April 2002 - Nr. 4
Dick reports...
Schlachtfest
Nicely unstructured and informal at the Hansa Haus in
Brampton. T
he
"Schlachtplatte" consisting of a very tasty liver sausage and blood sausage
– standards at this type of event – plus a large piece of "Kasseler",
marinated pork, and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes. What a feast!
No
table service this time, everyone picked up his or her meal at the counter,
whenever they felt like it and depending on their arrivals. It all started
at 6:00 p.m. and since not everyone came at the same time, nobody had to
stand and wait in line very long at the food counter.
Coffee and cakes – a fabulous "Bienenstich" and a cherry cake – all baked by Vlasta at the club – rounded out the food offerings.
The
bar was kept busy serving the beloved German beers (Warsteiner & Hacker
Pschorr) and a lot of the guests asked for the new "Paulaner" wheat beer
that gives you such a nice, long-lasting head of foam when you pour it into
your glass, and wonderfully complements the meat dish at this dinner.
![Gerry Meinzer [r.] in conversation with the Consul General Dr. Hochschild [l.] (German-Canadian Club Hansa)](204c-Schlacht-b.jpg)
A
number of honoured guest were in attendance this evening also. Dr. Ulrich
Hochschild, German Consul General, Gerry Meinzer – who once ran for Mayor of
Toronto, as most of you will remember - and a number of members of the
Brandt family with Otto Rosenmeier and Ida Brandt representing as heads of
the family. Since Brand Meat is the major supplier of the club, the food is
always of the highest quality.
In
his address Dr. Hochschild stressed that he was glad to see that so many
Germans still attend the functions of the clubs and he thoroughly enjoys
participating in these events.
After
everyone had eaten and before the "Golden Keys" started to play for the
general dance, the Volkstanzgruppe "Almrausch" performed a number of
traditional folk dances that were very well received by the audience.
The
rest of the evening was spent on the dance floor to the rich repertoire of
the Golden Keys, from Kitchener.
12th Annual Princess Ball
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?"
That is not the criteria by which the Youth Group of the Danube Swabian Club chooses the annual "Miss Danube".
Although this year
they could have asked the mirror and were told to select Rebecca Szauter as
one of the fairest to be the next reigning "Miss" or Princess. But the
outgoing Princess, Kristy Hudson explained it in her opening address when
she welcomed the many guests that had chosen to attend this gala function.
Every year the youth group has an opportunity to choose a girl the Members
feel will best represent them and the Toronto Danube Swabians for the coming
year.
She
also mentioned that the choice is never an easy one to make and that this
year is no exception. "All the girls in the youth group are princesses and
all the boys are princes", and this and every year is a special evening for
the group and they very much appreciate the continual support from the club.
She said "We love being here, it is our second home and we have all of you
as our family".
Her sister Nicole, the president of the youth group thanked
all for coming, and echoed Kristy’s sentiments. "We have a very busy year
ahead of us and hope to see many of you at our up and coming events
throughout the year!"
Kristy reminisced about the past year and realised that picking out the best time was hard to do but she listed some of the functions she attended: Kindertrachtenfest, Mother’s Day, Landestrachtenfest, Kirchweihfest, Oktoberfest (Yellow shooters anyone?), Jugendtreffen at Park Waldheim, Traubenfest (Going to jail, seeing a judge, stealing onions (?) and other antics), Exhibition and German Day (and roller coaster late at night), Caravan and her mini-mayor Jacob Turi (a little nervous with the City-TV interview – but a great party after!), and last but not least "Cincinnati" and the "Tag der Donauschwaben".
She also thanked her sponsors, Mr. And Mrs Schinagl, who sponsor the Princess every year, the Baumanns, her sister Nikky and many others – too numerous to mention here.
The Youth Group had marched into the hall – a festive sight – 15 lovelies in breath-taking evening gowns and 13 festively attired male escorts. After a walk around the dance floor they all lined up in front of the stage.
After Kristy’s and Nicole’s addresses, Tony Baumann, the club’s president started the process that everyone had been holding their breath for. "The envelope, please"…and the winner is: Runner up: Rachel Seilern - whose duty it is to help and take the place of the reigning princess if she should be unable to attend and now – you could hear a pin drop in the hall – the new – more pregnant pauses – ‘Miss Danube’ and the new princess… Rebecca Szauter!!!
Thundering applause and Kristy put the crown on Rebecca’s
head.
That’s what everyone had been waiting for – now the "Golden
Keys" could start playing for the general dance that was opened by the new
"Miss" and the members of the youth group.
The youth group had also created little program booklets
that listed all the participants and all the names of the past "Miss
Danube’s" since 1969. A wonderful effort!
Manöverball 2002
This year with a new banner reading "Fred Wagner Dance Competition" over the stage, honouring the long-time efforts of the BDKK president Fred Wagner. – Fred who unfortunately passed away recently, had always been recognized as one of the beloved mentors of the dance guards and one of the driving forces behind the "Manöver Ball" dance competitions.
I am sorry I missed it this year – for the first time in
many years – but I have the outcome of the competition for those of my
readers that also missed it.
Not represented this year was the Narrhalla ’58 from Hamilton.
"Miss Hospitality": – voted for by the girls – Tania Anger, Londoner Funken Rot-Weiss. The Londoner Funken only marched in but did not compete, since only 5 girls could attend.
"Free Style Funkenmariechen": Narragonia Brantford, (plus Wandertrophy) followed by Narrenzunft Kitchener and Blau-Weiss Sarnia.
"Originality": Narragonia Brantford.
"Show Dance": Narragonia Brantford, (plus Wandertrophy) with their Western Saloon and Can-Can combo, followed by the Treue Husaren Mississauga in 2nd place and Narrenzunft Kitchener in 3rd place.
"Garde Dance": Narragonia Brantford, (plus Wandertrophy), followed by Blau-Weiss Sarnia and Narrenzunft Kitchener.
"Tanzmariechen Solo": Blau-Weiss Sarnia got to the first spot (plus Wandertrophy) followed by Narrenzunft Kitchener and last, but not least Narragonia Brantford (!) to everyone’s surprise.
The fifth group in the competition was the Loreley Oshawa – good show, but no cigars this time.
When the traditional "Silencio" was played at the end of the evening, it was played in honour of Fred Wagner. Needless to say, that not many eyes remained dry. We all miss you, Fred!
As always,
Dick Altermann
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