Our
membership is rapidly aging and it is becoming
more and more difficult to put on large events
such as our annual Schwabenfest. The flow of
new immigrants from Germany has slowed to a
trickle and is no longer a viable source for
additional members. However, some possible solutions
to that dilemma may be fairly close at hand.
One
might be to encourage more women to become actively
involved in all affairs of the Verein. Statistically,
women outlive men by several years. So there
are more of them around, many of them very capable
of looking for meaningful activities.
Ladies,
keep that in mind! Our board meetings are open
to all members and that certainly includes women.
With additional support from women, especially
as members of the board, the future of the Verein
would look much brighter than it would be without
them. Around the time I became active in the
Verein - I had been a passive member for many
years - women finally and after heated debates
were allowed to be full-fledged members of the
Verein. And see how far we have come! For several
years no we had at least two ladies on the board,
Really, what would we do without them?
Another
possibility might be to work toward even closer
cooperation with the Schawben AC. The current
president of the Schwaben Verein, George Boehm,
already has laid the ground work for it. From
the very beginning of his reign he has been
working diligently to improve the formerly uneasy
atmosphere between the two clubs. His inducing
a group of ladies from the Schwaben AC to provide
urgently needed assistance to run out last Schwabenfest
is just on example.
Kurt
Gebert, Editor
Contact
the Newsletter Editor - Kurt Gebert - by
email
