He got the news 18 months ago, now veteran Mayo official is revealed as Festmaster

The royal family for the 2021 La Crosse Oktoberfest is now complete, with the introduction Wednesday night of long-time Mayo finance officer Tom Tiggelaar and his wife Marilyn as festmaster and frau.

They were announced Wednesday night at the Festmasters Ball, held at the La Crosse Center.

The 60th Oktoberfest officially starts Thursday morning with the seniors breakfast at the southside festgrounds. The Torchlight Parade, led by marshal Scott Neumeister, happens in north La Crosse on Thursday night.

The Tiggelaars have been fest grenadiers for several years.

For a couple of years, organizers tried announcing the Festmaster a month ahead of the fest. That came after a few years, where the ball was halfway through the week-long celebration.

Tom remembers learning about the honor during an otherwise quiet night at home, in March of last year.

“A feather was delivered to our door, and the doorbell was rung,” Tom said.

That, however, wasn’t the end of the surprise.

“And then several people hiding around the corner to tell us that we had been selected,” he added. “It was really quite, quite amazing.”

The Tiggelaars have been in La Crosse since 2002, and they were Grenadier-Generals for Oktoberfest in 2011.

They were chosen in early 2020, before the fest was cancelled on account of COVID-19, so they’ve had to keep the secret for 18 months. Tom hopes the community is able to celebrate this week.

“We’re coming out of a social isolation, and how do we come back together as a community …and celebrate with each other again?” he asked. “I hope we can do so safely, we can do the right things, hand-washings, social distancing when appropriate.”