All’s well at Oktoberfest
At the Danube Swabian Club it was a
full house and a lot of club uniforms could be spotted.
 Many of
the guests wore the traditional Bavarian Hat with all the bells
and whistles on them that they had collected over the years
while "Oktoberfesting".
 The Danube-Swabian Brass Band covered the earlier part of the
day with appropriate sounds and the Romeros took over at 7:00
o’clock for the balance of the evening.
| On the dance
floor |
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Serving that many guests kept the food service department on its
toes. I
 have never seen that many ‘Pork Hocks’ served on one
evening – it was the front-runner over the other fare offered,
such as Schnitzel and Bratwurst and a tasty order of Sauerkraut
when required. One of the busiest places was the bar since the
spicy culinary offerings generated a natural desire for liquid
sustenance – of which there was a generous variety to choose
from.
 Another busy place was Regina’s display of fashionable Trachten
– the lovely heritage type fashions that can be worn even on
formal occasions.
 Another surprise in the mezzanine was Ingrid Szauter with her
book "My Life". It is her biography and the trials, triumphs and
tribulations encountered with her large family and her mission
to give back to the community.
For me it all started in Stouffville, north of Toronto, with the
‘Forget-me-not" children – many, many years ago at an
Oktoberfest. That was the first time I had the opportunity to
watch a performance of this multi-talented group. Since then the
many wonderfully entertaining surprises of what this talented
group is capable have never ceased.
| The Danube Swabian Dancers |
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 Entertainment at the Danube-Swabian Club was provided by the
club’s own ‘Youth Group’ – both junior and senior groups – with
a number of new and different dances. Yes, they were flying
again – including Mr. Danube and the lovely
 Miss Danube,
Jennifer Domotor. This part of the dance is always something the
audience - who has seen this before – is eagerly anticipating.
And they were not disappointed! Unfortunately the dance did not
come on as scheduled for 8:00 pm, which made it too late for me
to go to the Loreley Club in Oshawa. But my contacts at the club
provided me with some of the most important information:
Club Loreley, in Oshawa, celebrated their annual Oktoberfest
with a full house. Heinz Lindlau and the Variations made sure
that the ‘Oktoberfest Mood’ never flagged.
Miss Loreley and the Loreley dancers opened the evening with
Polka, Schuhplattler and Folkdances after which the Variations
took over for the rest of the festivities.
Neil Hoffmann’s fashion displays from Kitchener were a favorite
with the ladies, especially those that came all the way from
Toronto, Peterborough, Brampton, Lindsay and other far-flung
areas.
The Ladies’ Auxiliaries provided pretzels and other home-baked
delights while the kitchen provided heartier fare for the hungry
revelers.
During the bands’ break, the Almrausch Dancers from the Hansa
Club in Brampton, entertained with folk-dances, reminiscent of
the old country and were appreciatively applauded by the club
members and guests.
For the hunters and ‘wannabees’ the rifle range was open in the
basement with paper targets or flowers and you could see how
some of the shooters proudly displayed the flowers or gifts they
had won, when they surfaced again. At the later part of the
evening tombola (raffle) tickets were sold and many of the
guests were able to take useful and lovely souvenirs home with
them.
The lunch scheduled for earlier in the day, in the tent behind
the club, was unfortunately rained out and not as well visited
as expected. I suppose it is too late to complain to the weather
service about it now!
As always
Dick Altermann
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