Corky Moss, a “father” of Walhalla’s signature event

Way back in the late 1970s Corky Moss and Mike Glenn were instrumental in getting the local chamber of commerce interested in staging an annual tourism event for Walhalla. From its beginnings, Oktoberfest has become Walhalla’s signature event to attract visitors for a three-day weekend every third weekend in October. To help spread the word, Moss and Glenn went to the major tourist mecca of Asheville, North Carolina to promote Walhalla Oktoberfest on the Mr. Bill Show on WLOS television. Bill Norwood liked the idea of a small Upstate South Carolina town paying homage to its German origins that, for many years, he brought his station’s hot air balloon to the festival’s Sertoma Field, according to a history of Oktoberfest compiled by Nancy Todd James. James’ late father, Kent Todd, was among the early Oktoberfest volunteers. Once a festival for Sertoma Field only, Oktoberfest has become a venue also on Main Street downtown. Moss, a businessman downtown, thinks the draw of the festival is so great that it’s successful both at Sertoma Field and the downtown. The weekend of October 18-20 is drawing near, which means it’s going to again be Lederhosen time in the Garden of the Gods.