Dottie Barnes Honored as Saline's Oktoberfest 2022 FESTMEISTERIN!

We are delighted to present this year’s Saline Oktoberfest Festmeisterin, Dottie Barnes!

Local hero, Dottie Barnes is well known in Saline for bringing people together from near and far! She has been instrumental in helping to build Saline’s reputation as a warm and friendly place to visit. Dottie has welcomed our neighbors from Sister City Lindenberg Germany to stay in her home many times, which has helped Saline to forge a true connection between our people and theirs. She has traveled to Lindenberg on several occasions as an official member of this cross-Atlantic kinship.

Dottie has also been deeply involved in the Saline Brecon Friendship Guild for a long time, too. She has been a host, a visitor, and a member of the SBFG board – including a stint as president. Ever the connector, she has entertained several social gatherings at her home to honor Saline Brecon members and this important civic relationship.

As this year’s event leader, Dottie Barnes shares a deep historic reverence for Saline’s German heritage and our friendly place in the global community. In an interview, she described her calling to create an authentic bond between the people of Saline and fellow citizens from our Bavarian Sister City, Lindenberg. According to Dottie, “The Sister City Exchange Program was started by President Eisenhower as a people-to-people exchange, which is what we have always done here with the Saline Lindenberg Friendship Committee and the Saline Brecon Group. A lot of places have sister cities, but many don’t establish a people-to-people exchange. Saline is kind of unique in this regard, as we have done and continued to host exchange visits. The Saline Lindenberg Friendship Committee is a great way for folks with German heritage, or anyone interested in meeting people from different cultures to get acquainted with our friends in Lindenberg, Germany – as well as their neighbors in Saline.”

We owe a debt of gratitude to Dottie Barnes for making these exchange visits welcoming, memorable and a legacy for Saline’s history.

It is a supreme honor to welcome Dottie Barnes as the 2022 Oktoberfest Festmeisterin! Join us Friday night, September 16, 2022 at 6:30 for the Tapping of the Golden Keg in the Bier Garten on S Ann Arbor Street in Downtown Saline.

For more information please visit www.salinemainstreet.org.

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