December 2003 - Nr. 13
Dick reports...
You better be good…
…cause Santa Claus is coming to town! And one of the stops was the Danube Swabian Club in Scarborough for the annual "Kinderbescherung" – presents for the children.
But
there was some wait involved and the children bridged it with performances
on the stage, or in front of it. One of the highlights was the performance
of the 12 days of Christmas with placards denoting the 12 numbers with
"audience participation"!
All
of the tables had placards on them that assigned the guests to one of the 12
stages of Christmas and when that part was sung the people had to get up and
join in. Needless to say that the "partridge in the pear tree" part tables
were the loudest tables of the lot. It was fun and enjoyed by young and old.
Ingrid Szauter and Rachel Seilern had their hands full in keeping their small charges in check, but they all got into the spirit of the occasion and performed like old troopers.
Finally,
Ho, Ho, Ho, Santa appeared! It was a magical moment and it lit a fire of
expectation in the eyes of the children. Who is going to get what?
Well,
it all started with the youngest – under one year old – and progressed by
age group. I don’t think we can imagine what torture that could be when you
are 12 years old and there are about 40 kids ahead of you! Would there be
any presents left when it was your turn?
Yes, there were enough for everyone, thank God! And also enough home-baked cookies for everyone, including the grown-ups! The Ladies Auxiliary had made sure of that.
Christmas at the Hansa Haus
That was Santa’s next stop. At the annual Christmas party for the club members and their children and grandchildren. As has been the custom, the children were entertained – or entertaining themselves – with various games and handicrafts.
The
Hansa Choir initiated the festivities with seasonal songs where some of the
audience joyfully participated to enhance the seasonal spirit of Christmas.
Even our Sybille joined the choir.
The Ladies Auxiliary had provided cookies and Stollen to go with the coffee for the older generation.
Of
course the tension mounted as the afternoon progressed since everyone was
waiting for the arrival of the star: "Santa Claus". I presume that secretly
the children were mainly interested in what presents he might have brought
for them.
Well, Ho, Ho, Ho - there were a lot of gifts, more than he would have been able to carry by himself. But he had brought his chief "Elf" with him to cart the presents to his throne at the stage, and to help with the distribution. You could tell that the Elf had lots of experience.
Santa is here!
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No one was disappointed and some of the children unwrapped their gifts immediately – to them Christmas had come that day! Those kids that had received toys started playing with them right away, of course. By that time they weren’t even interested in the cookies anymore. It was great fun for young and old, especially the grandparents in the audience who were reliving and remembering many Christmases past.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Dick Altermann
P.S. For those of my friends who are interested to know how I totalled my car, here is the scenario. Upon leaving the Concordia Club and heading down Homer Watson to the 401 the car started to skid. It had started to rain and I suppose some of the oil had come to the road surface. I tried to recover but there was not enough room between my car and the pole that carried the traffic lights. I sheared it off, clean. Another 6 inches might have saved the car. Airbags worked fine!
The first thing the attending police officer did, was to make me blow into the breathalyser. Thank God for 0.9% Upper Canada beer. He was satisfied that I was sober, made out his report and sent for a tow truck. Estimated repairs about $14,000. Book value of the car $13,500. End of story!
I now have to rely on the feedback of my friends to help me with reporting on club events.
Comments to: dick@echoworld.com
