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From The Dubois County Daily Herald
December 21, 1950

HARK THE HERALD

Christmas in September
by A. T. Rumbach

After dinner, the master baker, clad in white from head to foot, came bearing a large square cake of three layers covered with icing and bearing the inscription in chocolate “Willkommen In Die Alte Heimat” (Welcome to the Old Home).   We had noticed the same greeting on a placard edged with laurel over the door as we entered the house.

The cake was served with coffee and a “spot” of the Schwarzwalder Kirschwasser, as in pairs, trios and quartettes, all the relatives dropped in and joined in the after-dinner snack.   A very pleasant evening was thus spent discussing the old folk, living and departed, on both sides of the Atlantic.   This gathering at the home of one or another of the families was a nightly ritual during our stay in Reute, varied only on the Sunday night public reception, when we were serenaded by the band and male chorus, at the Hirschen Tavern.

At one of the evening gatherings, we drifted into the realm of song, all joining in the singing of the old folk songs:   “Der Gute Kamrad,” “Morgenroth,” “Im Wald und Auf Der Heide,” “Wem Gott Will Rechte Gunst Erwersen,” “Fuchs Du Hach Die Gan Gestolen,” “Alle Voegel Sind Schon Da,” “Strasburg,” “Grambambuli” and many others.   By mere chance, someone intoned “Stille Nacht,” whereupon another hailed it as being out of season on a rather warm night in September.

The leader, however, was persistent: “When it is the Holy Season,” he said, “our guests will be thousands of miles away and then we can only have this night as a memory.”   He had his way, and not only “Stille Nacht, Heilege Nacht,” but numerous other Christmas hymns, German, Latin, English, and even one in French, “Noel,” completed the program of the evening – Christmas Eve in September.   Among them were the well-known “Adeste Fideles,” “Ihr Kinderlein Kommet,” “Schoenstes Kindlein,” “Es Kam Ein Engel” and many others, almost forgotten but well-remembered as one or another of the assembled groups of adults and children intoned it.

To make the occasion even more realistic, Oma (grandmother) took the cue to serve coffee, cider and cookies; also apples, pears, grapes and nuts, with which a bountiful Nature had blessed Reute this year with great abundance.

It was a night long to be remembered, especially on this and on future Christmas eves.   May the Infant Jesus, the Prince of Peace, bless these folks with the true and enduring peace which they so ardently desire, so greatly need and so richly deserve.