German Family Societyof Akron, Inc.

3871 Ranfi eld Road, Brimfi eld Township/Kent, Ohio 44240 • 330-678-8229 • Email: rstagl@germanfamilysociety.com

Deutscher Familien Verein, Akron e.V.www.germanfamilysociety.com

Facebook: Akron German Family SocietyTwitter: @Akrongfs • blog: www.germanfamilysocietyblog.com

The Akron German Family Society truly celebrated, in true regal and majesty Wiener Abend (Evening in Vienna) Saturday, January 26th. It is said that more famous composers have lived in Vienna than in any other city. The club’s members and guests joined together with celebration of Viennese Waltzes and formal pageantry of the Youth Group dancers. The Fred Ziwich Band played the many Waltzes and traditional polkas that the club has come to enjoy. The members truly enjoy this band, especially how they chose songs to accompany the Vienna Night event.

I had a most memorable talk with Mary Richert, one of the founder’s members of the Akron GFS who shared her love of Vienna. Mary recalled many years ago suggesting that our club have a Vienna Night. She recanted many memories of her youth in Germany, and many moves to various regions and countries due to strife and confl ict during several decades. She recalled the Vienna Night celebrations in Vienna and aspired that the dance and event should certainly be celebrated and held with such respect and tradition with the Akron GFS. Mary also told me about when she

would watch Vienna Dancers in Vienna in her younger years. The girls in beautiful dresses and men in tuxedoes were witnesses when she was in the audience at a performing hall. She felt that our youth group dancers conveyed the dance in the most genuine sense. The style, class, and dress of our dancers, she stated, took her back to those wonderful memories.

As I looked around the club throughout the evening, I observed people, family, and friends that were thrilled to be there and share in the history of this event. The food was, as always, prepared wonderfully by the dedicated volunteer staff. The kitchen workers and cooks prepared a meal that accompanied the Vienna Night perfectly. I highly recommend the readers to join the Akron GFS for this yearly event as well as the multiple events at the club. The GFS members have great pride in welcoming visitors and those that truly wish to share in their rich heritage.

Wiener AbendSPRING 2014

By Rich Reikowski

My first memories of our club go back to the early 60’s but I never really knew how it all began. I heard stories and had seen pictures of skits being held in the basement of a church but still wondered, how did this all begin?

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with our Ehren (Honorary) President, Mary Rickert, considered by many to be the First Lady of our organization. Along with her husband, Joseph Rickert, they were intimately involved in the founding of our organization and its growth through much of the 60’s and 70’s.

She explained to me that it was Fr. Wolf from Akron’s Saint Bernard’s Church that helped organize them through the early 1950’s. He was also of Donauschwaben background as his family immigrated to the US after the First World War.

Fr. Wolf had helped many new German Immigrants relocate to the US and to the Akron area. Mrs. Rickert said he and the Catholic Church sponsored as many as 600 families to the US, many with Donauschwaben roots and displaced from their former homelands. Many frequented the local German Clubs that had been established in the area. The GBU (Greater Beneficial Union) Club seemed to be one of the more popular hangouts for the many young people trying to establish themselves and meet up with old friends, meeting many new friends and able to speak their homeland language. She stated; “We were a Family” .

Fr. Wolf along with the Holy Name Society got involved and suggested they congregate at his church. Our Club then began in 1955 and took on the name St. Bernard’s German Club, Rudy Schneider became the first president, quickly replaced by George Tonhaeuser for one year. Joe Rickert then served as the next president while still

at the Church. It began with just a few, and later I was told they were growing so fast and were up to 600 members. There they began to have once a month dances and skits and just having fun getting together. You can see even today, where we carry on the tradition; enjoying monthly functions.

As our club formed George Weitzel helped form our first soccer program where we competed against the many other ethnic organizations in the area. Because we had no soccer field our group often traveled to fields in Goodyear Heights. Around that same time in 1955, Mrs Rickert help form our first Jugend (Youth) Gruppe where they performed dances and sang. Many of our parents from my generation were in this first Youth Group.

In 1959 Fr Wolf suggested to them that they align themselves to one of the many local German Clubs and had suggested the largest, German American Club on Grant street. Then President Joe Rickert along with his board coordinated with the leaders of the GA club. The G.A., a club established in the early 1800’s where a wave of early Germans immigrated and later more immigrated after the First World War and were members of the GAC.

Then in 1960 the Ladies Auxiliary, or Frauengruppe, as they are called, formed to allow the women to gather and also enjoyed preparing meals for events. Suzy Tsironis, along with several other ladies helped form the first Frauengruppe.

I t was an interes t ing mar r iage between organizations; originally they were excited of our joining them as their membership had fallen off, but friction began between our two groups. Our Family society recognized the importance and future of our Youth. We were a “Family” organization! This was always of utmost importance to us. Our hosts did not share our interests and were somewhat concerned about the kids running around their place. I was one of those kids but never knew the details and we avoided going downstairs while we were there.

Now we had a Club!, which never was formalized but we had a large hall, that could handle as many as 500 guests, a full kitchen, and full bar area. There were so many rooms in this building. A smaller upper floor hall with bar and bathroom that was sort of a sneaky place where we (the youth group kids) often gathered, and some may have had their first kiss. There was the large coatroom, which was another favorite of the Youth Group. No wonder that many marriages resulted from the Youth Group romances. Through the 60’s and into the early 70’s, all seemed to be going well for our two clubs but there was still some issues that caused differences between our two clubs.Joe and Mary Rickert, St. Bernard’s German Club

What was agreed on however, was that we would turn over all profits from the hall, kitchen and bar to our host GA Club. This started in 1959 and would continue up through 1973. In time this did not set well with our board and members.

1964 brought us another group, the Edelweiss Tanz Group formed, headed by Eva Lehner. This consisted of many of the original members of the club but they wanted to remain independent of our club. This group of 8 couples rehearsed in their homes and they continued performing through 1999.

In the fall of 1972, current President Joe Rickert, along with Fritz Meindl started looking for land that they might acquire for our club. They found this 10 acre park located in Brimfield, previously named Ray’s Cozy Park. Abandoned and un-attended to, there was a rectangular shaped single level building, a small two story house located near the front right of what is now the parking lot and a small pond. It was not up for sale but they wanted to find out who owned it. They spoke with a neighbor next door in the house that is now part of our park and the home to our house managers. She explained that the woman that owned the place was living in Arizona.

Soon arrangements were made, and in the spring of 1973 they purchased the land and buildings. At that time, many members were both members of our club and members of the GAC.

Our relocation caused some differences between families. Some decided that they would not move out to this park, but in time, things did settle down.

A Constitution was being formed and they began working towards incorporating as a non-profit organization which was assisted by Dieter Dambrowsky, a tax specialist that helped out in many legal matters including the transfer of ownership of our park.

What should we call ourselves? A meeting was held and many wanted Donauschwaben to be part of our name. They did have a majority of members who were considered Donauschwaben but there were many Germans and Austrians that had joined our Club as well.

Mrs Rickert provided me with an important detail I never knew. It was my Grandmother, Anna Leipold, that had suggested that we were all Germans and suggested the name; German Family Society. That name was voted in and adopted as part of the Constitution and filed with the Federal and State governments.

Spring of 1973; This was an incredible time where members pulled together. Youth Group was busy clearing brush, masons, electricians, carpenters, and everyone else was working together to make this

our new home. All members were actively involved in helping out. Everyone helped turning what had been a machine shop for some time, into a Banquet Hall for our members. By 1974 major excavation was done converting a forest out back and leveling it to become our two soccer fields. Fritz Meindl as well as Fritz Koenig were leaders establishing our soccer club in Brimfield.

A donation was asked from members and with that they then became Charter Members, with their children and children’s spouses later becoming Charter Children Members and able to begin their future with our club as active members.

Our early club hall, what is now the upper level dining area, ended about where the bar is located. Too small, probably no more than 100 or so members were able to attend; so they quickly realized that additions to the hall needed to be made. A real kitchen and dining area was added to what is now the entrance area, office and coatroom. Our Youth group held their meetings in the house that was in front of our hall for a little while but the house had caught fire and later was torn down to make room for our parking lot.

By 1974 we had a hall with kitchen and bar area, still small but it was nice. The Pavilion was built and it was decided to hold the first Oktoberfest. These fests were primarily attended by members or friends of members. We had a spinning wheel to win a dollar or two. I remember when they would hang a bottle of whiskey from a tree and you guessed the distance to the ground. The person closest in guessing the height, won the bottle. I believe it was Mr. Guld shimming up that tree to rescue that bottle.

A year or two later the board decided to make the next expansion to just beyond the first door on the right of the lower hall. Rudy Rickert managed much of the future additions. Now we had a stage and dance floor. Yet another expansion took it to where the foldable wall is located. Our trade members were busy for many years. These projects were taken on nearly 100 % by volunteer members.

Concert Evening at the German American Club.

We wish to Congratulate one of our former

Youth Group members, Christopher Clark,

son of Tom and Sandy Clark.

Chris was the Head Coach for the Chinese Half Pipe Snowboarding Team during the

XXII Winter Olympic Games.

Schlactfest

Peter Karsti Band

March 15March 22March 22

SpringCleaning

March 28

Fish Fry

March 28

Fish Fry

April 4

Fish Fry

April 11

Fish Fry

April 4

Fish Fry

April 11

Fish Fry

April 5

Konzert Abend

April 5

Abend

May 3Muttertag TanzMuttertag Tanz

(Mother’s Day) Reservations RequiredCall Eva Lehner 330-335-8985

or Renate Moellmann 330-633-3949

Our Oktoberfests were growing over the next few years. We were asked by Cuyahoga Falls festival leaders if we could assist them in establishing an Oktoberfest of their own. The club workers actually built a modular structure. Something like a 10 x 14 foot building with walls and each side of the roof came off and this was loaded onto a truck and taken to the Falls where we manned and cooked up Sausage sandwiches and sides. The folks loved them. That little house then became the original Edelweiss Haus in our park. A new Edelweiss Haus was built in the late 70’s and staying with the trend, was added on to a few years after that, as our festivals grew.

In 1977, Joe Geiser and previous members of the Youth Group banded together to form the first Kultur Gruppe or Culture Group that continued for many years. Some of their dances are still done by our Youth Group today.

The Golden Ring formed in 1980 headed by Anna Leipold and many other retirees, a group of lifelong friends that help with the upkeep and maintenance of the flowers and shrubs throughout the park. They also donated the monument honoring many other friends and family that had passed from our club.

In 1986, Guenter Moellmann arranged a singing group, the Harmony Singers. They also performed for our events and at outside venues. Their group continued for over 20 years. Although no longer a group many still support us as our choir during our Kirchweih Mass and their attendance at many events.

As we move into the 90’s the board decided that we needed to make one more addition. This would be a much larger project and done in two phases. Many of our trade members were near or in retirement. This would be the first outside contracted addition project managed by our own Vice President, Karl Tonhaeuser. Very young but talented and he knew what needed to be done. Phase one consisted of extending the hall to its current design and phase two was to modify the front of the building and adding the office, entrance and coatroom.

Completed in 1993, Karl came in on time, and under budget. Our building had been added for the fifth time. As one of the guys that has worked on much of the facility, it’s often a challenge trying to figure out what goes to where. But it all works, and we have a wonderful facility for our family of friends.

Later in 1995, Carolyn Langenfeld and Silvana Sensius resurrected the old Kultur-Gruppe, now named Tanz Group, bringing yet another generation of past Youth Group members to form, primarily focused on dance performances that have entertained people as far away as Trump Casino in Atlantic City and still continues today.

Our festivals have grown year after year and again we thank all of our volunteer workers that have made these fests into such a success and now known all over the area for its authenticity and fantastic food and entertainment.

Our Club will celebrate its 60th Anniversary next year and we can be as proud as ever for what we’ve accomplished and how successful we continue to be today. Our children’s groups are strong, our enthusiasm is strong and we look forward to what the future holds for us at our German Family Society. We’re saddened that we’ve lost so many of those early members who worked so hard to make this all possible but I’m sure they’d be very proud of us for what we’ve continued.

Note: Much of this history was provided by the many lifelong members and from my own experiences growing up in our club. I did my best to be as accurate as possible.

Rudy

German Family Society, Brimfield, OH in 1973.

German Family Society, Brimfield, OH in 2014.

German Family Society presents

German Family Society presents

Dinner 6:00 pm, Concert 7:30 pm.Pre-Sale Tickets: Betty Leipold, 330.923.7947 or Hermine Frischherz, 330.775.2836

April 5, 2014

This year’s New Year’s Eve party was very well attended. The joining of youth, ages 8 and up, was a huge success. Watching the adults and the youth mingling and sharing the dance fl oor was so nice to see. The youth had a back room all set for fun with Foosball, large screen TV/videos, as well as tables for games and cards. Not to mention snacks....:) To credit the integrity and dedication of the youth at Akron GFS, they even helped with cleaning the tables of dishes after dinner. (See pictures below). A very big thank you to Lisa, Natalie, and Nicole Blaser, as well as Betty Leipold in setting up the youth party room.

Also, thank you to all those that volunteered to prepare the delicious appetizers, meal, and desserts. Those that worked serving drinks and ticket sales are also very much appreciated.

Our club truly conveys a unity in supporting one another in all we do from this celebration as well

as the many that occur throughout the year. What better way to end one year and start another, than to be with friends.Rudy Stagl not only welcomed everyone with a speech but he and his band, Spaß entertained throughout the night. They played an outstanding set of German Polka songs, and an extensive mix of other many favorites from swing to rock. Many commented how much they enjoyed the music! Its going to be a great new year at Akron GFS!

Full Story at www.germanfamilysocietyblog.com

Behind the ScenesAs we recover from this winter that seemed to never end, we begin to prepare to enter into another season for our Club. The grounds crew have already been out tuning up and sharpening blades on the mowers.

Elections are all over and the board is busy getting ready for the upcoming busy summer and fall season. Some of what we’ve done over the fall anticipating more work for spring.

The Trees, those we’ve had so much concern over in the pavilion area were radically trimmed back. We had some good news to announce with regard our trees that we found many of the branches apparently stunned and did not produce many leaves were in fact not dead. We are hoping to save these trees we have added feeding boxes into the brickwork to provide the trees better nutrients and able to get more moisture into the soil. Time will tell if it works.

The board has discussed future plans with the festivals and tickets and we’re looking to increase the tickets from the dollar per page, (four 25 cent sections) and update them to 2.00 per page (50

cents per segment). We are not discontinuing the old version but will start replacing the old ones moving forward. Most of everything we sell is in the 50 cent increments already but a small adjustment will need to be made on a couple of items.

Projects that have been done through the winter- the offi ce was remodeled, minimal costs but a fresh coat of paint and additional shelves were added. We are looking to replace the carpeting in both the offi ce and the backroom behind the stage. Frank and Rudy found replacement LED lights that were installed over the bar area. Those 11 lights are probably the most turned on lights in the club from just a brief visit in or a meeting, these are always on and often burn out. We were able to reduce power by almost 500 watts every-time they are on.

Upcoming projects include upgrading the outside festival lights. We took down the old lights because of the tree trimming and rather than reinstall the 40 year old wires and lights, many so corroded that some bulbs even have water in them, It was time to upgrade. We will hang lights that are waterproof, and have lower wattage bulbs. We selected the yellow bulbs again as this seemed to be a tradition for your festivals. The power savings will be near half of what we used to have. You may recall the blackouts we had with the fuses during the festivals in years past.

We have been discussing giving our park a bit of a face lift. If you have noticed many weddings are being held in non-traditional fashion, for example, a Barn Wedding.

What we have to offer here at the club has such great potential as well. We are getting more requests for outside weddings and we want to freshen up the look outside, as well, some additional long term additions are being discussed. One idea is to update with new landscaping shrubs, fl owers and hardscape to spruce up of the park. Long term we’ve discussed a possible Gazebo and a board walk near the lake waters’ edge. Also, upgrade the fountain and replace the fence around the biergarten and the lake. Perhaps, we could also provide a wedding tent for outdoor receptions. This project will be spread out over a few years to minimize the cost impact, especially this year with other projects scheduled for this spring.

Currently, we will be fi nishing the parking lot. This will be similar to what we did on the main lot 3 years ago. Everyone has probably noticed the

We extend our condolences to

the families of:

Gloria LeonardAnna Gieger

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SchlactfestMarch 15, 2014

A special thanks to David Hall for allowing us to reprint many of his photos taken during events here at the German Family Society.

Anyone interested in Advertising in our newsletters, please contact

Sandy Clark, 330-628-3663, for rates and sizes available.

Come enjoy an evening of wonderful food,family and friends,and the music of the Peter Karsti Band.

Reservations Required.

brick wall by the pavilion next to the band area is near collapse. We have awarded a contract to a mason to replace most of the wall with same type of bricks. Lastly, we plan to replace one of the Air Conditioners on the roof.

There is a lot to do this year, but with the success of our festivals, weddings and events, we can keep our park in tip top shape. We also want to thank the Grounds Crew, Beautification committee and our VP’s, as well as, the other countless members that help keep our park so beautifull.

German Family Society of Akron3871 Ranfield RoadKent, OH 44240

Reservations: Mrs. Moellmann: 330-633-3949

Mrs. Lehner: 330-335-8985

Don’t Forget to make reservations

for all Club events except for

European Fest and Oktoberfest!

Take Charge of your Taxes!

Dambrowsky Income Tax, LLC

Guaranteed Tax Service,Family owned since 1971

Linda Dambrowsky

330-762-1171

DAMTAX@GMAIL.com