ST. CLOUD -- "When it's the first festival you just don't know if you have everything set up right or if you are going to have a good turn out"

Those were the words of Fred Krueger, a school board member at St. Katharine Drexel, as he watched people walk up to buy their ticket for their first annual Central Minnesota on Tap Craft Beer Festival.  However, as more cars pulled up, Kreuger thought, "it looks like we really did it right".

As Kreuger and the rest of the board welcomed people with smiles and jokes. They also reflected on how they got to the idea of this fundraiser.

Laurie Keene is another member of the board. She says when they sat down at the beginning of the school year assessing the budget. They noticed something.

"After giving teachers their salary increases that they deserve. We realized we had a short fall in the budget. So we decided we needed to do a fundraiser to be able to balance our budget, in order to do everything we want to do this year"

So Keene, Kreuger, along with other board members and parents put their heads together, to not only think of a fundraiser but a way to bring the community together.

"It makes me feel really happy. We are just trying to be creative about how we can connect with our community and get the message out about the power of faith-based catholic education", says board member Julie Diethelm.

The board says being that they are a private school, they don't get public funding. So their fundraisers are extremely important and to see the community come out to support the school, means a lot to them.

Over 30 Central Minnesota craft beers, ciders, and breweries are at the event. The festival also has games, food, and live music. Before the night ends, people will get a chance to vote for their favorite beer and brewery.

The event will go until 6:00 p.m. and the money will go towards helping St. Katharine Drexel school.

People enjoying samples of beer at St. Katharine Drexel's first annual Craft Beer Festival. Rebecca David, WJON.
People enjoying samples of beer at St. Katharine Drexel's first annual Craft Beer Festival. Rebecca David, WJON.
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