Dear Reader

What better day to write my editorial then the day when the nation celebrates the 140^th Birthday of Canada, our chosen home. And what better time to review some of the "German" involvement that laid the foundation for this nation to grow and become what it is now. The story in the article about the early days of Toronto cannot be told often enough in its entirety, since the full story is still not taught in all schools, where Lord Simcoe appears as the sole historical player. The early European pioneers from the continent had a lot to do with the establishment of this now great nation, as leaders of the people of the First Nation have even told me. We heard the stories in Kitchener on Pioneers Day, we have read about it in books published that researched with focus on special heritages. And still the whole story is not being told regularly in history classes. So many achievements of this nation have been made possible by the pioneers of old, and many of them where German.

We still have a large contribution to make, are contributing on all fronts to this wonderful country that is not only big and beautiful but also unique on the planet. It is with pride that we participate continuously in building this society through commerce, the arts and culture. Often this participation is unnoticed and unannounced, sometimes it is hailed publicly, especially if these activities are brought to us and promoted through official channels.

People of German heritage do not rattle their sabres or tout their own horn much for the old obvious reasons; that is why we like to do it for them. As an early result from the survey we published in the last issue…(That reminds me, if you have not filled it in yet please try and still do it. It is very important to us to have your input. If you do not have the June issue anymore then go to our website at www.echoworld.com and fill one out there. It is a bit different because it relates to the online version of our publication, while the other one was more geared towards the paper version. You would not only be helping us but also a young lady from Germany who is writing her diploma with us. So please participate.) …we know that you like anything historical we have to offer, as well as travel logs. Thus we will be having more of those.

Our newest satirist Dan Jamison already enjoys a good following and we are so very pleased about his Canadian point of view that we are looking forward to any instalment he sends us. He has spawned many debates over dinner or lunch.

Our other columnist Dave McKague with his Petitorial has a unique point of view and a large online following. So we hope to hear from him with further insightful comments on the state of affairs.

We are also very happy to welcome back our good friend Marlene Schmidt, who has found the time to send a couple of pearls via Berlin, her home. Hallo Toronto - Hier OK Berlin is back- in German, to satisfy some of you who have requested that. When it is something particularly more of interest to German speaking people only we can do that, but on the whole we have such a mixed bag of readers, that we like to share our interests with the multi-culti readership in English, for all to understand. Thus we get to shine and perhaps even explain a bit more our presence in Canada and thus build bridges between people and generations and nations, which has always been our mandate.

We shall continue to do so, even if we take time out this summer, as we always do, to go to Lake Erie, because it reminds me so of the Baltic Sea, which is where I hail from. From Port Dover we go to our "secret" place on the sand dunes and enjoy the wide horizon, the water and the peace and quiet, where the only sounds are of nature, of the wind, the water, the gulls, and me turning the pages of a book. No matter how much fascination the city of Toronto holds for me, summer beckons me to solitude of water and sky. This is how I celebrate.

Happy Birthday Canada!

Sybille Forster-Rentmeister