Grußworte der Präsidenten
President’s Message
Recent remark by Patrick Madden, CEO, Sister Cities International,
“I think of all the remarkable work done by average people every day to bridge the gap of cultural understanding world- wide. People like sister cities members in small towns and big cities who have opened their homes, wallets and minds to cre- ating long-lasting peace through partnerships.”
We all need to consider how the small part we each play as members of Belleville Sister Cities is key to the Sister Cities purpose.
Although our busy time of year appears to be months away – the preparation for September and October begins NOW:
On the horizon is 20th year anniversary to begin on Thursday, September 2nd with proclamation by Mayor Mark Eckert with additional information to be distributed as we near that date. President Elect Jerry Reilmann has volunteered to take-on this momentous year-long celebration. He is ea- gerly looking forward to support from you.
Oktoberfest sign-up for numerous duties will move into full swing by the publication of the August edition of this newsletter. Immediate Past President Ron Fritz rntfritz@sbcglobal.net has volunteered to manage the Beer Tent and Doris Roach jodoroach@charter.net volunteered to manage the food booth.
Rich Berkel is preparing for Taste of Germany on 3 Oct. Contact him at reb31@att.net For our immediate future I look forward to our membership appreciation event to be held at St Luke Catholic Church in Belleville. Please contact Theresa Fritz rntfritz@sbcglobal.net with your desire to assist.
German Clubs from Belleville Schools will enter a float in the Shriner’s Parade to be held on Friday evening of 4 June. Come out and support the students who will be representing Belle- ville Sister Cities and German Clubs. Those adults wishing to lend a hand but not knowing who to contact feel free to contact me.
On March 23rd members of your board met with members of surrounding boards of Columbia, Millstadt and Waterloo for a very cordial meet and greet event. We took the opportunity to chat over the events offered by each club which reaffirmed the commitments members have within each of our clubs.
On April 9th and 10th the Illinois convention was at Carbondale. People attending the confer- ence shared much information with regard to the various programs and how our societies work with partner cities from around the globe. There was a great ice breaker session with snacks during registration at mid-day on Friday and a very nice welcome dinner that evening. On Saturday we had options of 2 sessions for sharing information, however I stayed only with the youth exchange and learned how each society has different programs suitable in their partnership. It was educational to learn how one school communicates electronically, that some have no student exchanges, and to learn what extent some go to plan activities for stu- dents and adults. From my perspective I was surprised that Josephine from Columbia and I were the only participants from Southern Illinois, other than our gracious hosts from Carbon- dale and the folks of the Southern Illinois Tourism bureau. The Illinois Sister Cities Conven- tion for 2011 will be held in Tinley Park, a short distance south of Chicago.
Stammtisch events for March and April were Very Nice – Thank You to all who planned the events and participated.
Tom Heiting
News from Paderborn
Dear Friends in Belleville and around:
Travelling to and from Europe was not so easy at the end of April. Fortu- nately the air traffic has become normal again. People living thru the hardship of being stranded somewhere in the world started to make jokes around the problems the volcano had caused – just as a comic relief:
Dear Icelanders: You misunderstood. We said: Give us cash. Not: Give us ash.
DAFK had the pleasure to welcome the two brothers Schuyler and Damian Sandheinrich and Damian’s daughter Sahra on March 29th and 30th. Schuyler lives in Cooper City, Florida, Damian in O’Fallon.
It was Norma Bergkoetter who had asked our member Marieluise Hoyle to show them Paderborn. Marieluise was supported by Wilhelm Boekamp and Robert Voss.
Marieluise wrote in a report about their visit: “Whilst touring Germany it was on their agenda to visit their ancestors, namely the Sandheinrichs at Delbrueck near Paderborn. I guided them to the location the German family resides at. The German Sandheinrich family had already been informed about their visit and expected them. What a lovely afternoon. Shortly after our arrival a hectic conversation about their ancestors started. Both parties produced written evidence and photographs about their ancestors. From the very beginning of their meeting there appeared to be close links between the relatives.”
Looking back at their visit to Paderborn and Germany Schuyler wrote to Norma appreciating the hospitality and friendship of the people they had met: “They will remain in my fond memories for the rest of my days.”
In 1989 Josef Sandheinrich had visited Belleville with the DAFK group. And Otmar remembers him saying, “Here I have found more Sandheinrichs than I have at home.”
Another highlight in recent weeks was Wolfgang Stueken’s lecture in Powerpoint about “Paderborn Traces in Midwest USA” on April 16th. He talked about Cardinal Mundelein of Chicago (1872-1939) whose ancestors had come from the Paderborn region. Wolfgang had travelled to the town of Mundelein, Illinois where the Archbishop had founded the “University of St Mary of the Lake”, the seminary for the formation of priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago. He also fol- lowed the traces of the Flying Priest, Father Paul Schulte (1895-1974), the co-founder of the “National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows”. He could even use material from the archives of the CIA in Washington. Schulte was not allowed to return to Germany during the war but had to stay under observation in the monastery of the Oblates in Belleville. After the war having the American citizenship he had lived in Paderborn for several years.
In summer a group of youths from Belleville and their chaperones Andy Gaa and Jena Hollin- shead will come to Paderborn for three weeks. Norman Hansmeyer who has been responsible on the Paderborn side for the exchange program for several years has organized a wonderful pro- gram with visits to Berlin, Bremen, German Emigration Center in Bremerhaven (web site: www.dah-bremerhaven.de/english/english.html), etc. They’ll also be here during the Libori Fest. From Belleville we’ll also expect the students: Jackie Bassler, Crystal Zimmermann, Chris Crawford and Kevin Schaefer in response to last year’s High School Exchange. Tim Sifrin and Pauline Kleinschloemer will come to Belleville in August.
DAFK has started to work on a group trip to the US and Belleville in May 2011. We are looking forward to the stay.
Bernd Broer
President
Dr. Otmar Allendorf
Secretary