Oktoberfest

Now in its seventh year, the Steil Family Potluck Oktoberfest returns to Delphi Road on a Saturday afternoon in early September — an unhurried, communal observance held a few weeks ahead of the Munich calendar, in the gentler light of a Pacific Northwest late summer.

The gathering, modest in scale and emphatic in spirit, has settled into a familiar rhythm. Guests arrive in the afternoon. Tables fill with dishes brought from home. Music plays. There is beer, of course — this is the whole point — and karaoke, which is the other point. By dusk, the yard reliably contains more laughter than the property line can comfortably hold.

Two contests will, by long-standing convention, divide the field. The first, Steinholding, is a measure of patience and forearm character: the stein, fully filled, must be held at arm’s length for as long as the holder can manage. The second, Hammerschlagen, asks the opposite virtue — commitment, conviction, and a willingness to strike a nail squarely on its head, ideally just once.

As ever, the table is a potluck. German food is encouraged but never required. A hot dish, a salad, a tray of cookies, or simply something you are proud of will be received in good faith and consumed with equal enthusiasm. The hosts will provide the beer and the karaoke machine; the guests will provide the rest.