Vereinigung der Donauschwaben 127 Route 156, Yardville, NJ 08620 Trentoner Donauschwaben Nachrichten Volume 9 Issue 4 October-December 2009 Points of Interest nied them. It almost excuses their Yankee baseball team beating ours… well, almost. x Yuengling Beer just cele- Detroit Treffen 2009 Baseball tragedy aside, such close brated its 180th anniversary. cooperation between the clubs in the northeast x It is America’s Oldest Brew- “Are we there is clearly the key to a more successful future. ery. yet?” “You PROMISED it Our Philadelphia-Trenton dance group is more was only a bit longer - just around the corner than enough proof that working together is in x It is located in Pottsville, even.” “No, seriously dad, my sister is really everyone’s interest. Indeed, all of the clubs in Schuylkill County, PA. starting to bother me so we need to stop attendance from our eastern region – the UGH, x Dick Yuengling is the 5th NOW.” sigh. That, dear readers, was part of Philly DS, NY DS and Trenton DS – marched generation owner. the background music that accompanied this under one banner for the first time ever at the x A history of the brewery was writer’s 12 hour drive. Wonderful daughters, Treffen. We looked super! featured on ABC’s “Good yes, patient daughters…. sometimes less so. Festivities were held both inside the Morning America” on Sun- Let’s face it, it’s hard to put a positive spin on big clubhouse and outside under a huge tent. day 25 October 2009. the distance involved here. The question be- Detroit made sure that food, beverages, music comes… Was the long drive worth it? The and Gemütlichkeit were never in short supply. x It was founded by German immigrant David G. Yuengl- answer is easy: Unequivocally yes. The thousands of young folks, old folks and in By now, all of our regular readers between folks thoroughly enjoyed themselves ling. know the high regard with which we hold the all weekend long. Some even had the energy to x An additional brewery was annual gathering of Donauschwaben from participate in the Sunday morning German added in Tampa, FL recently. across North America. Officially dubbed mass that has become a valued tradition among x They brew lagers, porters, “Landestreffen der Donauschwaben”, or just our people. ales and black & tan. “Treffen” for short, the event takes place at a Our own dance group did a very good different club and city each year in the August/ job too, doing themselves and all the rest of us x The newsletter is copyrighted ©. All rights reserved. Contact the September timeframe. This time around, we proud. The group was managed by Philadel- Club for permission to reprint the traveled to “Motown” for what turned out to be phia Donauschwaben members Matt Gauss and newsletter or any article. a truly wonderful cultural and social experi- his dad, “flat tire Fred”, who had a puncture in ence. one of his Good Year radials enhance his Tref- Detroit: motor city, home of the big fen experience. Matt was joined by our own Inside this issue: three automakers and rich in music history, Anna, Brittaney, Luisa, Josef, Christina, Sofi… among so many other good things. Alas, it’s as well as Kathleen and Adam from San Anto- also pretty run down in some places but it re- nio, Texas. That’s right, we had long-horned Club Matters 2-3 mains a great city nonetheless. The Detroit Schwobs in our dance group for the second club is located in a suburb just a bit north and time in as many years. Kudos to them for Genealogy/History 4 boasts well-maintained and spacious facilities. learning the dances “on-line” and performing Trenton attended with over three dozen mem- with the rest of the Tanzgruppe so well. Membership News 5 bers this year. This time around, we hooked up So, dear readers, that was with our sister club up in New York whose Donauschwabentreffen 2009. We thank our Deutsche Ecke 6-9 members were running a bus trip to the Tref- fabulous hosts at the Detroit Club and look fen. Eleven of our folks hopped on the Big forward to 2010 when it will happen all over Newsletter Sponsors 11 Apple Express and had a wonderful time. again… this time, however, right in our back- Word has it that NY Donauschwaben club yard. For the first time ever, the Landestreffen president George Ritter is not only a stand up der Donauschwaben will take place just 25 Pictures of Club 12 guy but is also a stand up comedian, regaling minutes from our clubhouse at the United Ger- Schule 13 the packed bus with jokes and humorous com- man Hungarian Club in Oakford, PA. EVE- ments throughout the journey. What a great RYONE reading this newsletter should make Club Events 14 bunch of folks those New Yorkers are. They plans right now to attend the August 7th and 8th were such gracious hosts and our people truly event. There simply will not be a better time to appreciated the opportunity to have accompa- see a Landestreffen. See you there! VOLUME 9 ISSUE 4 TRENTONER DONAUSCHWABEN NACHRICHTEN PAGE 2 Club Matters & Members—1 53rd STIFTUNGSFEST (53rd it, it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting if it did! Due to a techni- Anniversary) cal glitch, the bus carrying most Philadelphians and some Tren- tonians arrived at the casino with not a moment to spare. Our The Donauschwaben cele- dancers jumped off and ran through the hotel, right past security brated its 53rd anniversary this past personnel who never even got a chance to object to the young- October 18th. The Sunday after- sters sprinting across the “adults only” gambling area. They noon event packed our clubhouse eventually ended up where they needed to be just in time, if not we are delighted to say. Guests just a bit breathless! included a sizable contingent from our sister club, the Philadel- The “Grand Parade” featuring all of the entertainers at phia Donauschwaben, as well as from our good neighbors at the the Oktoberfest then got underway. The long line of musicians, German American Society. All enjoyed the tasty Schnitzel din- luminaries, singers, Schuhplattlers and Donauschwaben dancers ner presented by our hard-working kitchen staff and serving snaked its way around the hotel and casino as a promotion crew. Attendees were also treated to the fine sounds of Vince meant to lure folks to the event. Most of our dance group really Botteon and his magical accordion that created just the right at- enjoyed the fact that the parade route included a ride on the long mosphere. escalator in the main hall. How often does a parade ride on an Highlights from the anniversary program included poem escalator ? presentations by the charming Tindall sisters, Christa and Katie. All in all, everyone had a good time even though some Our German School for young people led the singing of a number did complain about leaving a few dollars too many at the slot of songs, including the old time favorite “Kein schöner Land”. machines. Thanks to those who attended, including dancers, We were also happy to have a full complement of dancers from families, members and friends. A special “shout out” to long- the Philadelphia-Trenton Dance Group this year. Their energetic time Trenton members Carl and Sue Conrad who traveled up and enthusiastic performance wowed the crowd even though the from Cape May for the event. Thanks also go to former radio space available to them was just a bit more than a large walk-in personality and Oktoberfest MC Mr. Walter Pottgiesser for the closet! J Many thanks to Matt Gauss for some thoughtful and many nice things he said about our Donauschwaben clubs to the humorous comments just before the dancers went on. big crowd that day. To paraphrase former NJ governor Tom Certificates of Appreciation were awarded to club mem- Kean: Atlantic City and the Donauschwaben, “perfect to- bers Christina Martini, Sofi Walter, Gary McGhee, Jacob Bauer, gether!” Anna Hahn, Käthe & Evi Schmidt, as well as Frau Käthe Marx from the Philadelphia Donauschwaben. These awards are an effort to publicly recognize our fine members for all their hard work and dedication over the past few years. “Danke Schön” to them for their service and to everyone who made our 53rd anni- versary such a special occasion. *** Atlantic City Hosts the Donauschwaben A large number of club members from both the Trenton and Philadelphia Donauschwaben headed down to the Trump Taj Mahal Casino this past October 24th. The occasion was the an- nual Oktoberfest held at the giant hotel wearing “The Donald’s” famous family name. Indeed, Mr. Trump is very proud of his German heritage and spares little expense in putting on an im- pressive German event at the sea side resort. Given the fabulous venue, it’s little wonder that our Philadelphia-Trenton dance group was very happy to receive an invitation to be a part of the *** entertainment this year. One of the biggest dance groups we’ve ever assembled Donauschwaben Heimat Trip— arrived at the cavernous convention hall that Saturday afternoon. Heimat, Palanka an der Donau Some 12 couples representing both the youth dance group and Philly’s adult group staged both some of their well-known dances An article by Käthe Marx about her recent trip to the along with some newer ones too. The smiling and energetic her Donauschwaben Heimat will be posted on our club web site dancers endeared themselves to the audience who applauded their (www.trentondonauschwaben.com) for reading.