Today's News - October 6, 2009

County Health Department Has Large Supply Of Seasonal Flu Mist

(correction from earlier released E-Newsletter)

While the Monroe County Health Department has a limited supply of the injectable seasonable flu vaccine, they have a large supply of the seasonal flu mist. The mist format is available to be administered to those ages 2 to 49, reports John Wagner, the director of the health department.

“We will have plenty of the mist vaccine available at all of our upcoming clinics,” Wagner added.

The upcoming clinics are scheduled for:

Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at Waterloo High School

Thursday, Oct. 8, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at Zahnow Grade School

Sunday, Oct. 11, all day, at the Maeystown Oktoberfest

The cost of the vaccine is $30.

Swine Flu Vaccines Arrive – Health Care Workers First To Receive

The Monroe County Health Department received yesterday approximately 500 doses of the mist version of the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine. Initially, these doses will be available only to various health care personnel. “We encourage all health care workers in Monroe County to call our office to make an appointment to receive a vaccine,” said Michael Pate of the Monroe County Health Department. The phone number is 939-3871. At some point in the near future, an injectable vaccine will be available for pregnant women and children. The Health Department no longer has any doses of the seasonal flu vaccine.

Kate Mueller, a nurse with the Monroe County Health Department, places the H1N1 mist vaccine into a refrigeration system.

Lauren Kennedy of Waterloo luckily avoided injury Monday night when her car collided into back end of a semi-tractor trailer near the intersection of Route 3 and South Market Street in Waterloo. According to the police report, Kennedy, 18, was driving northbound on Route 3 when she failed to see a Freightliner truck in her path. The semi, owned by Ken Hartman Jr., was being driven by David Mechler, 47, of Waterloo. Kennedy’s BMW collided with the back end of the trailer and both vehicles came to rest in the northbound lanes of Route 3. Although the car was heavily damaged, Kennedy was able to get out of the vehicle uninjured. Mechler was also uninjured, but was ticketed for failing to have a proper commercial driver’s license.

Quarry Explosion Rocks Waterloo: Several residents on the south end of Waterloo heard and felt a loud explosion Monday morning just after 8 a.m. The blast came from the planned detonation of explosives at the Columbia Quarry, off of Old Red Bud Road and Route 3, south of Waterloo.

This Weekend’s Soulard Oktoberfest Has
 The Spirit Of The Columbia Strassenfest

Bavarian dancers spin around the dance under a tent at last year’s Soulard Oktoberfest.

The annual Soulard Oktoberfest is this weekend, from Oct. 9-11 in the Soulard neighborhood just south of downtown St. Louis. Activities will be centered around Soulard Market Park at the corners of Eighth and Lafayette Streets. “We hope this event has the spirit of the old Columbia Strassenfest,” said Darlene Hoepfinger, a former Columbia resident who is now one of the organizers of the Soulard event. “There was a great turnout of Monroe County residents in Soulard last year. I ran into so many people I knew; it was like a homecoming.”

Several local organizations will be manning food tents this year. The Columbia Kiwanis Club will be grilling turkey legs and roasting corn on the cob. The Millstadt Sister Cities will have the always-popular potato pancake stand. “Last year we made close to 3,000 orders,” said Otto Faulbaum. “But I will not divulge our secret recipe.” Other food stands will include brats, Bavarian pretzels, roasted chickens and pork knuckles.

The Oktoberfest will feature four main tents —Budweiser, Beck's, Hofbrau Bier and Spaten — along with the addition of the St. Louis Pro-Am Brew-Off, which will showcase a homebrew contest and samples of more than 30 varieties of microbrews and homebrews by the St. Louis Brews, the Garage Brewers Society and other brewers from across the Midwest. “There will be 900 kegs of beer ready to be tapped for the occasion,” added Hoepfinger.

Musical entertainment includes 14 bands and more than 30 performers, including Grammy winner Brave Combo’s polka punk-rock, Obenheimer Express, Austrian Express, the Soulard Blues Band Revue and the Hohenthanner Hopfenmusikanten, a 33-member traditional brass band from Bavaria. “We’ve really elevated the authenticity of the festival this year with the offering of true, traditional German Oktoberfest cuisine,” said Oktoberfest spokesman Victor Wendl. “The combination of traditional Oktoberfest food and the first-class entertainment acts flying in from Germany will really make this an authentic Munich Oktoberfest right in our own backyard.”

A detailed scheduled of the planned activities are located at the website: www.soulardoktoberfest.com.

The Millstadt Sister Cities served thousands of orders of potato pancakes during the 2008 Soulard Oktoberfest.

Two frauleins served Jell-O shots along the grounds of last year’s Soulard Oktoberfest.