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By Linda Scherer
Staff Writer
WINSTED, MN – The Winsted Bratbuster fans, who have been following the legendary gentlemen since 1988, will be excited to learn that the grillers will once again kick off The Winsted Summer Festival Friday, Aug. 7 at Mill Reserve Park at 4 p.m.
For 21 years, the Bratbuster Fan Club has shared the unusual adventures of the four seasoned chefs – Gary Lenz, Tom Ollig, Dave Sherman, and Floyd Sneer.
Loyal fans might even remember back to 1998, when the Bratbusters talked about retiring. They had considered turning in their synchronized tongs, once faster than lightning, because they were slowing down and could “no longer turn the brats in a professional manner,” Sneer said.
Planning for their future retirement, the Bratbusters have been sharing some of their grilling secrets with younger chefs, called “honorary Bratbusters.”
“Before they can become honorary Bratbusters, they have to start out on wiener winks,” Tom Ollig said. “Then, you graduate up to hot dogs and then, eventually to brats.”
Honorary members are Jeff Campbell, Tim Dahl, Chip Guggemos, Don Guggemos, Glenn Hussong, and Chris Schultz.
Both Ollig and Lenz agreed on the importance of learning how to grill the brats properly.
“We kind of used our own methods,” Lenz said. “We were self-taught.”
The first year, the Bratbusters had a lot of technical difficulties, according to Ollig.
“I think the first year, the (brats) were frozen,” Lenz said. “A lot of people complained about them not being cooked all the way through. Every once in a while, someone will complain about our cooking and that kind of hurts.”
“It hurts the soul,” Ollig said.”
But the beer has always been cold and the Bratbusters’ cooking has improved with time, making them a real crowd-pleaser today.
There are many stories about the Bratbusters’ rise to fame, and they are more than willing to share their humble beginnings.
A favorite story is the night that Lenz and Ollig came up with the idea of becoming Winsted Bratbusters.
“Gary and I were sitting in Keg’s Bar drinking coffee,” Ollig said. (Boy; for Winstock fans, this story might sound familiar.)
They were working out a plan to draw more people to Winsted’s Crazy Days.
The idea that came to them was to barbecue brats in town, according to Ollig.
The movie “Ghostbusters” had been out and was very popular at the time, and while they were still at Keg’s, the name Bratbusters just came to them.
“They quit selling coffee at Keg’s,” Ollig said. “So we went to my house.”
“Basically, they threw us out,” Lenz said.
Early in the morning the two continued to come up with great ideas for Bratbusters, including paying some youth to play the song “Ghostbusters” from a boom box and make them yell Bratbusters, instead of Ghostbusters.
“It was two in the morning and we decided that we needed one more person to help, so we called Floyd Sneer and he agreed to be a Bratbuster,” Ollig said.
“It was either that or we were going to come over and see him,” Gary said.
The first year, for entertainment, they did a performance of synchronized tongs.
“That impressed a lot of people,” Lenz said.
Overall, the first event went over amazingly well.
For the second event, the group decided they wanted to make a grand entrance, and in 1989, they called Bonnie Quast at two in the morning to rent a limousine.
“She was glad to hear from us,” Ollig said.
The limousine picked them up at the corner theater (previously city hall) and drove them an entire block. The driver got out and rolled out a red carpet.
When the Bratbusters exited the limo, it was to a crowd of cheering and adoring fans, according to Ollig and Lenz.
Other Bratbuster highlights:
• In 1990, they were not able to keep up with the demands of their busy schedule and added a fourth Bratbuster, Dave Sherman.
• In 1992, Police Chief Mike Henrich arrested the four Bratbusters for barbecuing chicken on an outdoor grill. It is a federal offense for Bratbusters to prepare anything on an outside grill other than bratwursts.
• In 1993, the Bratbusters fell from a high wire while performing for the Clintons in Washington, DC. Knowing the importance of grilling brats back in Winsted, they made it back in time for Crazy Days, even though Lenz showed up in a wheelchair, and Ollig and Sherman had numerous limbs bandaged.
• In 1994, the group was to be publicly caned by the Winsted Karate Club for spray painting some turkeys and chickens.
In a heroic move, the former President of the United States Bill Clinton flew into the Winsted Airport and appealed to the crowd, asking for clemency.
The crowd forgave the Bratbusters, who were back in their chef’s hats in 1995.
• In 1997 the Bratbusters arrived from Mars looking like Martians.
Always ready to please their fans, the Bratbusters have arrived in a police car, ambulance, fire truck, and boat always on time and ready to do what they do best – have a good time.
“We have never taken ourselves very seriously, and nobody else takes us seriously either,” Lenz said.
Any plans for the Bratbusters this year?
“You never know. We might end up at Keg’s tonight,” Ollig said.
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