January, 2004 - Nr. 1
Dick reports...
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Should
auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of Auld Lang Syne.
For Ault Lang Syne, my dear,
For Auld Lang Syne,
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet
For Auld Lang Syne
This
lovely old tune, played by the Golden Keys at the Hansa Haus, ushered in the
New Year for about 350 guests with the customary glasses of bubbly.
Visitations
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Smiling Faces
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Hugs, kisses and congratulations all around plus stomping on the balloons that had been dropped from the ceiling of the great hall at midnight to the blaring of little paper trumpets and throwing of paper streamers.
Hugs and Kisses
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The
"Auld Lang Syne" – a very old Scottish tune – was written down by Robbie
Burns in the 1700s and is now sung by most English-speaking people on New
Year’s Eve. It could be translated as ‘times gone by’ such as: "We’ll drink
a cup of kindness yet for times gone by". Especially one Scottish visitor
must have felt right at home.
Bar Beauties
To
facilitate all the guests and still maintaining a large enough dance floor,
the organizers had split this event into two venues: the great hall, to seat
about
250
guests and the Hansa Stube (upstairs) to seat the balance of the guests.
Music for dancing upstairs was provided by the Vogel from Mississauga.
A
delicious dinner was served with red and white wines on all the tables by
the friendly staff.
Seven huge pots of yummy goulash soup were simmering on the
big stove in the kitchen – carefully watched by resident ‘Chef’ Vlasta –
which was served
with bread, after midnight, to a grateful bunch of revellers, that had
gotten hungry again from all the dancing and exercise doing the many
waltzes, polkas and a polonaise among other musical delights. .
What
about the traditional "New Year’s Resolutions"? Almost everybody makes them,
but very few follow through. The impulse to reform, to start something new,
runs at a deeper level than just the desire to become richer or thinner or
healthier
or to quit smoking in the year to come. In most of us there is an innate
desire to become better – more thoughtful or considerate of others and
better citizens etc. But resolutions are fragile, evanescent like the
bubbles in the champagne at midnight and are usually at the curb with the
Christmas tree on pickup day. We may mean well, but are easily
distracted
by the daily grind, demands and temptations – unless others around us remind
us and are trying to help – or by people that can serve as shining examples,
worth emulating. But of course there is always next year! My own
resolutions? Same as last year! None!
Happy New Year
Dick Altermann
Comments to: dick@echoworld.com
