Congratulations to Erin Wetzel who on Friday, October 4th was crowned Miss K-W Oktoberfest at the Oktoberfest Gala held at the Oktoberfest Haus,
Erin is a local girl who grew up in Maryhill and attended St. Boniface School, St. David’s High School and Conestoga College before pursuing her ambition of being an Interior designer. She is a junior designer for Schlegel Villages. Erin has been an active volunteer in the community with Girl Guides, Schlegel Villages, Kitchener Blues Festival and the Oktoberfest 5K run.
Erin’s German roots go deep in Maryhill. On her mother’s side, her ancestor Mathias Fehrenbach settled in New Germany (now Maryhill) in 1826. She is the seventh generation. On her dad’s side, her Oma and Opa immigrated from Germany in the 1950s.
She has been a member of the Schwaben Club dance group for 8 months.
Erin submitted an application describing why she was running for Miss Oktoberfest and took part in a number of events over three weeks where judges observed the candidates and finally an evening of interviews was done to select Miss Oktoberfest.
As a community ambassador, her role will be to inspire the youth in the community to promote K-W Oktoberfest and to support other non-profit organizations in the Waterloo Region. During the course, she will meet with over 500 young people when she visits the various school in the area as well as several organizations that benefit from Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest.
It is a year-long commitment and throughout the year she will be making over 225 appearances throughout the Waterloo Region. Many of these will include public speaking especially at the Official Opening Ceremonies and will be participating in media tours promoting the festival and appearance in community events throughout Southern Ontario leading up to Oktoberfest and following the festival. She will also be supporting other charities and organizations in the community using her platform and voice to recognize and expand the reach.
On Tuesday Erin visited her “Oma” at Twin Oaks Nursing Home in Maryhill and a class from St. Boniface School came across the field to see this wonderful role model in our community.
