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Photo by Dave Einsei
The gateway to the Wurstfest welcomes visitors.
MAJOR ACOUSTIC GUITAR
YEAR END SALE!
LOWEST PRICES
THIS YEAR!
SALE
ALVAREZ
GUITARS...
ALVAREZ MAHOGANY
FOLD NO. 5014
A good aO purpose guitar with well balanced tone.
One piece back and side or rare Oboncol mahogany.
Top Is white spruce with herringbone inlay around
sound hole. Celluloid bound top and back. Nato
mahogany neck has adjustable rod with “U” channel;
speed satin finish for greater playing ease. Fingerboard
is rosewood. Jacaranda-faced headpiece, individual,
chrome, covered machine heads.
ALVAREZ TREE OF
LIFE NO. 5056
Craftsmanship, materials and dimen
sional design are combined to make
fills one of Alvarez’ most outstanding
models. It has fine projection, sensi
tive response and speedy action. The
inlaid Tree of Life detign on the
rosewood fingerboard adds to its
graceful distinction. Sides and back
of Same yain rosewood are bound
with ivorold. Machine beads are
chrome enclosed for longer fife. Tun
ing is fast and precise. Slender
mahogany neck with adjustable steel
rod reinforcement The top is select
spruce chosen for its acoustic quality.
ALVAREZ BARDO NO. 5011
This has been a long-time favorite with instructors and
students; despite its low price it has a fan-braced
spruce top with genuine wood inlay around the sound
hole. The edges are ceDuloid bound. The back and
sides are made of Nato mahogany. Neck is also Nato
mahogany with a rosewood fingerboard and nickel
silver frets. Rosewood-faced headpiece has decorative
center stripe. The machine heads are finished with
butterfly pearioki buttons.
ALVAREZ CAMPANERO
CLASSIC NO. 5001
Classic guitarists and serious students
wffl appreciate the fine material and
craftsmanship that are used in Model
5001. The responsive fan-braced,
cedar top is finished in an antique
shade Beautiful wood marquetry in
fay around the sound hole, edges are
ceOuloid bound Back and sides are
made of choice rosewood; rosewood
fingerboard with nickei-sfiver frets on
Nato mahogany neck. Jacaranda
faced headpiece has ebony and ivory
Inlaid center stripe. The machine
heads are on engraved plates with
butterfly buttons.
ALVAREZ MAHOGANY DREADNOUGHT NO. 50*2
Oboncol mahogany is used for sides and single-piece back. Fine white spruce top has genuine wood inlay on sound hole; ivory
binding on top and back. Adjustable rosewood bridge. Nato mahogany satin-finish neck, adjustable rod. Rosewood
fingerboard has attractive snowflake design pearl inlay, Jacaranda faced headpiece with individual chrome heads; tortoise shell
pickguard.
keyboARd
Center
MANOR EAST MALL
713/779-7080 BRYAN, TX 77801
By SCOT K. MEYER
Battalion Staff
“If you ask me, they should take
the whole thing and move it out in
the country — about 10 miles or so.
Just move it out there where it won’t
be in anybody’s way.”
The man was concerned about
the drunken revelers who would be
spilling out of the wurst-site into the
small town of New Braunfels. He
was probably justifiably concerned
too, as there had already been a
shooting out there the previous
weekend.
But it was really hard to take his
concern seriously when he was col
lecting a $1 for every oar parked on
bm tot. Besides, the people he was
complaining to were only interested
in getting over to the Wurstfest site
to mol® merry.
It post $2 to get into the Wurstteet
grouridfc, wtnch iook like toe site of
an abandoned factory. But the con
version to a German Wursthalle
and marketplatz seemed complete
enough, especially with the polka
music dancing through the air.
There was a tent set up across
the marketplatz from the Wursthall,
where a polka band was playing.
The audience swayed to the music
and there was an old man on stage
— in regulation shorts, suspenders
and knee socks — who said he
could teach anyone to polka in the
first five seconds of the dance.
Across the marketplatz the Uni
versity of Houston band was play
ing some decidedly un-German
music. They still drew a crowd
though, perhaps because of the
cheerleaders who were accom
panying them.
The U of H band really fit right in
at Wurstfest, because so many of
the Wurstfesters were college stu
dents. One of the great sports at
Wurstfest was seeing what interest
ing kinbs of loud and obscene
school yells you could come up
with.
The main attraction of the festival
was located inside the Wursthalle
itself. The food. There was strudel
and other pastries, shish-kabob,
kartoffel pancakes, sandwiches,
and best of all, the wurst.
There was wurst and sausage on
a stick, which came with a roll on the
end as well. Of every 50 people in
the Wursthall, at least five were
clutching wurst-sticks. Or so it
seemed. The trick was to avoid
being poked by any of them.
The Wursthalle was also outfitted
to handle those consumers who
were keen for souvenirs. Imported
beer steins, quilts, hats and many
different types of cuckoo clocks
were all available for all those who
wanted to take a piece of Wurstfest
home with them.
A particularly cynical wanderer
through the Wursthalle might won-
A Wurstfest official spreads
keep dancers from slipping.
der at the authenticity of it all. There
were signs advertising “wurst
tacos,” and the band occationally
played oompha versions of songs
like “the Mexican Hat Dance.”
And even the beer was not Ger
man. Not unless Lone Star has be
come the national beer of Germany
But hey — no one likes a nitpicker
There was a friendly, weird atti
tude attending so many of the peo
ple there. Complete strangers
would come up and describe the
best places to buy felt hats with
Photo by Bob Sebree
salt on the dance floor to
turned under brims. Much of the
friendliness seemed to flow from
the plastic mugs of beer which
everyone carried. Spilling that beer
on people was another favorite pas
time at the Wurstfest.
Drunk people were not in short
supply, largely because of an atti
tude that beer drinking was Ger
man, and hence the best thing to be
doing at a Wurstfest.
So Wurstfesters were carrying
around empty cups to indicate just
how much beer they had quaffed.
Some of the cup collections were
quite impressive.
Which is perhaps why toe lines to
the restrooms were as long as they
were. Merry-makers only thought
they had waited in line for beer or
admission to the dance hall. They
found out what line-waiting was all
about when it came time to use the
restrooms. One person claimed,
while waiting in line, that human
beings were invented by beer as a
means of getting from one place to
another. If it’s true, there were quite
a few people functioning as shuttle
buses that day.
And the fact that so many of
those shuttle buses were planning
to hit the highway no doubt ex
plained why the complaining old
man was gone by the time the fes
tival was winding down for the night.
But he can sleep a little sounder
now, because Wurstfest is over for
another year.