Volume 68 – No. 4
2013 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS May 15th—Spring Penny Party June 16th—Gau Team Warm up Father’s Day Picnic June 30th—German-American Day September 6-8th —Hot Rod Hoedown September 28-29th —Oktoberfest October 5th—Rocktoberfest October 26th—Schocktoberfest November 2nd—Fall Craft Fair November 9th—Kirchweihfest November 13th—Fall Penny Party December 15th—Club Christmas Party
MONTHLY PROGRESS founded by Ted Kereczmann† in 1946. Published by The United German Hungarians of Philadelphia and Vicinity 4666 Bristol Road, Oakford, PA 19053 Phone: 215-357-9851 Fax: 215-357-1560 Web Site: www.ughclub.us President: William Galgon, 1641 Loretta Avenue, Feasterville, PA 19053 Publicity/Editorial: Emily Fricker, 654 Manor Drive, Horsham, PA 19044 267-470-4828, ehfricker@hotmail.com
April 2013
OUR TOASTMISTRESS’ TOAST AT OUR 103RD ANNIVERSARY BANQUET My name is Nichole Blank Deely and I have the honor of being your Toastmistress tonight. I am 31 years old. I am the daughter of Marlene Fricker and John Blank and the step-daughter of Bill Galgon. I am a sister; I am a wife; and I am a mother. And I have been a member of the United German Hungarian Club for 31 years. I chose to use these descriptors in my introduction because I feel they give you a piece of who I am. Everyone knows what a daughter is, what a wife is, and what a mother is, but, what is a club member? When I began to reflect on this I had trouble finding the right words to describe the essence of what it means to me to be a member of the German Hungarians. So I went to my computer and I typed the word club into the google search box. According to Wikipedia a club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. This definition is a starting place but for me our club is so much more. I widened my search to include the words family, friendship, and kinship. Now this was getting me closer to the feeling of our membership. Kinship is a term in anthropology, considered to refer to the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of most humans in most societies. This is what the German Hungarian membership is…A kinship. I am proud to say that I have been a German Hungarian my entire life. My closest friends have been made here. I have celebrated my happiest moments with these friends...many times under this roof, and more importantly, during the most difficult times in my life, this kinship, these friends, are who have given me the support to overcome obstacles. We are a group of people who come together to have a good time. We work together; we play together; we travel together; we dance and drink together. We laugh together and we cry together. And, We love each other. I can’t imagine my life without this club, without these members, my German Hungarian friends. Please raise a glass with me on this anniversary night. To our guests, thank you for celebrating with us. I invite you to drink and dance with us this evening. To my fellow club members , my friends, my kinship. Thank you for inviting me to speak tonight. May we have many more memories together...Prost!
April 2013 103rd ANNIVERSARY BANQUET Our club was the scene of a very enjoyable banquet held on Saturday, March 23rd. The cocktail hour began at 6:00 P.M. and the guests looked resplendent in their evening finery. It’s always a pleasure to see the various ages, seniors, middle aged and youth, enjoying a celebration together. The Toast Mistress for the evening was Nichole Blank Deely and she welcomed all who joined us for the evening. After the National Anthems of both the United States and Germany were sung a moment of silence was held for our deceased members, especially Antonia Kreutzer was held. At that time Michael Fricker who gave the invocation, was introduced. Michael is a member of our Publicity & Editorial committee, the Archiving committee, and can be most often found performing with the dance group. He is currently a student at Temple University. Michael chose as his invocation a prayer by St. John Neumann: “Everyone who breathes High and low Educated and ignorant Man and woman Has a mission Has a work… As Christ has his work We too have ours As he rejoiced to do his work We must rejoice in ours also.” Nichole introduced the head table. She gave a toast and a small speech about what it means to her to be a member of our club. She then officially opened the dance floor with our Cultural Group performing a Grand March. The dinner was served and as is our custom, various introductions were made throughout this meal as well as our guests enjoying dancing to the music of the Heimatklaenge Orchestra. The Board of Governors was introduced. Also two past presidents, Andy Weyershaeuser and Werner Fricker Jr. were acknowledged and thanked for their continued support and involvement in our organization Special guests in attendance were recognized: Vereinigung der Donauschwaben Philadelphia – Fred Gauss Vice President Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein – Willie Glaeser, President German American Committee of Philadelphia – Lou Oschmann, President
Monthly Progress Catholic Kolping Society – Frank Staub, President Bayerischer Volksfest Verein – Alex Paraker, president Bayerischer Volksfest Verein Ladies Auxiliary – Thea Paraker, President First German Sport Club Phoenix – Christine Groeber, Phoenix Anniversary Committee Chairlady Vereinigung Erzbebirge – Jay Bitterlich, President Steuben Day Observance Association – Tom Markow, President US Eastern Region Verband der Donauschwaben – Fred Gauss, President WaldEcho Singing Society – Betty Boyts A Friend from the Donauschwaben of Los Angeles, California – Paul Fruhner Tom Marko, Lou Oschmann and Alex Paraker each spoke a few words to the guests. Bill Galgon, our President, opened his address by reading an article from our Monthly Progress Newsletter in the May/June 2008 issue. The article entitled, “Attention Members! Read This Now!” began with the words. “I wonder how many of you who are reading this, realize what it means to be a member of our club.” The article told about all aspects of our club, the people, the activities, and ended with “Why are we so few when we should be so many? Only as members united together with a common goal – the advancement of our club, - can we continue as a bigger and better organization than ever before.” An Editor’s Note at the end stated: The above article (with some updated changes) appeared in the Monthly Progress in August 1957. This article was written over 50 years ago. IT IS STILL RELEVANT TODAY! Billy continued to say that he referenced this article because as things change – they remain the same. He stated, “I do not speak of bad members or members that do not attend, I speak of a lack of interest, apathy or indifference. In the world we live in today, people would rather stay at home sit on the couch and eat too much of the wrong food, watch TV or play on the computer. People no longer want to get dressed up to go out. We have dress down Fridays. Jacket and tie required seems like something out of the “Great Gatsby”! Now we see signs “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service!” The reason that many organizations like ours, lack people is because of some of the issues I just mentioned. This affects the clubs, lodges, singing societies, religious organi-
Page 2 zations and many more. Our president further stated, “We speak of our young people all the time. Today, I acknowledge our toastmaster , Nichole Deely, the next generation on the podium. I now speak for us, the German Hungarians, with pride, that we are able to bring forth people that can present themselves as professionals in front of an audience. This is what we do! We are teachers.! Susi Hartmann is the third Chairman of the Cultural Group after the initial group of women who started it all in the 60s. The soccer program under Andrew Weyershaeuser Jr. has grown to its highest level of participation in our history. Representatives from Adidas and the Philadelphia Union Soccer Team have visited our club and stated that this is great – what a soccer club is all about. I have heard leaders from dance groups around the world compliment our dancers. I brag, that we get it right, that all of you get it right, that there is and should be room for organizations like yours and ours, that we get off the couch and become involved!!!” At this time Bill introduced all the Committee Chairmen stating “The German Hungarians exist because of the sacrifice of the people just mentioned and all the other members that serve on committees. Thanks to the Executive Board, Janet, Andy and Michael who work together with me every week and often times every day. Thanks to the young adults and our parents. A special thanks to the members and friends from the Bayerischer Volksfest Verein especially their president, Alex Paraker and to all our friends in the German American Community. I thank my wife, Marlene, and our children for all their support. Enjoy the remainder of the evening.” Nichole commented, “Bill Galgon has been our president since 2007, but he does not just hold a position. He is instrumental in all happenings around the grounds. He is one of our biggest supporters. Our president travels with both the soccer teams and dance group to help cheer us on in our endeavors. And he plays music for us at many events. Thank you Billy, for your time, support and being our #1 fan!!!” The final Cultural Group performance featured the dancers performing the Lueneburger Windmueller
April 2013 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? German Hungarians named to Halls of Fame
Certain phrases are in use in our club community. They seem to always be floating around my head. (I don’t know if that happens to you or if it’s just my strange mind.) For example when I was organizing the pieces of this article together in my head, the phrase that stuck there was this, “Hundreds of Teams, Thousands of Players.” There is a ring to that and I searched my archives of GermanHungarian and general soccer documents to find its author. To no avail I might add. Most likely I heard another German-Hungarian-for-life say it in one of the countless hours we spend talking about ourselves; our club. (If it is yours let me know.) In my search I found something similar although, so I’ll transpose it here, with attribution. “Just sit back and think of the people that played and trained here on our grounds. Thousands played and trained here, all with a passion for the game." (Werner Fricker, Jr.) This is from the opening of a piece that Fricker wrote entitled "Hallowed Ground" that we ran in the Progress last year. This lengthy introduction aside the meaning of the line is what this is all really about. The German Hungarians as an organization has a history of drawing players, administrators, and coaches alike to our sport community. Where are they now? It seems to be Hall of Fame season and a number of former GH men have been inducted recently to various Halls both locally and across the nation. Former players Mark Ozoroski, and Rich Reice were inducted to the Bucks County Chapter of the
Mark Ozoroski, right
Monthly Progress Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on T h u r s d a y A p r i l 9 t h . Ozoroski started his full-time Majors career in the 1991-92 seasons and he played in the televised 1993 US Open Cup Final for the German Hungarians in Indianapolis. Werner Fricker, Jr., Major Team Manager from 1988 to 1999 said, “He was known to be a very good player coming out of the midfield often to create and score goals.” The Reice family including Richie all played youth and adult soccer at the club. Richie was a really good player and went on to play with the Fury in the NASL. On March 24th Tony Rod was inducted into the North Catholic Soccer Hall of Fame class of 2013. Tony played continuously for the German Hungarians from the early 2000s until just recently. The South Eastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame, formerly the Philadelphia Oldtimers Soccer Association holds the slogan "Honoring the past, Building the Future." Dating back to 1947 there is an extensive list of inductees that have been honored over the years. Glancing over this list you will find over 60 inducted have ties to our club in some way. This year one more will be added. On May 11th at the annual banquet at the Cannstatter the 66th class will be honored. Joe “Rock” Rudy is among the names listed. Rudy joined the club in 1987 when the re-building of the major team was being taken very seriously by a group of administrators seeking new younger players that could con-
Joe Rudy, far right
Page 3 nect with the past traditions and success. The 75th Anniversary of Soccer Souvenir Book reads, "Joe Rudy contributed greatly to the club’s success. Joe gave the best years of his adult career to the German Hungarians." Fricker spoke to Rudy’s strength as a player, “he was a strong and disciplined player who could read any situation, it was difficult to knock him off his game, he would be dangerous on the attack and disciplined on defensive man marking.” It has just been announced the Peter Vermes has been inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame on the Veteran Ballot. He played for the club in the 1987 season. Vermes, after his return to Rutgers University, became a full time member of the US
Peter Vermes, right German Hungarian Team Member, 1987
National Team, and was a member of the US World Cup Team. In 1988 he was named US Soccer Federation Player of the year. Vermes is currently the Head Coach of the MLS team Sporting Kansas City. Vermes when talking about Philadelphia native Bobby Convey playing in the MLS for Kansas City, told Philly.com in January of 2012 about the dedication to soccer in the Philadelphia area. “I know that mentality. I played in Philly for a number of years with the United GermanHungarians. Just knowing that mentality there, I think it’s good, and I think it’s good to bring it into our team here.” Vermes is the fourth Man with ties to our club to be inducted to the National Hall of Fame behind, Walter Bahr, Alex Ely, Werner Fricker, and Emil Schillinger. He told Soccer by Ives, “Soccer is the consummate team sport and being inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame is certainly indicative of that. It is humbling and a great honor”
April 2013
Monthly Progress
U.G.H. Women’s Auxiliary
— SPRING PENNY PARTY — Wednesday, May 15 Doors open 6:30pm | Numbers called 8:00pm Tickets—$3.00 per person Includes coffee and cake
RESERVATIONS are REQUIRED Call Emily Fricker at 267.470.4828 Set-up: Wednesday Morning—10:00am _____________________________________
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— A THANK YOU — The German Hungarian Cultural Group thanks all of you who supported our recent events! The Martini Night, the Fish Fry, and the Game Night were Fun Friday successes. There is a raffle that is currently underway! Tickets are $5.00 and can be purchased from any dancer at the club. 1st prize is an iPad 2 and 2nd prize is Philadelphia Union Tickets! Drawing will be held on May 21st! *Winner need not be present at drawing to be eligible.
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— BAYERISCHER ECKE — Saturday April 20— SPRING DANCE with Emil Schanta Band
— SCHNITZEL NIGHT —
Wednesday April 24— BVV Ladies Penny Party Doors Open 6:30pm
Wednesday, May 1 Wednesday, June 1
Saturday May18— MEMBER APPRECIATION DANCE with Joe Weber Band
www.germanday.info
— GERMAN-AMERICAN DAY — Sunday June 30th 2013 | 12:00pm On the grounds of the United German Hungarians Proceeds support the: German-American Steuben Parade on September 28th 2013 AS MEMBERS OF THE GERMAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY WE NEED TO SUPPORT GERMAN DAY AND IN TURN THE PARADE