May 2003 - Nr. 5
The "Forget-me-nots"…
A
full house of fans and supporters attended this anniversary event and no one
seemed to mind that it was also a fundraiser for this amazing family group.
During
the time when the guests had their Schnitzel dinner and coffee and a huge
variety of cakes, the four girls of the "Streichquartett" entertained the
guests with familiar tunes from Austria – that brilliantly set the stage for
the film biography that was to come later.
Ingrid
Szauter, the matriarch and "Oma" to most of the family, opened the
proceedings with a welcoming address and thanked some of the most important
contributors to the group’s success: Regina Grumme for the wonderful
dresses; Willi Platzer for all his help; Tony Baumann, the former president
of the club, for the unwavering support and the fact that he made them feel
welcome at the "Schwabenklub".
"It
has become our ‘second home’, where we have been bringing our music ever
since", she said. But there were so many others that toiled in the
background, too many to mention individually, but who all had contributed to
their success!
Ingrid
Seilern-Szauter had come from her native Austria in 1955 with her folksongs
and a love for singing. As her grandchildren grew, she felt the desire to
enrich their lives with the Austrian language and culture; and what better
way than through her beloved songs. Hence the formation of the
"Forget-Me-Not" singers in the summer of 1992. That others would enjoy their
music as much as they did came as a pleasant surprise.
After
the official welcoming address the lights in the hall dimmed and the
audience was treated to movie that depicted the highlights of the past
decade. It stared in the present and wound back to the very beginnings of
the group.
Featured was the trip to Austria, the visits to castles, the wonderful white stallions of Lipizza, a private reception by the Prince of Liechtenstein, a trip on the "Blue Danube" and a visit with Maria von Trapp at her Inn in Stowe, Vermont. The film flowed back – through time – with many scenes showing the group performing in many venues throughout the world.
It also set the stage for another highlight of the evening where the audience was asked to guess "Who’s that baby??" from a set of baby pictures published in the program pamphlet.
Of course, that was almost impossible and when pictures of the babies were shown on the screen later, and the grown-ups "babies" came forward to introduce themselves it really came as a great surprise to most of the guests. Nobody had picked all of them right!
After
another "Thank You" interlude and songs by the group, the anniversary cake
was wheeled into the hall and everyone was invited to share a piece of cake
with the group.
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The evening concluded with addresses and congratulations by various dignitaries and friends of the group under the theme "Your memories of the Forget-me-nots". r.k.a.
