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Oregon
An encore" is a request by an audience for the program they enjoy to give
more of the same. That is exactly what the audience which attended the
Schwaben Kirchweih at Oak Shade Hall, Sunday, November 6, expected and
received more of a traditional German harvest celebration.
Preparations
started early in the morning, Saturday, November 5, when Donn Cranor, Thersa
Jakober, Rosemary Klaege, Margaret Kniffke, Ellie Schaller, Rudy
Schwarzkopf, Ray Toeppe, and Bob Zillis appeared at the Oak Shade Hall
kitchen to make spätzle." Yes, it takes eight people to prepare this
Schwabian specialty. However, the kitchen wasn't the only place where
Schwabs were at work. Out on the grounds John Schwarzkopf and Dick Burkett
were staking new trees. Oak Shade Grove has lost many ash trees to the
woodcutter's ax to prevent the spread of the treekilling Ash Borer. Leonard
Klaege, temporary grounds keeper, was working hard at filling the shoes of
the late Bob Richards, who spent years supervising workers to keep the
property looking like a small German grove. On Sunday morning Erich
Schiehlen and his faithful crew of assistant cooks prepared the roast pork,
sausage, and sauerkraut dinner. Marsha Dunaway welcomed back Ruth David to
her crew of Kaffee and Kuchen servers.
At 1:30pm the
second encore occurred with the appearance of Encore," the band, which is a
regrouping of the old Fritz Hetzel and the Tirolers" musical group. ,Encore"
is under the direction of Vern Basilius, who played with Hetzel's Tirolers.
Basilius still plays the guitar and banjo; similarly, Pat Weslek plays
saxophone and clarinet, Larry Thomas plays tuba and guitar, and Mike
Mioduszewski is back on drums. The only new member of the band is Eric Bite,
who plays accordion and keyboard. The band should give Hite more
opportunities to vocalize. He sang only one number during the performance.
It was very well received.
The band has
played at the Toledo Club and the Port Clinton Yacht Club. The repertoire
continues to be a balance of German music and more popular dance rhythms.
By the time that
the band struck up its first number many of the local guests began to fill
the hall. However, the room began to swell with joyous conversation and
dining with the arrival of Hubert Rosch and Lisa Gerstheimer of the Detroit
Schwaben Verein and Art French and his bus load of Am Arbor Schwaben Verein
members.
At 4pm another
encore took place with the performance of Joe Gates' Bavarian Schuhplattlers.
This year a largerthannormal dance group split its performance into two time
brackets. During the first half hour the adult and youth group danced the
standard Haushammer." Kinderpolka" followed with the youth group. The
Mühlradle," a miller's dance, completed the first segment of the program.
After a short intermission, the dance group continued with Watchenplattler,"
a fight dance, skillfully executed by young dancers Colin Pahle, Kathy
Johnson, Matt Pfouts, and Christy Strausse. The young dancers continued with
the Stirn Polka." The adult dancers performed The Stollen." Dancers in the
age group five to 15 years did the Wedding Dance." The Bavarian
Schuhplattlers completed their performance with two adult male dancers and
two male youth dancers performing the Bench Dance." It was exciting to see
the young men giving a performance equal to the adult dancers.
The afternoon come
to a close with the annual raffle, which was well organized by Otto Kniffke
and John Rettig, Encore" continued to play until the 7pm closing.
There was only one
blemish on the Toledo Schwaben Kirchweih this year. President Herman
Schmalzried was unable to attend the program because of an illness in his
family. Vice President Howard Schnabel and Schwaben members working together
brought another traditional German program to Oak Shade Grove.
Roy F. Lessing |
