A behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of Winstock
By Linda Scherer
Herald Journal
As Winstock core committee members reminisced the last 16 years of Winstock, it gave just a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes efforts made to make it one of the top 10 country music festivals in the nation.
The camaraderie of the committee and the pride they share in the music festival was extremely apparent as they did a recounting of the journey that began in 1993.
That was when Dick Langenfeld and Tom Ollig, two of the original Winstock Committee members, decided after a Holy Trinity School budget meeting, that a country music festival might be able to bring in additional funds to help support the Catholic school.
It wasn’t easy trying to recruit a committee to get the fundraiser going.
“The committee was not chosen, we begged for committee members,” Winstock committee member Tom Ollig said.
“The only advertising we did was newspaper and a radio station in Hutchinson. We didn’t use the radio station in the city at all,” Ollig said.
“None would take us,” Winstock committee member Steve Laxen said.
The first Winstock Country Music Festival was June 24 and 25, 1994, at the Winsted Airport. It drew a crowd of 1,200 people, and there were 97 campsites.
Ollig, chairman of the first Winstock committee, said in a Winsted-Lester Prairie Journal interview in June 1994, that “starting a music festival was a lot more work than the committee had imagined.”
Ollig outlined things like permitting and licensing required by the Winsted Airport Commission, the City of Winsted, and McLeod County before the event could even take place.
Another surprise for the first-time committee was when it found out it was expected to provide food, lodging, and transportation to and from the airport for some of the major entertainers.
Of the first-year performers, Waylon Jennings had an entourage of 16 to 20 people the committee needed to provide accommodations for, and Crystal Gayle had 15 people.
This is just one of the roadblocks the committee has encountered through the years, but it always manages to work things out. In fact, many times, the committee has turned a roadblock around, making it an asset.
For example, entertainers now seem to welcome the chance to perform at Winstock because of the hospitality provided by the committee.
“According to our booking agent, Gary Marx, we are getting to be quite well-known down in Nashville,” Winstock committee member Judy Langenfeld said, “because of the way we treat the entertainers when they are up here, which is making his job easier.”
Some of the entertainers who have returned have told the committee that they cannot wait for the homemade soup or homemade pickles provided by the caterers.
The first Winstock ended with the committee owing $79,000.
“After the first festival, we decided we had to have another festival,” Winstock committee member Dick Langenfeld said.
Some additional committee members were brought in.
“The core committee was made up of our friends,” Ollig said. “We were all on the Winsted centennial committee together. And we’re still friends,” Ollig added.
“I can’t remember a year when we have really had a disagreement,” Winstock committee member Bonnie Quast said. “I think the respect among the group is very high.”
With additional committee members and some new advertisers, the second year of Winstock lost only $21,000 and also acquired a nickname.
K102 radio announcer John Hines called the event “Mud Stock.”
That was the year Joe Rasset became a committee member.
“The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was playing and it was pouring rain and they had the stage halfway down,” Rasset said.
“Up until that time I had nothing to do with Winstock. I saw Dave (Danielson) with electrical cords over his arms, trying to hang tarps up on the beer tent, and throwing down pallets to keep the volunteers from drowning, and I kind of started helping him.”
“He said, ‘Hey, if you have this under control, I have to go take the power back to the RV.’ I saw him again about midnight, after the show shut down, and he said, ‘you did such a good job, you are back again next year,’” Rasset said.
The rain has plagued quite a few of the Winstock events.
When the committee was asked what a favorite Winstock year was, Ollig replied, “The years it didn’t rain.”
Quast joked, “Let’s see. There were two of them.”
But the rain and mud did not seem to keep people away from Winstock. They just kept coming.
“I have seen people on the campground on the muddy years, when all you could see were the whites of their eyes,” Ollig said, “but they were having a great time.”
The second year was also the year that Winstock committee chairman Dave Danielson joined the committee and he recalled the very wet festival grounds.
The way Danielson tells it, all of the food vendors were blowing circuits and he was dragging this electrical cable through the mud when Sammy Kershaw opened the door to his bus and said, “Come on in and get a beer. You look like you need one.”
Danielson told Kershaw he had to get the power up and running. However, when Kershaw asked the second time, Danielson decided it was the least he could do.
The country music festival continued to grow in size, and made some financial gains.
By the fourth year, enough money was made to pay back all of the loans and land was purchased to the south of the airport where Winstock is currently located.
“One of the major things that has happened is the purchase of that property in 1998,” Winstock committee member Butch Amundson said. “And not having to rely on having it at the airport. There, we had to set it up in two days. Since the property was acquired, it was a lot easier to set it up because we could have all the time we needed.”
Along with the purchase of the property, the committee has put in permanent roads, electricity, and lighting. It has also added a permanent stage.
