November, 2004 - Nr. 11
"Community Matters"
Charity begins at home
When the recent Home Show sent an invitation to participate in a media version of "The Price is right" I thought to myself: Why not do a good deed and have some fun at the same time.
The proceeds were to go to Sick Kids Hospital, and I will never forget what they offered to do once many years ago, for my ailing nieces. So I offered to participate and was accepted as a player. I had no idea how difficult it is to correctly guess the right price, but learned that this is not necessarily the best strategy. One has to be lower and the closet to the real price.
Somehow I ended up as the one to win the 500 bucks that were
to go to the hospital and had a chance to hand the cheque to a hospital
representative. What fun!
Viva Amadeus!
The
Austrian Tourist Board invited to a lunch, introducing the next programs for
the country. The year 2006 Austria is all geared up to celebrate Mozart’s
250th birthday. In his honour the country is going all out to
present an even more exciting program all over the country than usual. There
is no doubt that this important date will be written about much more and
people will flock in great
numbers
to Austria to experience first hand were the maestro walked and composed. A
couple of entertainers, especially flown in from overseas performed a most
amusing skit about Amadeus in period costumes. Mozart, known for his sense
of fun, would have been pleased!
Gala Ball
This year’s annual Gala Ball of the German-Canadian community was a success by numbers. Over 400 guests came to the Royal York Hotel in Downtown Toronto. The big venue was pretty decorated with covered chairs and a lovely centerpiece of roses on each table. Festively dressed people milled about during a champagne reception and viewed the many items available for silent auction. I got lucky and ended up with a new German Duden, donated by Steidl Books. The German Schools in Toronto are the beneficiaries of this auction and we hope the result was plentiful. Encouraged not to take photos, because there were 2 photographers who photographed everything in sight to be downloaded later, I did not take any shots, and it was too cumbersome to select from the hundreds. So it is a good idea for readers to go to the website by themselves and have a look: www.interactivechamber.com/events/october222004
The evening proceeded as usual at the start with a few
speeches by the German Ambassador and the presidents of the Chamber and
Business Association, which the press table was unable to understand,
because we were sitting in the remotest corner of the hall, were the house
system does not reach. The meal however was an eclectic mix of international
cuisine. The soup was reminiscent of Germany because of the bratwurst in it,
and there was a spoon full of sauerkraut
with
the Buffalo medallions. Everything else was as un-German as could be, as was
the master of ceremonies, who did not even know why he was asked to do this
job.
Nevertheless, it was observed that people had a good time. Mostly people sitting at a table were with friends and therefore not at a loss for conversation and dance partners.
The entertainment this year was much more pleasant then the one last year, which was overbearing. This year the well-known Dance School Pollocks provided very spirited examples of ballroom dancing, reminding us that dancing is indeed a fabulous exercise, even if you are not competition material.
We must not forget that there were a couple of fabulous door prizes: Lufthansa flight tickets to Berlin and a terrific Miele appliance. The lucky winners were very appreciative.
We recall previous balls and recall also that there used to be a theme, which actually used to be related to something German. We even had German MCs, including yours truly. This German element somehow has gotten lost in the shuffle of planning. Is it the effort to fit in that lets us forget that it would be quite all right to present more things with a German flair?
Otherwise it can be said that this ball was likely to be the
best planned one in recent times, leaving nothing to chance, no observable
mistakes were made to report. No doubt, all those available electronic
gadgets gave the ball committee a helping hand. But there are many things
that need a personal touch. How much work it actually is to prepare such a
big ball can only be known and understood by those who actually do the work,
and much praise goes to those that gave their time to the effort.
Austrian National Holliday
For the third year in a row Mrs. Christine Meyer, President of the local Austrian Society held a reception in her home, a terrific penthouse in midtown Toronto, for many of the Austrian compatriots, an activity, which has traditionally been executed by the Consul General of Austria. Again Mr. Stronach was unavailable for this event. We read in the paper that he was in Texas with his horse to win big honours and big money there.
Nevertheless the gathering of Torontonian Austrians was a happy one and well attended. As in the past Dr. Karl Schmidt said the appropriate words and Mr. Kunzelmann read from works of authors who had written specifically addressing those Austrians that live away from their homeland. The Forget-Me-Nots were at hand to lead in the singing of the National hymn and also some of the wonderful Austrian folksongs.
Further joy was created with a tombola of 10 prizes.
Austrian wine and two kinds of strudel rounded out this cozy and festive meeting of about one hundred guests.
Toronto’s first Consul General, Mr. Fritz Istl and Dr. Schmidt commended Mrs. Meyer, for her efforts in keeping Austrian traditions alive. She shares this honour with the board of the Austrian Society and thanked her many helpers.
The next noteworthy event of the Canadian Austrian Society is the Advent gathering at the Delta Chelsea Inn on December 6. See you there!
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
