By Melissa Wagoner
Marilyn Hall still has the first dirndl she made for herself back in 1980. A maternity dress, later altered for nursing, it now resides in her “dirndl graveyard.”
“It didn’t fit me because I didn’t know how to do alterations,” she admitted. “And yes, I have a dirndl graveyard that’s for ruffles that didn’t work or things that are faded.”
While her sewing skills were lacking in the beginning, her enthusiasm for dressing up for her hometown’s Oktoberfest celebration was inspiring enough that she eventually took a sewing class at Chemeketa Community College where she finally learned to make alterations and follow a pattern.
“We have dressed up every year,” she said, showing off the tiny dirndls and lederhosen she made for her eight children over the years. “It’s kind of like going to a Halloween party and you’re not dressed up. You need it.”
Especially if you are going to perform the traditional Oktoberfest maypole dance which, in 1990, Hall began organizing along with fellow volunteers Mary Grant and Nann Fleck.
“We jury-rigged a dress, and we took vinyl and made suspenders,” Hall said, pulling out a box filled with costumes from that first year. “I still have the collection.”
It was a lot of trial and error as the women struggled to supply costumes for each of the dancers.
“We made a decision to lend costumes because it’s an equalizer,” Hall recalled. “We provide shoes, socks, dresses, flowers… everything.” All at no cost to the participants.
That’s how Hall became the keeper of the Oktoberfest costume closet, an enormous collection that has slowly amassed – largely because of community donations – over the years.
“This is not the Marilyn Hall production. It’s a Mount Angel production,” Hall laughed, explaining that, while she does sew a dress now and then, if a special size is required, almost all the clothing has either been gifted or purchased.
Which is not to say Hall’s task is easy. In 2023 she provided costumes to 253 women and 88 men, which meant scheduling fittings, making necessary alterations and keeping an inventory that is so detailed she can find the dress she needs in seconds, rattling off, not only its size but also the name of the person who originally donated it.
“My main thing is keeping inventory,” she admitted. That duty is obvious upon entering her enormous sewing room, lined with racks of clothing meticulously sized from infant through adult and box upon box of black shoes.
“Everything around here has to do with Oktoberfest,” she laughed.
Even her YouTube channel, @Ofestlady, is filled with step-by-step costume tutorials.
“I feel like this is just really fun,” she said, looking around. “So many beautifully made dresses… they’re kind of timeless – the style that doesn’t change.”
Mt. Angel Oktoberfest
Mount Angel Festhalle and throughout the town
500 N Wilco Hwy, Mt. Angel
Sept. 12 – 15
Thursday thru Sunday: opens 11 a.m.
oktoberfest.org
