Celebrate with food, beer, arts and more: Octoberfest in Petersburg enlivens fall weekends.

• Author: Pounds, Nancy
• Position: Alaska This Month

The holiday-free weeks between Labor Day and Thanksgiving can seem endless, but Alaskans' hearts rejoice with fall activities to anticipate.

In the Southeast Alaska town of Petersburg, residents have organized several events to fill often gray weekends in October.

Octoberfest activities this year include a black-tie dinner and auction, a chili feed and brew fest, arts and crafts fair, the Humpy 500 Go-Cart Race and a quilt show.

"October can be dreary in Southeast," said Sally Dwyer, manager of the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce.

Dwyer, 53, is a third-generation Alaskan and lifelong Petersburg resident. Her ancestors moved there in 1900. Octoberfest typically attracts locals since Alaska Marine Highway System ferry schedules often don't coincide well with event times, she said.

BUSY WEEKENDS

Several Octoberfest events are scheduled for Oct. 6. Mental Health Services will host a black-tie dinner and auction at the Sons of Norway Hall, Dwyer said. Auction items include Fish on Parade sculptures, which have been decorated by Southeast artists and displayed around town, akin to a similar Anchorage event.

The Humpy 500 Go-cart Race also is Oct. 6, featuring a dozen school-age costumed racers who coast down the Petersburg main street.

"It celebrates the end of the salmon season," said organizer Patrick Wilson, who also serves as plant manager for Petersburg Fisheries Inc.

Fishing is Petersburg's main industry, so the go-cart race features a sea-life theme. Racers and their pit crews decorate vehicles and add costumes to match their motif, from a killer whale to a squid to a salmon.

"They get quite creative," Wilson said.

Wilson has been involved from the event's beginning at least 10 years ago. Initial racers competed against the clock, but downhill speeds on North Nordic Drive climbed to 3 mph and worried parents, Wilson said. Today, participants compete for top times and best costumes. The go-cart drivers run two at a time for two runs down the 100-yard course, Wilson said. Safety has improved since the early days, too. Racers wear helmets, gloves, a safety harness, and the horizontally sliced oil drum go-cart has a roll bar.

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Up to 400 people line the street to cheer the racers, often ducking underneath merchants' awnings for rain protection.

"It's a lot of fun and pretty exciting for the kids. The local citizens seem to...