December, 2005 - Nr. 12
A Prelude to Christmas
This was the annual introduction for the children to the festive season at the Danube-Swabian Club in Scarborough.
After
welcoming addresses by Brigitte Wecker, the president of the club and Klara
Rotter and
Lena
Forstner from the ‘Frauengruppe’ – the Ladies Auxiliary – and guided by
Rachel Seilern from the "Forget-me-not family group, the event started with
a wonderfully presented Christmas stage-play by the children, that was
climaxed by a nativity scene complete
with
the baby Jesus in the manger, and the usual visitors - including a young
lady dressed as a ‘sheep’. It was wonderful to see those children perform
for their peers and the large audience of parents and grandparents. This was
the first time this was done prior to the "Bescherung" with Santa Claus
presiding.
The Play
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Christmas
is mainly for children, and it is an opportunity to teach them about giving,
sharing and receiving in return. It will also, sometimes only subliminally,
convey important and meaningful messages about the importance of loyalty,
compassion, understanding and taking responsibility that we have to convey
to them, depending on their ages.
For the grown-ups it is the satisfaction to see the joy in their eyes when the children see Santa and when they open the various gifts they received or the cookies and juice that were served. Those are worthwhile and meaningful experiences, not easily forgotten and hopefully repeated when they have children of their own.
After the performances on stage and some singing of seasonal favourites – accompanied by violins – Santa at last arrived to the great elation of the small fry.
Santa has arrived
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After a few "ho, ho, hos" and "Merry Christmases" Santa settled in his chair, and was ready to receive the children.
Starting with the youngest ones and working its way up by age groups the event commenced. Not all the young ones were convinced that sitting on Santa’s knee was such a great experience; some of them were very scared while others were really curious and asked questions.
But the older the kids got that afternoon, the easier and smoother the procedure became thanks also to the tireless efforts of the ladies from the auxiliaries who were working in the background.
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Upstairs, in the mezzanine, the Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada were celebrating their annual Christmas party.
Under
the direction of Christian Klein – its president – and his guitar many
‘sing-alongs’ of beloved seasonal melodies were performed.
An introduction to this event was a poetic look at the origin of German Christmas with the poem "Es war in alten Zeiten ein Spielmann im deutschen Land…" that was recited by Lieselotte Bollmann.
Two
additional poems about the bad times in the past and about ‘Christmas in
Canada" were recited by Maria Schönrock. These were followed by Alfred
Chopka with "Advent 1991" and "Daily Creed".
Eleonore
Nakachian – a member of the Schola Cantorum - also contributed to the event
by reciting "Die Weihnachtsmaus" and the official part of the event closed
with a poem by Günter Rausch.
After
the festivities were concluded downstairs in the big hall, the entire "Szauter
Clan" – of "Forget-me-not" fame - appeared to entertain the guests with some
fantastic songs in keeping with the spirit of the this festive season. Two
members of the Schola Cantorum that seamlessly fitted into this splendid
performance also joined them.
This brilliant performance definitively ‘made’ the afternoon for the guests. It is great to hear such accomplished singers doing what they love - and what they do best. Kudos to all the people that made this a successful event.
As always
Dick Altermann
