Saline Oktoberfest's Festmeisterin | Rebecca Schneider

This year, we at Saline Main Street heartily welcome the great return of our German cultural gathering, Oktoberfest!  And, we are both honored and thrilled to congratulate our amazing community leader, Rebecca Schneider as Festmeisterin for 2021.

Rebecca is well-known throughout Saline for her local civic pride, her down-to-earth personality and her incredible community spirit. As this year’s event leader, Schneider brings a genuine love for German heritage to this weekend cultural celebration. By taking reign over this time-honored harvest, Saline's Oktoberfest comes full circle.

Schneider was awarded the honor by Saline’s Lindenburg Friendship Committee, and for a whole host of great reasons. It’s no secret that Rebecca has played a huge role in bringing Oktoberfest to Saline. She lives downtown in an historic home with her husband Matthew, son Christian and daughter Ava. The 4 of them are superstars each and every year, working tirelessly with Saline Main Street volunteers and co-event chair, Katie Spence to make the event as authentic and vibrant as possible.

In 2018, Rebecca Schneider was honored by the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce as Citizen of the Year. In an article published by Tran Longmoore and the Saline Post, Rebecca reminisced about the German heritage event’s humble beginnings here. “I remember brainstorming about having an Oktoberfest in Downtown Saline years ago with a group gathered on our front porch,” said Schneider.

Since then, Saline’s Oktoberfest weekend has become a huge favorite among locals and regional visitors -- adding to our city's character, storyline and unique style.

Schneider holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Kalamazoo College and a Master of Public Administration from The George Washington University. While studying at Kalamazoo, Rebecca completed a foreign educational program in Hanover, Germany. She is a founding board member of Saline Main Street, the downtown revitalization nonprofit that hosts the annual Oktoberfest event.

It is a supreme honor to welcome Rebecca Schneider as the 2021 Oktoberfest Festmeisterin! Join us Friday night, September 17, 2021 at 6:30PM for the Tapping of the Golden Keg in the Bier Garten on S Ann Arbor Street in Downtown Saline.

For more information please visit the Events page at www.salinemainstreet.org.

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