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VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
JUNE
2007
Making
Philadelphia a German Town!
Looking forward to
German-American Day 2007 and 2008
Marlene Stocks
215.947.5490
Irish-Americans
have St. Patrick’s Day, Mexican-Americans have Cinco de Mayo and
Italian-Americans have Columbus Day. Not
wanting to be left out, German-Americans will have a retooled and re-energized
way to celebrate German-American Day on October 6, 2007 and everyone is invited
to participate! There is much to
celebrate and this is why!
The
325th anniversary of the arrival of the first German families to
America, after which approximately 8,000,000 inhabitants from German-speaking
countries followed, will be celebrated on October 6, 2008.
This gives the German-American community the perfect opportunity to
showcase 325 years of contributions made by the immigrants and descendents of
German-speaking countries to many aspects of American life.
These
innumerable contributions to the American mosaic have been well documented.
In his 1993 German-American Day Proclamation, President Clinton
proclaimed
“All
of us can take pride in the accomplishments of German Americans – as soldiers
and statesmen, scientists and musicians, artisans and educators. It is
fitting that we set aside this special day to remember and celebrate how much
German Americans have done to preserve our ideals, enrich our culture, and
strengthen our democracy.”
Many
still reminisce about the German-American Tricenntenial observance in 1983, when
the academic, educational, musical, cultural, historical and business sectors
collaborated to offer a rich variety of programs and events commemorating these
contributions. The German American
Day Celebration Committee will recreate this model, using October 6, 2007 as a
dress rehearsal for the 325th celebration in 2008.
Organizations like the University of Pennsylvania, the German-American
Chamber of Commerce – Philadelphia, the German Society of Pennsylvania, the
German-American Committee of Philadelphia, Historic RittenhouseTown, the
American Association of Teachers of German – Philadelphia Chapter, the
Immanuel German School, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Netzwerk Philadelphia and the
Concordia Trust have already enthusiastically committed to sponsoring events.
To this end, a diverse and innovative calendar of events is being planned
for the weekend of October 6, 2007 concentrating in Center City Philadelphia,
but also including the neighboring counties.
The
current calendar of events for October 5-7, 2007 includes:
- “Mayor
Street’s Reception” at City Hall, sponsored by the German-American
Committee of Philadelphia
- “Uwe
Kind Concert” for middle and high school students of German, sponsored by
the AATG – Philadelphia Chapter. (Uwe Kind is an international
communicator who escaped from the former East Germany to the West in 1960.
As a German teacher at the New School in New York City, Uwe Kind developed
SingLing, a language learning technique based on familiar tunes, which he
later refined as a graduate student at Harvard University.)
- “German
Fair”, sponsored by the Immanuel German School
- “Restaurant
promotion” for German beer products and foods
- “German
film events”, sponsored by Netzwerk Philadelphia and the German Society
- “Colonial
German Cooking Program”, sponsored by Historic Rittenhouse Town
- “Bier
und Wurstfest”, sponsored by the German Society
- “Sing-a-long
of German folksongs”, sponsored by the German Society
- “Susanne
Linke lecture”, sponsored by the German Society. (The
internationally renowned Viennese choreographer will share her background,
style and dance philosophy through a moderated discussion, dance video and
demonstration by Jeanne Ruddy Dance dancers. Ms. Linke unites in her dance both her origins in the
historic German dance tradition and the development of contemporary German
dance theatre.)
- “Worship”
at Old Zion Lutheran Church
- “Brass
Concert”, sponsored by the German Society
- “Ecumenical
Worship Service” at the Immanuel Lutheran Church
- “Culinary
Event”, sponsored by the German-American Chamber of Commerce –
Philadelphia
- “Lecture”,
sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania
- “5K
Walk/Run”, in collaboration with the Liberty Bell Wanderers and the United
German-American Committee to benefit the National Heritage Center in
Washington, D.C.
For
more current and detailed information, please visit www.GermanAmericanDay.org.
Benjamin
Franklin may well have articulated it best when he observed, "America
cultivates best what Germany brought forth."
For
Immediate Release
Contact:
Marlene Stocks
215.947.5490
###
German-American
Day Celebration Committee
May
7, 2007
Austrian
Village Restaurant
Confirmed and proposed program events for
the German-American Day Celebration Weekend 10/5/07 to 10/7/07
|
Program
Event
|
Date
/ Time
|
Location
|
Status
|
|
Uwe Kind
Concert
Sponsored
by the AATG – Philadelphia Chapter
|
10/5
11:00 to 12:00
|
German
Society
|
Confirmed
by Amy Tallman.
|
|
German
Fair
Sponsored
by the Immanuel German School
|
10/5 –
10/7
|
German
Society
|
Confirmed.
A student exhibit of posters, projects, models etc. showcasing
famous German-Americans, German products in the US, American products
with German origins, German-speaking countries, German words used in
English, German geography, German immigration, Germany and the EU etc.
|
|
Mayor’s
Reception
Sponsored
by the German-American Committee of Philadelphia
|
10/5
12:00 to 2:00
|
City Hall
|
Confirmed
by Bruno Karnas
|
|
Restaurant
promotion for German beer products
|
10/5 to
10/7
|
5 County
Area
|
Confirmed
by Bertram Gottbrecht and Mike Gretz.
Plan includes 10 retail venues per county, inclusion of the G-A
organizations, notification of a total of 200 establishments.
|
|
German
film evening
|
10/5 6:30
pm
|
German
Society
|
Confirmed
by from Hardy von Auenmueller
|
|
Historic
Rittenhouse Town
|
10/6
10:00 to 4:00
|
206
Lincoln Drive
|
Confirmed
by Christine Owen
|
|
Bier
und Wurstfest
|
10/6 noon
|
German
Society
|
Confirmed
by from Hardy von Auenmueller
|
|
Sing-a-long
of deutsche Volksleider
|
10/6 3:00
pm
|
German
Society
|
Confirmed
by from Hardy von Auenmueller
|
|
Jean
Ruddy Dance Demonstration
|
10/6 5:00
pm
|
German
Society
|
Confirmed
by from Hardy von Auenmueller
|
|
Cabaret
Performance
|
10/6 8:00
pm
|
German
Society
|
Confirmed
by from Hardy von Auenmueller
|
|
Wine
Tasting with Marnie Old
|
10/7 1:00
pm
|
German
Society
|
Confirmed
by from Hardy von Auenmueller
|
|
Worship
at Old Zion Lutheran Church
|
10/7
morning
|
Broad
Street
|
Confirmed
by from Hardy von Auenmueller
|
|
Philadelphia
Beck Brass Concert
|
10/7 3:00
pm
|
German
Society
|
Confirmed
by from Hardy von Auenmueller
|
|
Ecumencial
Worship Service
|
10/7
11:00
|
Immanuel
Lutheran Church
|
Confirmed
by Pastor Schmidt-Lange.
|
These events are in the
process of being planned.
|
Program
Event
|
Date
/ Time
|
Location
|
Status
|
|
Film
Event
Sponsored
by Netzwerk Philadelphia
|
|
International
House?
|
Mark
McGuigan is in contact with the Philadelphia Film Festival.
|
|
Wine
Tasting
Sponsored
by German-American Chamber of Commerce
|
|
City
Tavern?
|
Barbara
Afanassiev is in dialog with Walter Staib.
|
|
5 or 10K
Walk/Run
Participating
organizations: UGAC-USA, GAPA and Liberty Bell Wanderers
|
|
Center
City
|
Walk
would promote G-A Heritage Center in D.C.
|
|
Event at
the Philadelphia Museum of Art
|
|
Philadelphia
Museum of Art
|
Amy
Tallman (AATG) and Al Taubenberger are in communication with the Art
Museum to help us arrange an event.
|
|
Ludwig’s
Oktoberfest Celebration
|
|
Ludwigs
Restaurant
|
Bill
Galgon in communication with Ludwigs
|
|
Soccer
Memorabilia Exhibition
|
|
Ludwigs
Restaurant
|
A
collection of German soccer memorabilia has been discussed with Werner
Fricker, Jr.
|
|
Lecture /
Reading
|
|
Max Kade
Center University of PA
|
Christina
Frei would
like to invite an author for a reading
instead
of a lecture.
|
|
Hermann-Humboldt
Lodge sponsored event
|
|
Masonic
Temple
|
Dialog
with Lynn Pixly about an event.
|
|
WHYY –
film on German-Americans
|
|
|
The
Director of TV Broadcasting will consider our request to broadcast a G-A
documentary already in the WHYY archives.
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