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Official Publication of the Jasper DeutscherVerein

March 2003

  February Meeting in Review

Program on "The German Way" Presented to
the Jasper Deutscher Verein

Lowell Glendening and Marie Hendry, presented the program to members and guests of the Jasper Deutscher Verein on Thursday, February 20. The meeting was held at the VFW Home in Jasper. Over 40 members, guests and children attended.

Dan Gutgsell, President, welcomed all in attendance. He led the group in prayer and invited all to partake of the food that was brought in by club members.

During the business portion of the evening, President Gutgsell announced that a sign up sheet for work shifts at the Strassenfest would be available at the March, April, and May meetings. All members are encouraged to work one or more shifts during the Strassenfest as this is the only fund raising project of the Deutscher Verein. Members may also call Dan and Linda Wehr at 482-4432 or “E” mail them at dwehr@fullnet.com and let them know which work shift they can work.

The Jasper Deutscher Verein will award a $1,000 scholarship to a graduating student from Dubois County who has taken three years of German in high school. Applications may be made using the Dubois County Common Scholarship Application. The application form and list of qualifications for the scholarship are available from the guidance office of each Dubois County high school. Completed applications can be sent to Jasper Deutscher Verein, P. O. Box 15, Jasper, IN 47547-0015 and must be received by April 1 st .

It was announced the Stammtisch which has been held on the last Tuesday of each month will be discontinued after the March 25 th Stammtisch. It will be replaced by a gathering prior to each Deutscher Verein meeting.

Patti Goepfrich gave information on the Jasper Deutscher Verein (German Club) German Heritage Endowment through the Dubois County Community Foundation. She noted that Deutscher Verein members and non-members have given gifts in memory of or in honor of individuals. All gifts are appreciated and Endowment envelopes are available at each meeting. All members were encouraged to make gifts to theEndowment established by the Deutscher Verein to provide support for German Heritage projects.

President Gutgsell then introduced Lowell Glendening and Marie Hendry, club members and members of the Sister Cities of Jasper, Inc. Board of Directors.

They gave interesting and informative information on “The German Way”. German students go to school year round and there are no lunches during the school day but the students do get a snack. There are no school buses. They use municipal transportation.

Many vocational schools are managed by nearby industries that train students for their factory employment. Students are trained in all phases of production. There are no sports activities in their school systems.

All health care costs are paid by the government and employers. They have specialized hospitals. Due to the medical advances in the US and the better pay, many German doctors are coming to the US to practice medicine.

Only the Catholic and Protestant religions are recognized.

Those in attendance thanked Lowell and Marie for the information shared. Additional information will be shared by Lowell, Marie, and Matt Hilger on the Gary Lee Radio program on WITZ on Tuesday, February 25 th as part of the continuing German heritage programs sponsored by Sister Cities of Jasper Inc.

President Gutgsell announced that Rita Egler, Treasurer, is accepting payment of 2003 club membership dues. They are $10.00 per couple and $5.00 for single membership. Dues may be sent to Jasper Deutscher Verein, Attn: Rita Egler, P. O. Box 15, Jasper, IN 47547-0015.

Attendance prizes were won by Linus Lechner and Irene Kapp. Rita Corn won the ½ pot attendance prize. The next meeting will be Thursday, March 20 th at the VFW Home. Dan Hoffman and his German Blue Grass band will entertain.

The remainder of the evening was spent socializing.

Upcoming Events – Mark Your Calendars!

March Meeting

Date: Thursday, March 20th
Time:
6:30 Social Time
7:00 Business Meeting / Annual Sister Cities of Jasper, Inc. Report
7:15 Program Place: VFW

The club will be providing munchies, beer and soft drinks.

Dan Hoffman and his band will be providing bluegrass music for our entertainment. Please come to the meeting and bring some friends! It should be a very enjoyable evening!

April Meeting

For your advance planning, the April meeting will be held on Thursday, April 24 th at the VFW. Watch the next newsletter for more details

Stammtisch by Matt Hilger

Am 25. Maerz werden wir den letzten Stammtisch haben. Unser kleines fuenfjaehriges Abenteuer kommt zu einem Ende, da einfach nicht mehr genug Leute vorbeikommen. Ich selbst, sowie Andere, konnten im letzten Jahr vielmals nicht dabei sein, und daher haben Marie Hendry, Jim Beachy und ich beschlossen, dass es an der Zeit ist Feierabend zu machen. Aber zum letzten mal hoffen wir, dass eine grosse Anzahl kommen wird.

25. Maerz 18:30 Uhr in der Schnitzelbank, mit Abendessen. Ich muss Reservierungen machen, so bitte gebt mir Bescheid, wer kommen wird. Wir freuen Euch im Maerz zu sehen.


On March 25th, 2003, we will have our final Stammtisch. This little adventure has been going on for approx. five years now, and we had a lot of fun evenings, but just not enough people are showing up anymore, and I myself have not been able to commit all the time to it. So, Marie Hendry, Jim Beachy and myself decided to call it quits. But for the last time, we hope to get a final big Stammtisch.

Date: March 25th,
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Schnitzelbank with Dinner.

Please RSVP to Matt Hilger (634 - 9812) by March 17 th if you are planning to attend the final Stammtisch.

Welcome Back Patricia Keller
Thank you for making Jasper your vacation choice in 2003!!!!!

Patricia Keller arrived on February 27, 2003 and is staying with David and Janet Kluemper. She goes back to Germany on March 15 th . Patricia worked at the German American Bank for 6 months in 2001-2002 and stayed with David and Janet Kluemper during that time. Her first visit to Jasper was in 1988 when she came with her father, Albert Keller. They stayed with Urban and Ardella Wilmes.


Other Events of Interest

Friday, March 28: 5:30 p.m. Business Meeting, Buffet Supper and Program at 7:00 p.m.: Restoring Old German Structures: The Why And How. S

aturday, March 29, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ANNUAL MEETING SYMPOSIUM

Indy's German Architectural Treasures
History and Preservation

We are fortunate to have some great speakers: Roll McLaughlin, Historic Landmarks, will speak about "Indianapolis and The Mile Square." Reid Williamson, President of Historic Landmarks, will discuss the Wholesale District and Lockerbie as National Models. Prof. Jim Divita will talk about the Downtown Churches, including Sacred Heart Church. Bill Selm will round out the program with the Deutsche Haus-Athenaeum. There will be tours offered of the Athenaeum, possibly a walk (or drive) to Germantown/Lockerbie or a visit to the newly renovated Sacred Heart Church.

For information contact Ruth Reichmann at 812 988-2866 or Giles Hoyt at 317 464-9004 ghoyt@iupui.edu


Erinnerst Du Dich?

By Patti Goepfrich

August 21, 1980

The meeting was called to order by the President, Dan Wehr.

The minutes were read and approved. Ron Kieffner gave the Treasurer’s Report. We have a cash balance on hand of $971.00.

Dan Wehr presented the plaque to the club, which was won for having the outstanding float in the Strassenfest Parade. He thanked all who helped work so hard on the float, with special thanks to Krempp Lumber Co. and Jasper Plant Foods.

Dan then brought up the subject of a 1981 trip to Germany. A preliminary count showed 22 people interested in going. The greatest number being interested in 10 days or 2 weeks. The choice of area to visit was the Bavarian district along with Austria and Switzerland. At the present time, the cost would run approx. $1200 to $1500 for 10 days. The preferred time was late June and early July. Second choice was mid-Sept. with third choice being the first week of October. Sabrina Jordan stated that weather conditions are not good in Sept. being rainy and cold. Also no heat in the hotel rooms. Dan Wehr suggested the men wear long underwear with the Lederhoesen to avoid the cold.

It was announced that a big party was being planned for November 1 st at the Holiday Inn. Details would be worked out and announced later.

Plans are being made for a group to attend the Octoberfest in Terre Haute, take a bus load if possible. This would be Sept. 13.

Charles Stenftenagel was thanked publicly and praised for the great job as general chairman of our own Strassenfest.

The program was then turned over to Sabrina Jordan who gave us our monthly German lesson and showed slides on the old homeland.

The meeting adjourned following a social time.

Respectfully submitted,

Signed
Jeanne Holler, Secretary

(Found In The Deutscherverein Records)


25th Strassenfest Sign Up

It’s that time of year again! We’re already gearing up for our 25 th Annual Strassenfest. Dan and Linda Wehr have again agreed to chair our food booth and pastry stand (THANK YOU!!!) Remember that this is our only fundraiser during the year, so we need the support of our large membership.

Sign up for working in the booths will take place at our next few monthly German Club meetings. Please sign up for the shift of your preference.


High School German Club Notes

JHS German Exchange will be welcoming our second group of German students on April 2nd. They will be staying with us until May 16th. If you have the opportunity to meet them, please welcome them. They come from a small town in Thuringia called Poessneck. They were in the former Eastern Block of Germany and they have a unique perspective on life and happiness. Many of their parents stood in food lines and anxiously awaited smuggled goods such as fruit and jeans.

These students were between ages of birth and 2 years old, when the iron curtain opened, so they are the first generation of children born into freedom in Eastern Germany. It will be interesting to hear about their perspective on life.

The students will be accompanied by 2 English teachers, who are interesting to visit with. If you would like to entertain them one evening, please contact Marie Hendry. They are very interested in our way of life and in practicing their American English.

*********************************************

JHS German Club had an exciting and eventful trip to Muncie, Indiana on the weekend of February 22nd. We participated in the 2003 Staatskongress cultural and academic competition.

Please congratulate our own Nathan Humbert, who won the office of President for the statewide organization of the Indiana Association for Students of German. This means that Jasper High School will be the base organizational institution for the 2004 Staatskongress.

Amanda Nordhoff won the Mühle competition and the Gingerbread House contest, and Cassie Humphries won the baked goods contest with a Blackforest Cherry Cake. Most of all we had a wonderful time together.

If you see one of these students please congratulate them! It was a long weekend and many of them had to return to work, schoolwork, and play performances immediately upon our return.

I am so proud of all of the students at JHS, who stay involved and busy and proud of the parents, who support them. Keep it up!

You have taught me much about how to be a good parent. Being active in your child's life is the best gift that you can give them and it is so obvious to their teachers that you care.

Tara Deppert


German Heritage Endowment Fund

Contributions to the Jasper Deutscher Verein German Heritage Endowment for the month of February 2003


In memory of Leonard Wehr:

      Linus and Sally Lechner


In memory of Betty Salb:

      Danny and Linda Wehr


German Recipe of the Month

Slice strawberries and mix with sugar. Let stand until sugar dissolves. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water. Let stand 5 minutes, then heat gently until gelatin dissolves completely. Add gelatin and lemon juice to sliced berries. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into a 1-quart mold or serving dish. Chill until set. Carefully unmold and serve.Bavarian


Medical Plant Garden

A group of Master Gardeners have undertaken a project to install and maintain a medicinal plant garden at the Indiana Medical History Museum, which is located in the Old Pathology Building at Central State Hospital - built 1895.

We are looking for information on what the 1849'ers and their descendants in Indianapolis in the early 1900's would have been growing and/or using as medicinal herbs. If you have or know of family or other documents or publications from the period, please contact Prof. Hoytat the address below or e-mail ghoyt@iupui.edu or phone 274-2330.

They are going to be including a variety of plants, not just those used by European immigrants, but we want to have as much accurate historical information as possible for our brochure and garden notes.


Famous German Americans

Levi Strauss (1829-1902) – Levi Strauss, the man who gave the world blue jeans, was born in 1829 in Bavaria. Orphaned at 16 years of age, Levi Strauss decided to join his five brothers and sisters in the United States. In 1843, young Levi sailed from Bremerhaven to New York where his two older brothers, Jonas and Louis, had already established a successful wholesale textile and tailoring business. After a stay of two days in New York, he continued on to the ranch of his uncle, Daniel Goldman in Louisville, Kentucky. There he spent the next five years learning the language and ways of his new homeland in order that he might someday take over his uncle’s ranch. But Levi had dreams of becoming an independent businessman, and for several years he walked the roads of Kentucky, selling cloth and notions from the pack on his back. In 1853 he returned to New York upon hearing reports of gold being discovered in California. He persuaded his two brothers to provide him with a supply of silk, cloth, and a few luxury items, which he planned to sell in San Francisco. In addition, he took a supply of canvas intended for the Conestoga Wagons made by German wheelwrights in Pennsylvania and used by many gold prospectors to cross the continent. In 1850 he took a ship for San Francisco. By the time he reached California, he had sold everything to fellow passengers, except for the canvas.

A gruff old prospector chided young Strauss for not having brought along a supply of pants, because prospecting for gold was rough on pants. Strauss cut his canvas and stitched it into trousers that were an instant success and were known as “Levis”. The success of his durable trousers was so overwhelming that he soon opened his own company, Levi Strauss & Co. on Battery Street in San Francisco. Since that time, nothing essential has changed in this “piece of national heritage”, except that the Strauss Brothers switched from canvas to serge de Nimes –denim—dyed with indigo.

Levi Strauss disliked the name "jeans" and always referred to them as "overalls".

Another prospector, Alkali Ike, was to play a role in the evolution of jeans. Each time he returned to the saloon of Virginia City, he complained to his tailor, Jacob W. Davis, of pockets torn from his habit of carrying nuggets in them, and asked why Davis couldn’t make his pockets as strong as those in Strauss’ Levis. Davis, tired of his customer’s constant complaining, riveted the pockets together with copper wire. When Alkali Ike retuned a few weeks later, the entire boom town expected to witness the usual drunken spectacle, but this time the gruff miner, instead of getting drunk immediately and going round through the tents cursing, went to his tailor to show him that his pockets had held together. Davis reported the incident to Strauss, who applied the Davis for a patent on July 5, 1872. The patent, number 139,121, was granted on May 20, 1873, the date regarded as the birthday of the firm. At that time the jeans were sold for 22 cents each. Some of the early Levis are now in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

Strauss made money with one hand and gave it way with the other, endowing 28 scholarships at the University of California and contributing to several San Francisco orphanages. A lifelong bachelor, he left the company to four nephews, whose descendants still control it. Today Levi’s are sold around the world, with about $5 billion in annual sales.


Labor Day Trip

Dan and Linda Wehr are in the early stages of planning a 4-5 day Deutscher Verein trip around Labor Day Weekend 2003. Details will be shared at future meetings and in the newsletter.



Membership Dues

It’s that time of year again! Please submit your dues as soon as possible by completing and sending in the following form. Thanks!

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions please contact Matthias Hilger or Patti Goepfrich.

Deutscher Verein


Officers :


Directors :

Bob Dilger - President
dilger@fullnet.com
Virgil Gress- Vice President
vgress@fullnet.com
Rita Egler - Treasurer
gregler@fullnet.com
Ruth Wibbels - Secretary
wibbles@fullnet.com

Die Zeitung
Editor:  Patti Goepfrich
Phone: 482-4821
e-mail:  pmgoep@fullnet.com
 

Fr. John Boeglin
Dave Buehler
Raymie Eckerle
Dan Gutgsell
Jim Gutgsell
Matthias Hilger
Janet Kluemper
Linus Lechner
Danny Wehr