Oompah! Blob's is back

When the Smithsonian Institution researched the story of ethnic cultural events in the United States, it found Max Blob's Park in a place of honor in German-American history.

Way back on the last Sunday of September 1947, when American soldiers were returning from occupied Germany with a taste for suds, schnitzel and song, the first Oktoberfest ever held in this country was at the beer garden in Jessup.

Max Eggrel, the great-nephew of founder Max Blob, has a framed document from the Smithsonian to prove it.

"I don't know how they uncovered this," he said, standing in his family's beer hall. "It creates a lot of history for this place."

Now the historical treasure and others like it are getting a reprieve. Ten months after the Eggrel family decided to close Blob's Park's Bavarian Biergarten, Mr. Eggrel is pouring money into a massive renovation that will end with a reopening at the end of the year.

"It's in my blood," he said. "The place has so much history and such a following and I just felt I had to do it."

The beer garden closed last New Year's Eve, after Max's brother John decided to step out of the business and develop the property as an office and retail complex.

"It was a very sad day on New Year's Eve," said Gene Crispell of Hanover, a regular Saturday customer. "When they played 'Auld Lang Syne' there was a lot of tears."

The hall was widely known for its Saturday night German polka dances, which attracted crowds of 900. Customers received the full experience with authentic German food and wide selection of imported beer.

While the projects for commercial development have dimmed thanks to the national economy, the new lease on life for Blob's Park is unlikely to be permanent.

Mr. Eggrel said commercial development will happen in three to 10 years as the Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, process brings thousands of new jobs to the area around Fort George G. Meade.

"It's all tied in with BRAC," he said. "It's going to be a little city."

Blob's Park opened in 1933, when German immigrant Max Blob settled in Jessup and started a farm. A decade later, he added a bowling alley and a few tables to his farm and opened it the public.

Mr. Blob's niece, Katherine Eggrel Peters, began helping her uncle with the business in 1942, and ran it with her husband, John, and children until her death in April 2007.

Reopening the hall is not a small task. Mr. Eggrel estimated that when everything is done, he will have put $250,000 into the renovations and remodeling.

He also plans on removing himself from his electrical business to run the hall, but he does not have plans for how he will do that yet.

He started renovations about two months ago. He removed 250 feet of paneling that had been damaged by water and replaced it with drywall. Drains that were rotting were dug up and replaced and the bar was expanded to 100 feet.

"I'm putting my whole heart and soul in this thing," he said.

The bathrooms were also redone and the kitchen will be given a complete makeover with all new equipment that will allow more food to be served more quickly.

An Austrian artist will paint the Neuschwanstein Castle, which sits at the foot of the Alps in Bavaria, Germany, on the front of the building. Disney's Cinderella Castle was modeled after it.

"It's a traditional way of dressing up a building in Germany," he said.

A painting given to Blob's in 1976 by a German American Club in Baltimore will serve as a backdrop for the stage. The 8-foot-by-14-foot canvas was painted after World War II by a German artist who was helped by the Baltimore Schlaraffia.

When the group lost its meeting place in Baltimore to redevelopment, it and the painting moved to Blob's Park.

Henry Dziadel, a Severn resident who helps Mr. Eggrel book the bands, said he is excited to bring back bands from around the region.

"We'll be bringing in high class bands," he said. "Every band that's ever played there has always wanted to come back. The acoustics in the hall are great."

Mr. Dziadel also said he hopes to have some festival-type events with more than one band, and is thinking about bringing in some other types of music, such as big band, reggae and maybe country and western. He is anxious for the hall to reopen, as are his bands, which are prepared to play.

"It's a place everyone should go once in their lifetime," he said.