. It’s
beautiful, and
the people are
warm and
friendly,” she
said.
Schultz was
nominated and
selected because
of her extensive
community and
volunteer
involvement and
overall
go-getter
attitude.
“I see
volunteering as
a way to meet
new people and
learn new
things,” she
said.
She is clerk for
the town of
Onalaska and was
a founding
member of the La
Crosse Hunger
Task Force and
Kane Street
Community
Garden. A
self-described
river rat, she
also organizes
the annual Brice
Prairie Canoe
and Bike Race.
She also has
worked with La
Crosse’s
sesquicentennial
committee, the
American Heart
Association and
American Home
Economics
Association,
Riverland Girl
Scouts and La
Crosse YMCA
boards.
“I believe in
kids and
family,” she
said.
“Sue does
epitomize Mrs.
Oktoberfest, in
that her
community
involvement has
been very
broad,” said
Rosemarie Link,
Mrs. Oktoberfest
2005 and a
member of the
selection
committee.
Schultz’s theme
is “Making
Memories on the
Mighty
Mississippi,” to
coordinate with
the overall “A
Harvest of
Memories” theme.
She looks
forward to the
Torchlight and
Maple Leaf
parades,
Heritage Night
and meeting her
royal
predecessors.
“Oh, and meeting
the Festmaster,
because I know
that we’re like
a family and we
do things
together for the
whole year,” she
said.
Schultz guarded
the royal secret
for months,
though she did
let an elite
group know about
the honor,
including
husband Marc; TJ
Peterslie, a
downtown
business owner
and local artist
who she asked to
design her
button; and her
87-year-old
mother, who made
most of the
outfits Schultz
will wear during
the celebration.
Schultz was a
Madison high
school student
in 1964 when she
made the first
road trip to
Oktoberfest. She
has attended the
celebration
annually since
moving to the
area in 1981.
“My favorite
thing is
Heritage Night.
Of course, I
always eat too
much,” she said.
