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PUBLISHED BY THE UNITED GERMAN-HUNGARIANS OF PHILADELPHIA AND VICINITY
VOLUME SIXTY-NINE
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NUMBER 11
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OAKFORD, PENNSYLVANIA
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NOVEMBER 2014
Saturday, November 29
A Year-Long Celebration of the History, Traditions & Life of the Ethnic Germans
FEATURING A CULTURAL PROGRAM BY THE PHILADELPHIA DONAUSCHWABEN TRENTON DONAUSCHWABEN UNITED GERMAN HUNGARIANS
Who are we? Who were we? How do we live? How did we live? What do we celebrate? What did we celebrate?
of Poetry | Song | Dance
Dance Music by the
HEIMATKLÄNGE ORCHESTRA Doors Open 5:30pm Program Begins at 6:00pm
Admission: $15.00 (Tickets Must Be Purchased In Advance)
Contact: Lisa Fricker 215.500.0757 | lhfricker@hotmail.com Food & Beverage is Available for Purchase _________________________________________________________________________
Club Christmas Party Celebrate Christmas with us! It is the request we make every year and it is a good one! On Sunday, December 21 the doors to our hall will be open and the halls will be decked. The tree will be up and shining and wreaths will adorn the walls. All we need otherwise is YOU! Please join us for a Buffet dinner starting at 3:00pm. There will be entertainment provided by the United German Hungarian Cultural Group featuring a Nativity Scene. Do not forget that the radar says that a certain Mr. Claus will be making an appearance! This is an event for us. This is an event for families. That is what we are and we will continue to be! Celebrate Christmas with us at the German Hungarians! Details for the event are available on the advertisement on page 4. We hope to see you!
On Saturday, November 29, the DONAUSCHWABEN of PHILADELPHIA, the DONAUSCHWABEN of TRENTON, NJ, and the UNITED GERMAN HUNGARIANS will continue this celebration with a TRACHTENFEST held at the German Hungarian Club in Oakford, PA. This is the 2nd part of this celebration. The first part was held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 13, 14 and 15 as a CULTURAL EXHIBIT at the Philadelphia Donauschwaben and was presented by all three organizations. This exhibit of close to 1000 artifacts in the form of books, paintings, hand crafted items, dolls, maps, photographs, various possessions such as tools, clothing, and household items and a series of presentations, hopefully answered some of the above questions. Although the German Hungarian Sport Club Dancers participated in a Donauschwaben Trachtenfest in the 1950s, it was not until 1991 that we were approached by Adam Mattes, president of the Eastern Region of the Danube Swabians to be the hosts of a future Trachtenfest that would include groups from Trenton, New York City, Philadelphia, Rochester, and Oakford. The date was set for April 4, 1992 and to say that the event was a huge success would be an understatement. Approximately 500 people attended. It was a sold out event! One hundred twenty marchers participated in German Hungarian/ Donauschwaben tracht. The largest groups were from the Philadelphia and Trenton Donauschwaben, and the United German Hungarians. It was decided to have a Trachtenfest every five years. However, it was not until 1998, that a meeting was held and it was decided to have a second Trachtenfest in November of 1999 to be held again in Oakford by the Trenton and Philadelphia Donauschwaben and the German Hungarians. In speaking of the exciting history and way of life of our people, it was decided to host a Cultural Exhibit in the spring at the Philadelphia Club as a so-called “kick off” prior to the Trachtenfest that was held on November 13, 1999. In 2006, the three clubs once again working together hosted a Cultural Exhibit at the Danubia, Philadelphia club. It was far more outreaching than the former exhibit in 1999 and the beauty of the articles and the amount of items displayed were a credit to the organizers and all those who contributed. On May 20, a Trachtenfest was held at our club and it was an evening of pride as we celebrated with music, dancing and singing. Now it is 2014. It is seventy years since our ancestors and some of us were driven from our once homeland. Our three clubs are proud of our history, our tracht and our culture. Always remember the words that the late Adam Mattes, former president of Philadelphia Donauschwaben and the USA Eastern Region wrote in his letter written for the 2006 Trachtenfest Book, “It is our duty to honor our customs and traditions because if we do not, they will be lost. I am proud of the young people born in this country (USA) who worked together so that we could celebrate this festival.” Those young people and quite a few more are still honoring the “Schwooweschtamm” that our recent Kirchweih “Geld Herr” spoke of so proudly. They continue working together to bring us the beautiful tracht, customs and traditions. JOIN THEM AND ALL OF US ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29 TO CELEBRATE AN EVENING OF ETHNIC PRIDE!
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