November, 2004 - Nr. 11
German Pioneers Day 2004
by Herwig Wandschneider
Ernst
Friedel and Tony Bergmeier (Presidents of the German-Canadian Congress of
Ontario and National respectively) accepted the invitation of Mr. Lorne
Smith, Markham’s Historian,
to celebrate
the 5th annual German Pioneers Day on October 12th in
Markham.
The occasion was the 210th Anniversary of the arrival of 64 German settler families in Markham back in 1794, the year Markham was founded. The German families Berczy brought here are recognized as the official founders of the town.
The
occasion was also that the Fred Varley Gallery had a display of some 30 of
the numerous pictures by William Berczy, which were painstakingly found,
borrowed and set up here by Katerina Atanassova, the gallery’s Berczy
Expert.
The group of Toronto and K-W visitors celebrating German Pioneers day were welcomed by Lorne Smith in the late afternoon.
Group of Toronto and K-W visitors
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Ms. Atanassova and the Gallery’s Director, Mr. John Ryerson, then took the group of some 40 visitors on a tour of the gallery, specifically of the exhibit of "William Berczy, Man of Enlightenment". and explained the history of the paintings as they related to Berczy’s life. While most of Berczy’s paintings are in Europe, where he had traveled extensively, his name and paintings are more widely known in North America.
Period paintings
Period garments
Following the Gallery tour and a reception with hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, the group was received at the council chambers of Markham’s Civic Centre by Mayor Don Cousens and the town’s councilors to begin the official ceremonies. In their brief addresses, Tony Bergmeier and Ernst Friedel highlighted significant contributions of Berczy and the 64 German families, such as the founding of Markham and the construction of the first 10 km of Toronto’s Yonge Street.
In fact German Pioneers represented a majority of the founding groups of the Province of Ontario, which is the reason for German Pioneers Day, as highlighted in the Preamble to Bill 28 – 1999. The Bill officially proclaimed this special day in 1999 on the initiative of then MPP Wayne Wettlaufer.
German Pioneers Day Awards were presented in front of Markham’s Council to the following groups for their significant efforts in preserving and keeping alive the German history of the area:
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Markham Historical Society
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Pennsylvania German Folklore Society
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Society for Preservation of Historic Thornhill
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Markham Berczy Settlers Association
Awards for the Societies
Mayor Cousens eloquently closed this part of the council session by praising the contributions of German settlers made over the centuries and still make in the presence.
The
Group left the Civic Centre to permit Council to continue with their regular
evening session. 14 of this group went back to the heart of Unionville and
settled in for additional celebrations at the "Old Country Inn", which was
still able to accommodate the group at the advancing hour. Many not familiar
with Unionville vowed to return to explore this unique area more leisurely
during daylight hours.
Speeches by:
