Dear Reader
The end of summer brought us finally what we have been waiting for
the last few months: a more sunny autumn. With this lovely weather
we started a fall season like no other before. Especially the 19th
Anniversary of the Unification of Germany Celebration became the
most spectacular we have had to date. We have no doubt that it is
to the credit of the newest German Consul General, Mr. Holger Raasch,
and his amazing team that the communities of German cultural background
are coming together in such unprecedented numbers to celebrate all
that is German here and abroad. His ability to engage people of
all backgrounds and to organize them into fruitful activities has
been astounding. We hear nothing but praise for the interest he
is showing in our affairs and his willingness to help. On the front
page you see a montage of photos taken at the reception for the
German National Holiday. The background is photographed off a screen
showing slides of the historic events that led up to unification.
In the foreground we see some of the major players at the local
celebration on October 2nd, 2008, Toronto.
Next year the party will in all likelihood be even bigger, if not
better, which is hardly possible. Perhaps an even more accurate
prediction on the amount of beer that will be consumed, especially
the delicious Weiss Bier that was introduced, could possibly heighten
the degree of success.
Culturally we are enjoying Octoberfests all around. Whenever we
can we attend, but some we must miss unfortunately. But we would
enjoy getting your comments and a few photos, by email, to let us
know how your festivities went! You can send them to
info@echworld.com.
There were a number of interesting concerts, among them a Ute Lemper
performance at Roy Thomson Hall, which was impossible to attend
due to the German National Holiday Celebration.
 However, we did
kick of the Via Salzburg season with the winner of the season tickets,
Mrs. Lynne McKague, depicted here in deep conversation with Glenn
Gould in front of the CBC Building that houses the exquisite studio
concert hall of the same name.
With the heightened interest in German Canadian affairs it also
becomes necessary to find ways to organize even better, and thus
a forming of a Working Association between German Canadian clubs
and organizations is being discussed. In the past there had been
a German Canadian Business and Professional Organization that lasted
for 50 years, which was more or less taken over by the Canadian
German Chamber of Commerce, who started to organize the annual Gala
Ball. With shrinking local memberships and participation it has
been up to the corporate culture to keep up appearances and carry
a large part of the cost for such an event. Local smaller businesses
are no longer represented in any noticeable numbers during activities
and are not a part of this structure since the Business Association
was abandoned. The two organizations actually pursued different
goals and purposes and only had the ball and a Christmas party in
common. The pleasant and informative luncheons have also fallen
by the wayside.
This year the Chamber was unable to raise enough funds to include
the media into the celebrations, unless representatives pay for
their own attendance. This is a bit unusual and therefore we will
not be reporting on this event for the first time. If our publication
would have to pay everywhere for the privilege of reporting we would
be bankrupt in a few month and not still be here after nearly 20
years of publishing. There are many other German Canadian events
that we can cover that we hope you find equally interesting, such
as the German Pioneers Day the day after Thanksgiving, which will
be celebrated in more than one location this year and you are invited
to participate. I hope to see you in great numbers at the noon hour
Flag Raising Ceremony at Queens Park, and after wards, in the late
afternoon in Kitchener at City Hall.
Until then
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
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