August 2009 Volume 4, Number 8
Monats Blatt
Vorstand
(Board of Directors)
President: Ron Evans (830-626-8157)
Vice-President and P.E.: Aloisia Chinchilla (830-625-3230)
Secretary: Diane Moltz (830-620-6787)
Treasurer: Karola LeMieux (830-899-4453)
Director of PR: Mary Irwin (830-620-0369)
Director of Publications: Tom Sears (830-626-2425)
In This Issue
Messages from Ron; German Classes; Fun Time for All;
Birthdays; Mitglieder Nachrichten; Tips from Marianne;
Information Update; Witze; Remaining Events 2009;
Botschaften von Ron
August Meeting
Our August Meeting will be at the Elk’s Lodge. For new members the Elk’s Lodge is located on Seguin St. across from the Chamber of Commerce/Civic Center. The meeting room will open at 6:00 PM for visiting and refreshment (not necessarily in that order). The meeting will start at 7:00 (if everyone has had an opportunity to visit the bar). I will be away on vacation this month but I hope everyone comes and has a great time. We have a great meeting planned. This is our third summer meeting, and the first two were great. This is the last meeting before school starts so we look forward to seeing a lot of families there. We want to encourage families to come and bring their children. See the ‘Fun Time for All’ section for our plans.
Name Tags
Tom has made up name tags for all members. They work very well if you have a memory like I do. When you come in, look on the table by the door and pick up your name tag, they are in alphabetical order. This will help us as we meet new friends. If you do not have a name tag on the table please let Tom or Ron know so we can get one made. When the meeting is over and you are ready to leave, drop your name tag in the box by the door, (it will be marked) and we will bring the name tags back to the next meeting. In the past we have found that if you take it home you forget it for the next meeting. Therefore we will bring the name tags to each meeting.
Wurstfest Buying Committee
I want to thank all of those individuals who have been purchasing items for the Wurstfest booth. Helmut Mayer, Helgard Suhr-Hollis, Mary Irwin, Diane Moltz, Karola LeMieux, Aloisia Chinchilla, Herb Strunk, and others who have stepped up to insure we have items for our Wurstfest Booth.
Steuben Society
Prince Solms Von Braunfels Unit Members of the New Braunfels German American Society founded the Prince Solms Von Braunfels Unit of the Steuben Society in January 2008. Originally we had 15 members but since then we have continued to grow. I want to thank everyone who has shown interest. The Steuben Society is the oldest German American Society in America, and our support helps continue our German Heritage in this country. If you would like to join the Prince Solms Von Braunfels Unit please see Ron Evans or Richard Ordorfer.
Bus Trip to October Fest at Beethoven in San Antonio
In May we made a bus trip to Beethoven and for those of us who went it was a GREAT time. The cost was only $10.00 a person, then Beethoven waived the $5.00 admission, plus set us up with a reserved table. The food was great and the music was exceptional. Because of this, we are planning another trip to Beethoven for the October Fest. They have it on the 3rd and 10th of October and we have decided to go on the 10th. This gives it a little more time to cool off, plus we have a meeting on October 6th so we can collect the money and insure we have not gotten more reservations than we have seats on the bus.
County Fair Parade
For everyone at this year's 4th of July Parade or last year’s Fair Parade, it was extremely gratifying to hear people thank us for helping keep the German Heritage alive in New Braunfels. Last year we won a 2nd Place Trophy for our float (Thanks to Kathy and Klaus who headed the committee) and to all of the members who came out and helped decorate the float. Again this year we want to let the citizens of New Braunfels know that: "This is a German Town and we are proud of it." We need someone the head the decorating committee this year! PLEASE see a board member and let them know, if you are interested. We also need members, in German attire, to ride on the float. We did not have many for the 4th of July parade so we need members to commit that they will be there. We will have a sign-up sheet for the parade at the August meeting.
A Special Note
We have made many changes in our German American Society the past couple of years. We have grown in our membership, currently over 200 members. We have 3 fund raisers annually, instead of just the Wurstfest. We continue to work on family involvement within our organization. We have partnered up with other groups that, like ourselves, want to perpetuate the rich German Heritage that we have in New Braunfels. None of this could have been possible without you volunteering your time to make each event successful. I want to personally thank everyone for what you have done. Let us continue to grow and work together so everyone will know that this is a German Town and it always will be.
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Deutsch Sprachkurs
Adult Language Classes
It might be a little early to start thinking about events happening in January, but our society will once again be sponsoring a German Language Class for adults. These classes go for 90 minutes and last for 10 weeks. This is not a college class situation with tests, so if you want to polish up on your German conversation, come and join our class and meet new people while learning new vocabulary. The cost is nominal.
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Spaßzeit für Alle!
(Fun Time For All!)
At our July meeting, the Fabulous Four Baker Kids entertained our membership with German music and patriotic music, all of which we thoroughly enjoyed. These kids just keep getting better!
While the audience listened and joined in singing with the kids, we also were able to cool off a bit from the extremely hot weather we've been having with some delicious ice cream sundaes. Two treats at the same time!
For more pictures, click below:
newbraunfelsgermanamericansociety.com/site/category/image-galleries/2009-08
At our August meeting, we will have a very special speaker. Pastor J. Paul Bruhn, pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Columbus, Texas will give a presentation of the changes before and after the Berlin Wall came down. He was born in Berlin and lived there for 30 years. Now he lives in Columbus, Texas with his wife, Marion, and their two children. This should be very interesting. Also at this meeting, we will be having pizza, so come hungry, and ready to hear some first hand information about this very important chapter of German history.
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Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag
(Happy Birthday)
Member birthdays in August
Else Dehn 8/6
Roger Reininger 8/6
Ursula Bonds 8/9
Vernell Schultz 8/10
Richard Odorfer 8/23
Gerda Rushing 8/25
Bob Rose 8/26
Gerda Fodor 8/29
Vernon Schultz 8/31
We will have a box and a stack of 3x5 cards available. Please let us know your birthday so that we can wish you Happy Birthday, too!
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Mitglieder Nachrichten
Edmund Seidel, friend, active volunteer and long time member of our German American Society, passed away on the 24th of July. We extend our deepest sympathies to Edmund’s family.
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Hinweis von Marianne
(Tips from Marianne)
Mischt man 1 Päckchen, etwas Wasser und den Saft einer halben Zitrone. Bekommt man eine Paste, mit der man ausgezeichnet Öl von den Händen abwashen kann. (Mix 1 package of baking soda, some water and the juice of a half a lemon. This paste is excellent for removing oil from hands.)
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Update Your Contact Information
If you have not received your Monats Blatt (newsletter) recently either via regular mail or via email, you may need to update your contact information. Also, often times, there will be a change in Scheduled Events of which members need to be informed. In those instances, there is rarely time to notify the membership by mail and a phone number would be extremely helpful. At the next several meetings, the German American Society Roster will be available to check if your information is up to date. This includes mailing address, phone number and, if you would like to get your newsletter via email, an email address. Please be assured that phone numbers and email addresses are privileged information and will not be given out!
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Witze
Surprise! We haven't made your
nose smaller, instead everything else
is bigger!
*****
Zwei Vertreter prahlen in der Kneipe: "Ich verkaufe schon seit zehn Jahren Kühlschränke an die Eskimos!" "Na und? Ich verkaufe seit zwanzig Jahren Kuckucksuhren an die Amerikaner!" "Toll... Das kann doch jeder!" "Na ja, ich verkaufe pro Uhr noch zwei Säcke Vogelfutter..."
*****
Frau Kaiser zu Frau Franke: "Dieses Jahr nehmen wir unseren tragbaren Fernseher mit in den Urlaub nach Spanien." "Wieso, gibt es denn in eurem Hotel keinen Fernseher?" "Doch, aber wir verstehen leider kein Spanisch!"
*****
"Und wann haben Sie bemerkt, dass Sie ein Pferd sind?" fragt der Psychiater seinen Patienten." "Schon als ich noch ein Fohlen war, Herr Doktor."
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Remaining Events
For 2009
August 4: General Meeting at Elks Lodge
September 1: General Meeting at Elks Lodge
October 6: General Meeting at Elks Lodge
October 27: November General Meeting at Elks Lodge
October 30 - November 8: Wurstfest (Come help sell in our NEW Booth.)
December 1: General Meeting and Christmas Party at Elks Lodge
December 3: Wassailfest (We will be selling Schweinskoteletten)