April 2003 - Nr. 4
Dick reports...
Schlachtfest
at the Hansa Haus
Eagerly
awaited, year after year, the annual "Schlachtfest" at the Hansa Haus on
Mississauga was an unqualified success. Delicious liver and blood sausages,
a sizeable portion of tasty Kasseler, Sauerkraut and mashed potatoes were
served with a bun.
The
guest of course had to choose his own preferred beverage to wash the meal
down. That choice of beverages wasn’t very hard, since the bar provides all
beverages at the proper recommended temperatures. Coffee and cake rounded
out the food offerings for desert.
This evening some of us had a chance to try the new "Steam Whistle Lager". This is a typical German Pilsner beer that is now brewed at the old "Roundhouse" at the foot of the CN Tower, in Toronto. And yes, they have a German "Braumeister" (Brew master), to guarantee quality and success!
The
Richter family also took this opportunity to celebrate Heinz Richter’s 80th
Birthday this evening. Many happy returns, Heinz!
The
Weiss-Blau Bayern Juniors entertained with folkdances during the
intermission to great spontaneous applause. These kids are getting better
all the time! Hopefully this is a way to maintain and carry our old
traditions into the future.
The Golden Keys, from Kitchener, provided the musical background and kept the dance floor loaded. Some of the dancers tried their hands – or is it feet – at some impromptu "line-dancing". I am always amazed at the band’s rich palette of wonderful and loved favourites.
Manöverball in Hamilton
This is the BIG one that every member of the "Tanzgarde" dancers keenly and ardently waits and trains for all year. The "Fred Wagner Dance Competition", hosted by the BDKK, at the Royal Conaught Hotel in Hamilton is one of the most festive events of the carnival or "Mardi Gras" season and usually guarantees a full house. It is the one where the girls get a chance to measure themselves against their peers and also an opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones.
Guard Dancers
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Funky Solos
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When the judges evaluated the points scored by the six individual groups, they found that the separation between points was very small. That means that the quality of all or most of the attending groups was very close in the performance of the guard dances and the show dances, as well as at the many innovative, creative and well-executed solo performances.
This time the performance schedule was reversed. In the past, the show dances were performed in the afternoon and the guard dances in the evening. But the new arrangement also seemed to work out pretty well.
After
Armin Hellmann (president of the BDKK) had greeted the girls and the guests,
Ingrid Wagner took over to guide the event to its eventual successful
conclusion.
Show Dancers
Groups
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Solos
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There weren’t too many surprises this evening. The Treue Husaren Mississauga provided the "Miss Bundeshospitality" while the categories: Free Style Funky, Originality, Show Dance, Tanzmariechen Solo and Guard Dance were all topped by the Narragonia, Brantford. Not a great surprise, although some of the other participants scored pretty high. Londoner Funken Rot-Weiss placed 2nd with the Free Style Funky and the Show Dance – Narrenzunft Concordia, Kitchener placed 2nd in Tanzmariechen Solo and 3rd in both Guard Dance and Show Dance – and Blau-Weiss, Sarnia placed 2nd in the Guard Dance and 3rd in the Tanzmariechen Solo categories. Unfortunately the Loreley, Oshawa group did not place, but did a very credible job and should be commanded for their efforts. Kudos also to the judges (and am I glad that I am not one of them!).
Joe Lindlau and the "Golden Two" (all three of them) entertained the guest with dance music for the balance of the evening.
The next item on the "Carnival" agenda will be the "Kindermanöverball" in Kitchener on the 26th of April. See you all there!
Princess Ball at the Donauschwaben
This
great and wonderful event is strictly a "Youth Group" endeavour – run
entirely by them and for their benefit. Every year, around this time, they
stage the "Prinzessin Ball", the Princess Ball. The tradition of selecting a
"Miss Danube" goes back to 1969 and this was the 13th time that
the frame of a Prinzessin Ball, was staged by the young members of the club,
and used as a framework for selecting the new "Miss Danube" for the current
year.
Rebecca Szauter – the 2002 Miss Danube mentioned the following sentiment in her greetings "This is a significant occasion of the year for our youth group; but especially for our young ladies. The youth group has carefully voted for an eligible female member to represent them, and the Blue Danube club, for the coming year, as Miss Danube 2003". Mentioning the club’s support she said "Hopefully with your continued support we will be able to fulfill many more girls’ dreams by allowing them to represent their culture, in this meaningful way".
After
addresses by Norbert Turi – the MC for the event – and Annie Hudson, dance
teacher of the group - who also donated the crown - the young ladies and
their escorts marched in and were introduced to the audience before they
lined up in front of the stage. Nicole Hudson, president of the group and
Rebecca Szauter, the current "Miss", both explained to the guest what the
group is all about and what they have been doing in the past year.
They
also thanked helpers and contributors for their support, including Toni
Baumann, who guided the club for the past 16 years, (I am not supposed to
mention that Toni received a standing ovation when he was introduced! So I
will not mention it!)
After
some waltzes by some members of the group and a final line-up at the stage,
Norbert Turi finally – and very slowly, to increase the tensions in the
beautifully decorated and crowd-filled hall – opened the first envelope to
announce the runner-up: Rachel Seilern and, after another laborious envelope
opening, during which time you could ‘hear a pin drop’ in the hall, the new
Miss Danube 2003 was proclaimed: Alisha Szauter.
Great applause – fed by relief – then the ‘crowning’ of the ‘new’ by the ‘old’ Miss, lots of hugs, kisses and congratulations that didn’t seem to want to end.
![Mr. & Mrs. Bissinger with Alisha Szauter [centre] (Danube Swabian Club)](304c-PrinceB-t.jpg)
Finally
the first waltz by the new Miss Danube and her escort ended the official
part of the evening. Photo opportunities abounded, lots of pictures were
also taken with Mr. & Mrs. Bissinger, who generously donated the first
prize.
Many of the guests then retired to the foyer where a sweet table had been set up with a huge variety of mouth-watering cakes and pastries. Most of the young ladies themselves had baked all these delicious goodies to supplement the fund that enables them to continue their group’s activities.
The Golden Keys, from Kitchener, supplied the musical background for some of the activities and the dancing that followed the official part of the evening. This time they had Heidi with them – who had been sorely missed by many in the past.
Kinderfest at the Hansa Haus
Guests
from Hamilton, Kitchener, St. Catharines, Brampton, Georgetown, Mississauga
and Toronto joined the host – the Weiss-Blau Bayern Junior Schuhplattler -
for an afternoon of celebrations and dance performances.
The K.G. Ascendia, Hamilton brought their Junior "Garde" to perform a traditional guard dance; the Fiesta Filipina Dance Troupe performed one of their traditional dances; the Grant School of Irish Dance amazed and delighted the audience with a fantastically intricate series of Irish dance routines.
Other visiting dancers were the GETV Alpenrösl from St. Catharines and the Enzian Schuhplattler Verein from Kitchener. One of the highlights of the afternoon was the bell-ringing performance by the entire host group.
The
other highlight for the kids was trying to bust a piñata to get at the
candies inside. It took many valiant tries before the contents finally
spilled out, causing a mad scramble by the youngsters for those goodies.
Children of all ages
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Schnitzels, hot dogs, coffee and various delicious cakes were available at the kitchen and great prizes could be won at the raffle (Tombola)
It was a delightful event for all generations and a successful effort to keep old traditions alive.
As always
Dick Altermann
Comments to: dick@echoworld.com
