The first of the events this afternoon were the beer barrel races running down hill on Main Street, that means to the north.And you don't just push the barrel and let it roll. You have to be rolling it and controlling it.  It's a relay, really. You gotta get you barrel to your team-mate at the north ends who has to push it back. That means you've got the easy job. He has the tough job. He'll mention that to you after the race.This little bit of fun is an exercise not only in concentration and discipline, but bull-headed power.Believe it or not, this turned out to be a team effort, between the guy holding the beer mugs and the guy yelling at him.  Here's another effort that takes steady nerves while frantically trying to get from here to there in the shortest time possible.Pre-game nerves caused one gal to dump her whole tray before her run. But when the run started, she and her team-mates won!At the other end of town a completely different kind of fun was being had at the Deadwood Gulch Resort, where the Oktoberfest Polkafest was taking place. We'll have more on that tomorrow night.

Al Van Zee