Advertisement “After the band played and the game began, I just went back and slept on the bus,” Noffke said of that first year.
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Onalaska High School show choir members sang the national anthem before the Milwaukee Brewers game against the Minnesota Twins last week.
Photo by Terry Pickett |
This year, his band sponsored one of the 40 buses carrying Coulee Region residents to Milwaukee County Stadium to see the Brewers take on the Minnesota Twins on June 25.
Noffke played to last week’s crowd with his band and then enjoyed the game with close to 2,000 other La Crosse area residents.
Happy’s Garage includes Noffke on bass guitar, Bill Craig of Bangor on drums, Greg Parish of Trempealeau on guitar and Dennis Roesler of French Island on keyboard. Rhythm guitarist/singer Tom Streicher of Onalaska couldn’t make the trip this year, although he did join the band for a night of music Saturday at the Onalaska American Legion.
“Everyone looks forward to the trip,” Noffke said.
Trip organizer Jim Geissner said it was the second largest crowd to make the trip and 1,950 Bakalars brats were eaten as well as 1,500 hot dogs. And, according to tradition, lots of prizes were raffled off.
Noffke said his wife won one of the 70 Brewers warm-up jackets that were raffled off. “She doesn’t wear logo clothing, so she picked one out in my size,” Noffke said with a laugh. Four Weber grills and 10 pounds of hot dogs were raffled off, too.
Onalaska Mayor Mike Giese won an official American League baseball. It wasn’t from the raffle, though. It was the ball he threw out for the ceremonial first pitch. He wasn’t thrilled with his throw.
“It was an acceptable throw,” Giese said. (Geissner called it a swinging strike.) “But I got to talk to a lot of people, take it easy and bask in the sunshine,” Giese added.
Giese and the rest of the crowd enjoyed the Onalaska High School show choir’s singing at home plate at the start of the game. “Their a cappella rendition of the National Anthem was incredible,” Giese said. “It was a really moving presentation.”
He wasn’t too thrilled with the way the Brewers played that day, however, losing to the Twins. “The Brewers could have played more aggressive baseball,” Giese said. “I was always more of a risk taker,” he added, harking back to his baseball playing days.
“A few dozen Twins fans went home happy,” Geissner said. “The rest of us just went home.”
The Brewers made it up with two spectacular wins Friday and Saturday night.
