April 2001 - Nr. 4
Dick reports...
Reunion at the
Danube Swabians
The third reunion of all the dance groups of the Danube Swabian Club was a great turnout. The hall was filled and some people danced even in the mezzanine, upstairs.
John
Schwemlein officiated, since Tony Baumann’s father-in-law had passed away
that morning and couldn’t be present.
But John did a wonderful job and explained how the first
group was founded in 1954 and had its first exposure at the Harmonie Club. 
Hans
Mandl, the last surviving member of that first group was also present this
evening and enjoyed the festivities in good health.
He also reiterated important events in the club’s history.
That it was founded 47 years ago, the ladies auxiliary in 1959 and that the
first children’s group performed later that year with Mrs Schepp as the
teacher. Many children have continued on into the![Eric Offak [Golden Keys]: "No more soccer!" (Reunion at the Danube Swabians)](104c_D_Reunion-b.jpg)
youth groups and this is still true today. The dance groups through the
years have been very active with many enjoyable moments and memories.
Maskenball and Traubenfest in the beginning, then Trachtenfest,
Kirchweihfest, Prinzessin- or Rosenball and Caravan have continued strongly.
Many of those present had enjoyed trips to Vancouver, Florida, Myrtle Beach,
Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland and most recently Los Angeles and Germany.
In the spring of 1994, John said, we moved into these new facilities and have added a new annual function: Valentine’s Dance.
The
birthday of Lori Grünthal was also celebrated that evening. When asked her
age she only said "39 and holding". Made sense to me!
Mr. Schwemlein also exhorted members to visit the club more frequently. "That way our club will continue long after we are gone," he said.
"Kindermaskenball"
Another
wonderful event was the "Kindermaskenball" , a week earlier at the
Danube Swabian Club. Costumes of all types and styles were present. A lot of
imagination and hard work had been spent on their creation – that was easy
to see.
I counted about 60 youngsters, plus parents and grandparents, filling the great hall to capacity.
Of
course taking a count was a bit of a chore since the children never sat
still long enough for an accurate count. So I rather concentrated on
enjoying the fantastic variety of the costumes and masks. One that really
stuck out was an "Austin Powers" that looked more real than the
"man of mystery" himself.
Flappers,
Indians, Bees, Vampires, Ballerinas, Shark and so much more could be
admired.
When
all the kids sat in a circle in front of the stage, two cute little
ballerinas interviewed each of them to find out what their costume
represented, since almost every costume was different.
After
that the kids were invited to dance to some funky music. That was almost as
much fun for the attending grown-ups to watch, than it was for the children
to do.
Lots
of refreshments and other delightful entertainment completed this eventful
Sunday afternoon. One of the kids wanted to come back the following Sunday
as well and was visibly unhappy when told that this affair is only staged
once a year. But I think it did awake an interest in the club that might
later become beneficial when some of the participants will become active
members.
Toronto Wine and Cheese Show
This annual affair was as grand as the one that was held last year at the International Centre. This year it took place on March 23rd & 24th.
During
the reception, at the beginning of the show, Ralph Weil, show manager,
introduced the winners of the wine competition and handed out the coveted
plaques and medals to the winners in the various categories. Best Value
White was a Chardonnay from South Africa – Best of Show White was a
Chardonnay from Ontario (Cliento) –White Wine Gold: 2000 White from South
Africa and a 1999 Riesling from New Zealand. Other wines judged were Reds,
Rosés, Dry and Sweet Fruit Wines, Sparkling Wines, Dessert wines and
Aperitifs. (Over 180 altogether)
Again,
there were lots of wines, but not much cheese – except maybe for the booth
of the "Cheese Boutique"- from Toronto – that represented
probably the most impressive booth in the whole show.
But the emphasis is of course on wines and other alcoholic beverages. Many of the exhibitors are well known to our readers since their ads regularly appear on these pages: Reif Estate Winery and Konzelmann Estate for example. But there are so many more wonderful wines available from Ontario’s Niagara region now.
I well remember the time - many, many years ago when you couldn’t even use Ontario wines for cooking. Now they win medals worldwide!
Of
course there were wines – available for tasting – from around the world.
Napa Valley, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Hungaria, South Africa, Spain,
just to mention a few. Many of them prize-winners also.
Delicious beers – if you were interested – could be sampled from as far away as Japan, plus our local brews – like Hogtown, Brick, Andechs and many others.
More concentrated beverages like Vodka, and others were available for the connoisseur of stronger spirits.
If you are interested in the sweeter variety of spirits, Dr. McGillicuddy introduced a new Vanilla Schnapps this year, which is an excellent mixer with various fruit juices and sodas in 26 different ways.
Even if we did not find many cheeses, we found lots of condiments and other delights for the palate. Caviar, spices, teas, gourmet dinners, Capt Johns famous Manhattan clam chowder, chocolate dipped strawberries and truffles, edible shot glasses, jellies, fudges, sauces, breads, seafood, sushi, oysters, salad dressing, pâtés, and dips.
Home wine making kits, kitchen utensils, knifes and cookware and other related paraphernalia were also on display. Not to forget the cigars from Groucho and Co. – but you could only smoke them in the smoking lounge.
There were also a number of cooking demonstrations by famous restaurants during the three day show and the LCBO maintained a store where you could buy the wines you had just tasted, to take home.
Great show. If you missed it, mark it on your calendar for next year!
Manöverball – Guard Dance Competition 2001
This
is always the sad end of the carnival season – a last loving fling, so to
speak. And it was great again to see all those dedicated young ladies in
their wonderful uniforms perform their last duty of the season. Of course
there is still the Kindermanöverball in Kitchener on the 21st of
April, but that is still far away – or is it?
This
year, same as last year, the judges had a hard time to determine the
winners. The numbers were very close and it took a lot longer than usual to
publish the results – but here they are:
Miss
Bundeshospitality: Sarah Almendinger – Narrenzunft / Free Style Funky: 1st
Place: Narragonia, Brantford (plus "Wanderpokal") 2nd Place:
Narrenzunft, Kitchener – 3rd Place: Treue Husaren, Mississauga.
Originality: Narragonia, Brantford.
In
the show dance category Narragonia placed first, followed by Blau-Weiss,
Sarnia and the Treue Husaren, Mississauga.
Tanzmariechen
Solo: Narragonia 1st (plus trophy), Narrenzunft 2nd
and Treuer Husar, Mississauga 3rd.
Since the results were so close we had 4 winners in the Guard Dance category.
1st place and "wander trophy" went to Narragonia, Brantford, 2nd place to Blau-Weiss, Sarnia, 3rd place to the Londoner Funken Rot-Weiss and the 4th place to the Treue Husaren, Mississauga.
![Heidi Modesti [Narragonia] "Blue suede shoes" (Manöverball: Guard Dance Competition)](104c_D_Manover-f.jpg)
Congratulations
to all and thanks for a wonderful effort. Especially also to Heidi Modesti
for a delightful "Elvis".
Another
participant in this 35th Manöverball was the 1. KG Loreley,
Oshawa.
Next important date is the 5th of May 2001, when the Narrhalla 58 celebrates 4 X 11 wonderful years of Mardi Gras.
Alaaf, Helau and Ahoi, as always
Dick Altermann
( Mardi Gras / Heritage )
Comments to: dick@echoworld.com
