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The numbers are in!
Rapp’s Barren Brewing Company’s managed to raise $13,016 for Backpack Food 4 Kids during its first ever ARktoberfest in downtown Mountain Home on Sept. 17.
The donation marks the single largest donation ever given to Backpack Food 4 Kids, and accounts for roughly 20% of the organization’s annual budget.
The money will go towards providing food packages for over 2,000 backpacks for children in the local Mountain Home area.
“I want to highlight the generous community that we live in,” said Russell Tucker, co-owner and founder of Rapp’s Barren Brewery. “It’s an acknowledgement and thank you for their generosity. This was enough to fund the Backpack Food 4 Kids program for about 20% of their annual budget. This will put about 2,000 packages of food in backpacks.”
Backpack Food 4 Kids is a program under the leadership of First United Methodist Church in Mountain Home and seeks to alleviate hunger and food insecurity for Mountain Home school children.
The program provides weekend meals to over 250 Mountain Home school children each week, as well as bags of food for children Wesley Kitchen and Kidspiration. Local volunteers pack and deliver food every week during the school year.
ARktoberfest was a part of Rapp’s Barren Brewing Company’s five-year anniversary celebration of brewing their famous beers in Mountain Home. The brewing company also hosted a Happy Ale-Versary event ahead of the festival.
ARktoberfest featured live music from The Natural State Band, along with various games, challenges and giveaways.
Since its inception five years ago by Russell Tucker, Chris Gordon, and Kyle Swallow, Rapp’s Barren has partnered with 19 different businesses through its “Tap into Local Business” series. The popular brewing company has also hosted 520 local music performances and has created a total of 65 craft beverages since it first opened its doors.
The brewery currently provides 40 jobs to local workers in Mountain Home.
Rapp’s Barren’s ARktoberfest kicked off with a Beer Mile run at 2:30 p.m. The beer run started with contestants drinking a beer before beginning a run along a one mile course in downtown Mountain Home. Contestants stopped at each quarter mile to drink another beer.
The run was proceeded with a barrel race around a track, a sausage throwing competition and a pretzel eating competition. For those children attending the festival, there was painting, blow up animals, and a “The Floor is Lava” obstacle course.
Food for the festival was provided by Heart of the Ozarks BBQ & Sweets and At The Curb Food Truck & Catering. A live polka band played music throughout the festival.
Following the events of the day, ARktoberfest kicked off its main event, the Masskrugstemmen or Stein Holding Championship.
Masskrugstemmen is a German tradition in which competitors face off against each other by seeing who can hold up a liter of beer the longest. Both the stein and the beer weigh around 5 pounds together.
The beer is to be held in one arm, right or left, in a stretched out position in front of the body. The arm must be parallel to the floor. The stein must be held by the handle loop. Contestants cannot wrap their hand through the handle.
During the competition, the contestants faced off against each other as they hold their beer filled steins. They were not allowed to switch arms, nor could they use grip powders, tars, or braces for support.
Trevor Nelson won this year’s Masskrugstemmen competition. Contestants who participated in the Masskrugstemmen also received a commemorative stein, and a free beer.
ARktoberfest will return to Mountain Home next September.
Rapp’s Barren would like to thank the following sponsors:
Anstaff – Main stage
Carter’s Jewel Chest – Barrel racing
The Meat Shop – Sausage toss
Farmers and Merchants – Pretzel eating
Stories Whiskey Bar – Stein Holding
Jack’s Package – Official beer mile
Hutch Homes – Kids Zone
Gregg’s Farm Supply – Hay bales
Nomad Clothing – T-shirts
City of Mountain Home – use of the stage and the downtown area
Baxter Health – First Aid
Baxter 911 – Water station
