Election Results: President- George Boehm, 1st Vice President- Frank Wimmer,
2nd Vice President- Ignaz Wohszab, Rec. secretary- Joseph Arnold, Corresponding secretary- Helga Zettl, Finance secretary-Erika Amling, Treasurer- Frank Zettl. Our Directors are: Erich Christ, Del Hackl, Horst Langer, Karl Ritz, Ray Quitschau plus our Director/ Editor- Uli Senz. The Finance Committee was appointed by our President and the members are: Anton Iberle, Rudi Iberle and Otto Weber.
Message from President George Boehm
Happy New Year! I hope you and your family enjoyed the holidays. It was nice this year having a white Christmas. It was also nice to see the Bears beat Green Bay in Chicago on a brutally cold Sunday even if they didn't make it into the playoffs this year.
It was great to see so many of you at our Christmas party. We had a wonderful time with Santa bringing dozens of gifts to all of the Children that attended. We also had quite the holiday spirit with a great chorus of Christmas songs. It was great to celebrate the holidays with our members.
Our members made 2007 a great year. Our Summer Fest was a success despite the miserable weather. As I said earlier, in Chicago, there is always next year. We also had a lot of fun partnering with the Schwaben A.C. at the German Day. This was our third and final year that we worked this great event that brings together the German-American community in Chicago. Once again, it was a successful and profitable event for both of our organizations.
As you hunker down for the cold months of winter, think ahead to August and our next Summer Fest which will be held on August 16th and 17th.
In the meantime, I look forward to seeing more of our members in the coming year at our meetings. If you haven't attended one of our meetings recently, please come join us again.
Wishing you all the best for a happy and healthy 2008.
George Böhm
Official Notice from Secretary Helga Zettl
Hello Schwaben Members:
Happy New Year to you and your families! We hope you all had a very happy Holiday season.
Now that the new year has started, we ask you to use this first newsletter as your
"Vereinskalender" and mark your own calendar with the important dates for 2008.
Our election meeting last November brought some changes to the board. The following
officers were elected: President- George Boehm, 1st Vice President- Frank Wimmer,
2nd Vice President- Ignaz Wohszab, Rec. secretary- Joseph Arnold, Corresponding secretary- Helga Zettl, Finance secretary-Erika Amling, Treasurer- Frank Zettl. Our Directors are: Erich Christ, Del Hackl, Horst Langer, Karl Ritz, Ray Quitschau plus our Director/ Editor- Uli Senz. The Finance Committee was appointed by our President and the members are: Anton Iberle, Rudi Iberle and Otto Weber. Welcome to the new board and a big Thank You to the outgoing officers.
After election we celebrated Friedrich von Schiller's 248th birthday with an interesting
talk by Uli Senz about Schiller and his family.
The Christmas party for the children, grand- and great grand children of our members was
again very festive. Everyone was treated to hot dogs and thanks to our members, who donated cakes and cookies for our sweet table, everybody was happy. Santa presented all the children with a stocking filled with chocolates, and some nice gifts. Our friend Bob Beilfuss entertained us all and of course our Schwaben Choir was excellent.
All in all it was a very good year and we hope, with your help, we can continue keeping the Schwaben Verein alive, so our young people can see and share our customs and heritage.
Finally, may I remind you that the dues for 2008 are now due and the letter will go out in the next few days. I would appreciate your return letter with check at your earliest convenience.
Thank You !
Sincerely,
Helga Zettl
Membership News
New Members
Welcome to the newest member
Debi Hartel - joined the Verein in October. She was born in Mauston, WI. She is our financial adviser and we welcome her, along with her husband.
Mike Hartel - who also joined us in October. He was born in La Grange, IL. They make their home in Arlington Heights. Their sponsor is Ignaz Wohszab.
Hans Ross - became a member in October. He was born in Enkenbach/Rheinland Pfalz; he was sponsored by Hans Braun and lives in Carpentersville.
Erika Amling - was sponsored by George Boehm at our November meeting. She was born in Freising/Germany and makes her home in Buffalo Grove.
Adrienne Samuels - joined us in November. She looked us up on the Internet and was interested in becoming a member. She was born in Indianapolis and now lives in Deerfield. Her sponsor is George Boehm.
Irmgard Weber - the wife of our long time board member Otto Weber, also joined in November. She was sponsored by her good friend Hilde Hiller. Irma (as we call her) was born im Schwarzwald/Baden Württemberg and lives in Arlington Heights.
Annemarie Schave - a good friend of Hans Braun, joined us in December. She was born in Würzburg/Germany and makes her home in Pompano Beach, Florida.
Ludwig Erdbeer - joined the Schwaben Verein at the request of his friend George Boehm. He was born in Teutendorf/Germany and lives in Northbrook. Ludwig, now retired, is the owner of Ludwig's Interior on Lincoln Ave. in Chicago.
Welcome to the Schwaben Verein!
In loving memory
The following members have left us:
- Erich Schnetzer - a member since 1963, passed away on October 20th, 2007 after a long illness. He was 76 years old.
- Catherine Erbach - passed away on December 3rd, 2007. She was a member since 1997, the wife of our late financial secretary Eugene Erbach. She was laid to rest at St. Boniface cemetary.
May they rest in Peace.
To the families of our deceased members our heartfelt Sympathy.
And here, we have to report another loss: Our deepest Sympathy to our member Gary Weiler and his family on the sudden death of his dear wife Patricia Weiler, who will be missed by many in our Schwaben family.
Unser herzlichstes Beileid!
Greetings and News from Members
We wish a speedy recovery to our long time member Norm Rockel who had a difficult heart by' pass operation. We hope you will be going home soon to the loving care of Marlene. Our prayers are with you.
News from elsewhere
No You may have heard that the Federal Republic of Germany donated a piece of the Berlin Wall to the City of Chicago. The unveiling of the Berlin Wall Exhibit at the Western Avenue Brown Line Station in Chicago will be celebrated on Saturday, January 19th at 10:30 AM. It is sponsored by the Honorable Richard M. Daley, Alderman Gene Schulter of the 47th Ward, Wolfgang Drautz, Consul General of the German Federal Republic, The Chicago Transit Authority, and the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum
Schwaben Facts
Götz von Berlichingen was an imperial knight (Reichsritter), romanticized in legend as a German Robin Hood and remembered as hero of Johann.Wolfgang von Goethe's play Götz von Berlichingen. His iron hand was a substitute for a hand shot away in the siege of Landshut (1504). He served under various masters in a series of campaigns, ending with the wars against the Turks in Hungary (1542)….you may know his most famous quote.
Note from the Editor
Dear Friends:
Another year has come and gone with all its joys and challenges of life in general and in the Verein. The holidays are over, a new year has been rung in, and we ready ourselves for the new joys and challenges ahead. It was nice to see some of our old activists pull through difficult and threatening health issues, encouraging, but ever reminding us of the fact that more help will be needed in the future. A small group of board members cannot drag the Verein along, more need to pitch in with time and effort. But as we see from past results, appeals alone do not do the trick. Maybe we need a discussion about what would make it more attractive for younger people to join and be active in our Verein. Start thinking about this, and please bring your ideas to all this year’s meetings and events.
I am looking forward to seeing you there!
Uli Senz
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