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On behalf of the Board of Directors I wish you a hearty welcome
to the Concordia Club's 137th anniversary celebration this
evening. I'm sure we can all agree that the fact that this Club
is alive and well and going strong after 137 years is an
excellent reason to celebrate! And I'm certain that if we all
continue to work together and plan for the future, our members
will in due course be celebrating the Concordia Club's 150th
anniversary, and beyond!
As we enjoy this Club's success tonight, I'd like to take a
moment to reflect on the many significant contributions that
people of German heritage have made to this city, this region,
this province and yes indeed this great country of ours. It
swells my heart with pride that we can claim so many of these
innovators and entrepreneurs as members of the Concordia Club.
Not long ago we added ten books to our Club's archives at the
University of Waterloo: books that told the stories of many of
our successful Club members, from the hardships that they
endured during and after the war, to the adventure and
uncertainty of immigrating to Canada, and finally, to the lives
they built in their new homeland, creating prosperity not only
for their own families, but for our community as a whole. These
inspiring individuals are our modern-day pioneers, some of whom
have been honoured at past German Pioneers Day celebrations, and
others, who will, I'm sure, be honoured in future celebrations.
As you know German Pioneers Day is a day set aside to honour the
contributions of German Canadians, and was created by the
Conservative Government of Ontario with a Private Members bill
sponsored by Wayne Wettlaufer, our Member of Provincial
Parliament at the time. We can all be grateful for his efforts
to increase public-awareness of the many positive contributions
made by the German-Canadian
community. Wayne, we thank you.
It seems that everyone remembers the years 1939 to 1945, but few
people recall the great achievements that those of German
heritage accomplished before and after that time. Through the
German Canadian Congress and the German Canadian Remembrance
Society, as well as German Pioneers Day, we hope to change this
narrow perception by educating the public and correcting
persistent falsehoods. Paul Tuerr recently wrote an excellent
article in the Newspaper "Neue Welt" in which he pointed out
that there are still two classes of Canadian citizens: those
born here, and those who became Canadians by choice. We can
proudly say, that people of German heritage have almost
universally become productive citizens and have worked towards a
better future. In addition, we have maintained our unique
traditions that we now pass on to our children, and that also
enrich the lives of our fellow Canadians. In fact,
Kitchener-Waterloo is host to the largest Oktoberfest
celebration outside of Germany. While every other festival
launched in this region has failed, our K-W Oktoberfest is now
43 years old, and I am certain that with a few adjustments, it
will continue to thrive well into the future.
While the Concordia Club is indeed the home of K-W's
Oktoberfest, and we should never forget it, we must also
remember that times are changing, and what we once could do we
no longer can. There have been many new laws and regulations
enacted in the last few years that have made it more difficult
than ever before to stage a successful Oktoberfest at the Club.
This means that we must also change the way we operate in order
to meet all of the new legal requirements.
I understand that these changes are difficult for some of our
members, but we simply have no choice — we must adapt if we
want to survive. Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of our
members have the foresight and determination to ensure that the Concordia Club
will remain at the centre of our German heritage and
culture for many more years to come.
Over the past nine years many positive changes have taken place,
and I hope that these improvements will only lead to the betterment of the Concordia
Club. As you are probably aware, I have decided not to seek re-election after my
term expired. There is however just one more task that I
promised to complete before I retire, that remains unfinished:
legalizing the Concordia Farm in order to correct an oversight from many
years ago After navigating through a maze of legal and environmental issues for the past ten years,
I was so close to being able to stand before you tonight with
this complicated problem finally resolved. Unfortunately, it was
not to be: one last bit of legal work was not completed in time
for submission to the Wilmot Township Council for them to pass the bylaw at third
reading before the Election of a new Council on October the 25th. This will now have to
wait until the New Year. But I am not one to break my promises,
and with the recent changes to our bylaws, I will be allowed to
remain on the Board as past President so that I can complete the
legalization of the Farm without having to stand for re-election for the Presidency at our Annual Meeting.
Although I will see
this final task through, it is time for me to pass the torch.
Because you are all such wonderful people, I will truly
miss being part of the Club's leadership, and I thank you for
your strong support these past years. I wish the Club the very
best in the future and I would like every one of you to give some
thought as to the direction you would like the Club to go in the
years to come. It is now up to you and your new President to
lead the Concordia Club into the future and ensure that the
Concordia Club remains the centre of German culture in Waterloo
Region.
As we celebrate 137 years of the Concordia Club's history
tonight, I would also like all of you to think about what an amazing
accomplishment that really is. For 137 years we have been an
important part of this community by sharing our best traits,
such as our innovation, our work ethic, our skills, and our
outstanding craftsmanship. We have never become a burden to our
fellow citizens, nor
did we ask this country to change for us. Instead, our members
have built new subdivisions for housing, constructed factories that provided
employment for thousands of people, and have made numerous
positive contributions to our adopted country. As long as we
continue to respect
these traditions, future generations will thank us for the
legacy of culture and prosperity that we leave behind. As proud as we are to be
Canadians, we are and should be equally proud of our German heritage and never forget it. So enjoy the
evening, be proud and let's celebrate!
Thank you
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