Maple Leaf and Torchlight parade marshals announced for Oktoberfest

Torchlight Parade happens Sept. 28. Maple Leaf on Sept. 30

Oktoberfest in La Crosse has honored a few families more than once when choosing its royalty.

Duane, Jan, and Chuck Moore have all been part of the royal family. Charlie and Mike Kearns both served as Maple Leaf parade marshals.

Now, Rudy’s Drive-In owner Gary Rudy is following his father Dale.

“In 1978, my father was the Maple Leaf parade marshal,” Gary Rudy said. “So, I think that’s kind of really special. You follow in his footsteps.”

Oktoberfest is something Gary Rudy has been a part of a long time, even before the current festgrounds existed.

“I’m old enough to remember when it was at the First Federal and they had a little carnival there,” he recalled. “Of course, you don’t think that much of it back then. It was just fun.”

The Maple Leaf parade on Sept. 30. That same week, on Sept. 28, Tim Colgan from the Colgan Air Services will serve as Torchlight Parade marshal.

“I’m very proud to have grown up on the north side,” Colgan said. I spent most of my life hanging out there. It was a great place to grow up.”

Tim and his wife Debbie Colgan have run the air services hangar for 25 years.

Tim Colgan admits that he hasn’t spent much time at the fest in the past.

“I’ve gone to a couple parades part time, but I’m quite the fisherman and hunter, and I spend a lot of my time in the fall doing those things.”