Kirchweihfest at the Donauschwaben
The “Kirchweih”
(church dedication) in
autumn was the most important social event and local holiday of
the year. Visitors and guests came from all over, and many –
past due – visits were postponed until Kirchweih. Despite past
religious links it was a purely secular holiday – devoted to fun
and games, reunions, and dancing far into the night –
accompanied to the sounds of brass bands and oompah-pah.
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| The Donauschwaben
Blaskapelle |
 Kitchens and cellars supplied - lavishly at times and nothing
was omitted! The roads in the centre of the village were crowded
with itinerant artists, colorful balloons and vendor’s booths
with toys and sweets of all kinds. The air was full of the
different sounds of little flutes with the wind whistling
through them, a midway with pony rides and carousels for the
young – and young at heart – was also there, and a great time
was had all over.
 Here in Toronto’s Danube Swabian Club, the club’s youth-group -
under the watchful eyes of Director Annie Hudson - was in charge
of the festivities.
 Every visitor was pinned with a small twig
of Rosemary, by the reigning Miss Danube ‘Cheyenne Kertes’, to
set the mood for this festive occasion. There were no carousels
and pony rides of course, so the entertainment was provided by
the “Donauschwäbische Blaskapelle” – for the oompah-pah and by
the various Dance Groups of the youth group.
 Lori Szauter had
her hands full juggling the real young ones (Kinder), juniors and seniors to perform the various folk dances. The kids seem to
realize that they are doing something special – and they appear
to love it. This was all well choreographed and the audience
was
delighted and rewarded the dancers with tumultuous applause.
It always amazes me how just a few people can accomplish so much
for the many ‘Mitläufer’, the ones that come to the events only
to be entertained, but not involved! The children should be
involved at an early age – to catch the spark – before they
mature, get married and have children of their own, and a little
disposable income to spend for the benefit of the clubs. It was
the same with our German style carnival - not enough interest
was triggered in the young ones – and now carnival is
practically ‘down the tube’. Something I have been trying to
evade from happening, for the last thirty-plus years – as many
of the readers of my ‘reports’ well know. I hope the decline of
the Danube Swabian Club is not going the same route. Toni
Baumann mentioned that there is no immediate danger of this
happening, but the situation is serious. Let’s face it, nobody
lives forever, we desperately need “Nachwuchs” (new blood) to
carry on!
| Various folklore dances -
children & juniors |
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| Various folklore dance -
juniors & seniors |
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| The "Maibaum" dance |
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 One of the other highlights of the afternoon was the traditional
auction of the ‘Rosemary Busch’ – the “Kirchweihstrauß”. The
goal was to reach about $500.00, to enable the youth group to
carry on and meet expenses. The auctioneer, Phillip Mueller –
Mr. Danube – was standing on a barrel in front of the stage and
did a great job counting the donations by the guests in the
great hall – since the action was
 fast and furious. He was also
aided by Cheyenne – the Miss Danube. It was quite exciting and
the audience really got involved and played along. At the sound
of a bell, the action stopped and the last contributor won the
“Strauß”. It was Mrs. Susanna Kertes, Cheyenne’s grandmother.
There went one happy ‘granny’!
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| Susan Lutz and her
charges... |
...selling quinces |
Total collection: around $700.00 – that was better than what
they were hoping for! r.k.a.
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