VISITING
AUTHOR-ARTICLE
JANUARY
2010
Schlachtfest
Forwarded by
American Aid Society, Chicago
This year’s Schlachtfest took place on All Saints Day,
November 1, 2009. It was a typical fall day with some sun and pleasant
temperature. Doors opened at 12 noon but many people came as early as
11:15. They probably forgot to turn their clock back the evening
before since this was the weekend to change the clock. We had a full
house of 520 paid guests plus the Kinder, Jugend, and workers, which
brought the total to well over 600 people.
Greeting of friends and Cocktails began at 11:45 AM. The
serving of the appetizers of Leberwurst, Schwartelmagen and Grieben
along with bread and Krautsalat began right after the national anthem
was song by John Gruber and the dinner prayers were said by Nancy Henz
in German and by Samantha Leicht in English at 1:15 PM. Ingrid
Lisauskas had a bad cold and could not sing the national anthem.
Our Jugendgruppe did all the serving. They did it quickly, in a
friendly way, and without any problems. They are excellent
contributors to our organization. I hope that many guests complimented
them for the great job they did. After the appetizer plates were
removed, the Jugendgruppe served the main meal of Gulasch, Sarma, and
Hungarian Bratwurst and the trimmings that went with the meal.
Throughout this time, the Kindergruppe sold raffles for the beautiful
baskets that had been made by Bernadette Henz and her helpers. Almost
everything in the baskets had been donated or hand made by some of our
talented people like Franz Dochnal and Siggy Henz. Most baskets were
so big or heavy that the winners needed help from the Jugendgruppe
boys to carry them to their cars. It was the biggest raffle to date.
At the end of the main meal, the tables were quickly cleared to
make room for coffee and dessert. The women of our organization baked
a great variety of cookies. They looked and tasted out of this world.
A big" Thank You" to all of our donors. You outdid yourself
again. Throughout the meal, the Phenix Band played lovely dinner
music. The Kindergruppe followed the serving of the dessert with
several old dances that were well received and enjoyed by our guests.
Upon the completion of the Kindergruppe program, Vice-president
Henz, who was the master of ceremony throughout the afternoon,
introduced President Stein. President Stein welcomed all guests and
introduced all presidents from the different organizations and their
members, Judy Baar Topinka, candidate for the Comptrollers position of
Illinois, Reinhardt Richter from the Rheinischer Verein, Armin Hornann
from Deutschland Echo, and Helga Blaumueller from the Eintracht. A
sincere expression of "thanks" went to our kitchen staff,
the workers on Saturday, the ticket sellers, the entrance workers, the
Jugendgruppe, the Kindergruppe and their parents, and our decorators.
President Stein thanked everyone for supporting our organization
throughout the year. He wished everyone an enjoyable afternoon and a
save trip home. It was great afternoon spend with friends.
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