November 2001 - Nr. 11
Dick reports...
Full houses at the "Donauschwaben"
About 400 guests vied for seats in the great hall of the Danube-Swabian Club in Scarborough on Friday, 19th of October. The attraction? The "Cantus Buer/Gelsenkirchen" mixed choir and instrumental soloists from the Rhineland.
Bursting at the seams the doors to the restaurant section had to be opened to allow overflow into that area of the club. Club management was surprised – and not displeased – that so many lovers of choir music had shown up.
And the audience was not disappointed, since most of the tunes were familiar and reminiscent of the old "Heimat". They were so appreciative in fact that they contributed $1,200.00 to the choir in voluntary donations. Obviously the choirmaster, upon receiving this money, was a little embarrassed and surprised since the choir members are pretty well off financially and quietly murmured "what am I going to do with this"? Well, I am sure it will be put to good use.
More Danube Swabian news
The
following Friday was the occasion of the "Grape Harvest Festival"
at the club. An event that had been neglected for a long time and thought to
be really worth resurrecting.
Again
close to 400 visitors attended and spilled over into the restaurant section
and the mezzanine.
In
the centre of the hall was a latticework scaffolding erected from which hung
all sorts of goodies. Plastic bags with grapes, paper bags that you couldn’t
see through and that contained either an apple or an onion, carrots etc.
The
reason for that decoration was so that the dancers underneath this
nourishing canopy could steal some of the items to take back to their
respective tables. However, if the police –the Danube-Swabian youngsters
– caught them before they left the dance floor, they were arrested,
brought before a judge and fined.
The
fines were destined to help the "Youth Group" of the club. This
was probably also the reason why these "cops" were so eager to
catch as many thieves as possible.
This
proved to be so much fun to the audience, that the police had its hands full
to catch the "crooks". But not many of the thieves got away and
the court did a land-office business collecting the fines.
Of
course the "Judge", Ken Madrick from Calgary, ably assisted by
Elisabeth Preis as prosecutor, had a thick "Lawbook" (Toronto
Telephone Directory) to guide his decisions. He also had a gavel and a robe,
which made him look almost real!
And
the results? About $1,500.00 for the Youth Group and a heartfelt "Thank
you" to the audience by Nicole Hudson, the president of the Youth
Group, at the end of the evening.
Another
thank you to the "Romeros" from Kitchener, who entertained the
guests with a well-rounded repertoire of familiar dance music. All in all:
Another successful event.
At the Bayern Club
A belated "Oktoberfest" at the "Bayern Klub", in old and familiar surroundings, drew about 200 visitors from all over Ontario again. The old Peter & Paul Hall had been redecorated to reflect more elegance and a festive appearance, since they also host weddings and other important banquets. The Matt Lebar Ensemble always surprises everyone with the fantastic repertoire of old and familiar tunes to dance by.
Lein’s
Food Service was excellent again and duly appreciated by the guests. However
something new has been added to the beverage selections: "Steam
Whistle" Pilsner beer – brewed in downtown Toronto by a German
Brew-master – has been added. It is quite "süffig" (very
drinkable!) said some of the more knowledgeable beer connoisseurs in the
audience.
Unfortunately,
money being tight for the club, no other entertainment could be provided.
However, the guests enjoyed themselves and the company of each other.
Next month it is "Mardi Gras" – or carnival – time again. Read about it here!
Until then, as always
Dick Altermann
Comments to: dick@echoworld.com
