At the Easter party for the kids the Hansa Club was very well visited by parents and grandparents with their grandkids. Games were played until the Easter bunny showed up to give all the little ones a basket with many different treats.

The real thing...	...for everyone

A lottery of many plush Easter bunnies was another favourite pastime. Getting a new toy is always cause for pleasure. Notably there are differences in what children and their parents like. One little girl reached for a bright purple bunny, but mom would have liked her to take a more traditional looking one, but could not change her mind. It was the purple one or nothing!

Bunny lottery

The smallest and newest of the members did not quite know what was going on, but surely next year they will experience the whole affair with much more awareness and retain some of the memories for sure. Some parents brought their kids all dressed up in traditional dirndl and lederhosen to show their pride in their heritage. Heidi and Robert Gutwein were just so pleased to bring their little Michael to meet the Easter bunny, as were so many others. And we were glad to watch and just a little sad that we were no longer small and young enough to receive an Easter treat.

Hansa Club Celebrates 49^th Anniversary

A lot was made of next years big five O, especially in the speeches by the mayors of Brampton and Mississauga. Hazel McCallion never misses an opportunity to profess her love of things German.

A regular guest at the Hansa Club, perhaps due to the fact that her grandchild has a German mother, who is somewhat involved in the club, perhaps due to the fact that it lays on the cusp to Brampton and its mayor Susan Fennel also frequents the club on special occasions, the mayor still sweeps in like her nickname (Hurricane Hazel) and easily takes over the mike with plenty to say about the merits of the clubs and its members.

Of course it always comes up that Brampton once laid claim to be host to the club. But it definitely belongs to Mississauga, as Mayor Hazel McCallion, who arrived with her son Peter, left no doubt about. The friendly ribbing between the mayors is an expected bit of entertainment we simply cannot do without. It is a matter of pride.

The club’s president Reiner Walter presented bouquets of flowers to both the ladies and afterward asked Otto Rosenmeier and his wife Erika to the front to thank them with a plaque for the fabulous service the club has received over the many years, the food that made so many people happy and feel at home.

We all know that love is more apparent when the stomach is pleasantly full with delicious meats and foods. As an official supplier to the club Brandt Meat deserves a lot of accolades in that department, which was proven out again just earlier at the fabulous anniversary dinner.

The Hansa Choir
Wolf Schepp asks Brittnie to perform	Brittnie Spriel

To make it all more festive there was not just a band for later dancing, there was also a choir presentation, and as we learned, conductor Wolf Schepp was giving his fare well performance. The choirs sounded really good that night and so did little Brittnie Spriel, a very talented young songbird.

The Weiss-Blau Bayern Dance Group

To top it off the Weiss-Blau Bayern Dance group delivered their usual delightful skills on the dance floor in their crisp dirndls and lederhosen outfits to much applause. Only one week later they had their own festivity in the club, about which we will report next time.

A new band
Lilo & Lou Wegner
In good company

We saw and met with a lot of old friends and acquaintances and shared the table with the Wegners and their friends. We had a lot of laughs, good food and various fabulous Reif wines, something else to be proud of!

Living Arts in the Centre

Given a chance people would go every month to hear Michael Schade sing. It does not matter what he presents, his glorious voice, which receives praise wherever he goes, shines into our very souls. His emotional output is remarkable and reaches into the far crevices of even those hearts that play hard to get. He was recently appointed "Kammersänger", in Vienna, Austria, an honour that was once bestowed only by Emperors to very special singers, and only rarely given to one still so young. Joining these ranks of high profile singers is just reward for his dynamic voice that can sound smooth and silky or crystalline and clear. Whatever he sings- it sounds effortless.

This mid April night he delivered a series of love songs, some of which we have heard from him before, but can hear again and again. Accompanied by the famous pianist Stephen Ralls the sounds of rare songs as well as popular operatic fare at the very end garnered extensive applause and caused at least 3 encores.

After the performance Michael Schade turned out to speak to his adoring public and to sign autographs on his newest CD. There he was, tall and handsome, charming and amiable, a perfectly normal person, a glorious tenor who has matured while we watched his successes. Now there is something to be proud of! Did I mention he is one of our own?

Coming up

There are lots of concerts coming up: Alicier, Opera York, Via Salzburg, Mendelssohn Choir…Much to choose from. Hopefully we see you at some of them!

Until next time!

Sybille Forster-Rentmeister