March 2002 - Nr. 3
Letter from the Editor
It appears as though the end of the Winter Olympics also signalled the end of winter in our region. Rain instead of snow has been falling from blackened skies, encouraging buds on trees and bushes to grow to near bursting size. Usually the end of Carnival brings lots of ice and snow to go with the time of lent just perfectly. Hot cabbage soup to melt away those unwanted pounds accumulated during the festive season tastes particularly good in the cold season.
I am sure you delighted as much I we did in the many exciting surprises in store for us at the Olympics. Some of it was outright amusing; other stories were simply awesome. And those that are not into sports also got something entertaining, other than the simply fabulous opening and closing ceremonies. Perhaps only Lillehammer was more touching, more magical. But then the world was not quite as wounded as it was now. The cynics certainly got their pound of flesh with enough scandals this time around. Doping, bad judging, posturing and threatening were daily on the agenda together with great joy by unexpecting winners as well as strong heartbreak by the unforeseen loosers.
Next to those spectacles everything else nearly paled, but we had a few other noteworthy experiences right here in our town of Toronto, like the annual Austrian gala ball. We visited a concert given exclusively for children, to teach them the joys of opera. The Rose Monday affair was much fun and a classical concert with the Forget-Me-Nots warmed all hearts. Of course, there were the other Mardi Gras affairs, which Dick attended.
After our deadline we attended the 25th anniversary of the Hansa Choir, but this is a story that will have to wait until next time. It was a great occasion to celebrate ancient singing traditions.
These are but some of the stories we have in this issue. We hope you enjoy them.
In
the forecast are a few interesting items: German Weeks in Toronto, Alpine
Fest at the CNE, a Bluegrass evening, and a Russian gala at the Danube
Swabian Club. The latter is their annual fundraising event. These affairs
are always special and with a different and unusual theme. This year
Katharina the Great got a lot of attention. In Berlin a big ball was held in
her honour, now we will be able to enjoy one here. Customarily the food on
those evenings is an extension of the theme. It will be interesting to hear
what the menu had to offer. The big question is: did Katharina eat borscht?
Find out next time, when we also will report on the President’s Ball of the
Concordia Club in Kitchener.
In other news: The Struwwelpeter book is becoming quite the bestseller. Now available in English and German, side by side, with all the wonderful illustrations, is selling very well at Lein’s Delikatessen and here at Echo Germanica. Have you ordered your copy yet?
Very good news indeed is that tenor Mark DuBois is recovering nicely from his severe accident just after Christmas and is now the proud father of a son, his first! Four daughters, including his youngest, Elisabeth, can hardly wait to welcome the newcomer home. I guess congratulations are in order!
I almost forgot! The Deutsches Theater Toronto will be performing a comedy by Erich Kästner on the first 2 weekends of May. Besides some of our most favourite actors there will be a few new faces. Please consult the ad for details of this event and all the others I mentioned in our paper version of Echo Germanica.
Easter is quite early this year. It would be nice if real spring would arrive this early as well, don’t you think? Wouldn’t daffodils and tulips look great in the garden?
Have a wonderful Easter!
Until next time
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
Comments to: editor@echoworld.com
