1. Art and Diseño

German Family Society
of Akron, Inc.
Deutscher Familien Verein, Akron e.V.
www.germanfamilysociety.com
Facebook: Akron German Family Society
Twitter: @Akrongfs • blog: www.germanfamilysocietyblog.com
3871 Ranfield Road, Brimfield Township/Kent, Ohio 44240 • 330-678-8229 • Email: [email protected]
WINTER 2014
Akron GFS Eagles
By Rich Reikowski
For those of you that know Marty Misbrener,
you know that you are speaking to a man that
truly loves everything there is of the sport and
the game of soccer. Marty is truly the face
of of the soccer program at Akron German
Family Society. He is a man of exuberance,
gentleness, humbleness, and a genuine
kindness to others.
We’re overjoyed
and very proud
of Marty in being
rec og niz ed
for
his
soccer
contributions
in
being
inducted
into
the
Ohio
Soccer Hall of
Fame in 2008. He
was one of eight
inductees.
In 1954 he played
for Vienna in the Jr. Olympics. Marty said
that he felt a great need and responsibility to
share this love of the sport with his new country
and specifically with the Akron German
Family Society. He joined the Akron German
Americans in 1954, a second division team
in the American Soccer League. In 1965, the
German Family Society founded the Akron
Eagles, of whom Marty was a team member.
Most recently he lead his Major soccer team,
the Akron German Family Society Eagles, to
achieve the Runner-Up Champions of the
National Donauschwaben 2014 Tournament.
The Donauschwaben teams have competed
with each other for many years, as well as the
various soccer groups of the Reserves, over
40, and over 50 age groups.
The 2015 indoor soccer season (Major and
Reserves) will start in January thru March. The
outside game season will run from May thru
July.
Our club will be hosting the 2015 US National
Donauschwaben Soccer Tournament. Teams
will be arriving, from across the country, to our
very own Donau Park to compete.
We hope to bring home the championship
on our own fields!
Marty invites all club members to come out
in support of their team. There is “no charge”
to watch the soccer games. The 2015 soccer
schedule will be out soon.
Read the entire article at
www.germanfamilysocietyblog.com
2014, The Year of Change
As we approach the start of another year
here at the German Family Society, we’d like
to review our out-going year for our club and
future plans for 2015.
This was the year of change. We lost a great
friend and leader, Joe Geiser. Joe was
President of our club for the last 23 years.
Joe directed the Youth Group during the
early 70’s and formed the first Culture Group,
now named Tanz Group in the late 70’s. He
also assisted all groups with dance routines
through his many years at the Helm.
We also lost many of our lifelong members
including Barbara Tonhaeuser, who for
so many years, directed the Youth Group
and was the first leader to win, Backto-Back Competitions at our National
Donauschwaben Treffens. More recently she
represented our club as “Kulture Director”.
As change continued, we welcomed our
new President, Rudy P. Stagl in for 2014. Rudy
would follow in the footsteps of his father,
Rudy Stagl who also was President during the
60’s and early 70’s and had recently passed
away as well.
In late spring, we had a visit by our local
Liquor Control officer, first visit in over 25 years.
We were made aware that much of the way
we operated was not in compliance with our
current Liquor License. Holding a “members
only” License, we were always told we were
allowed to have 1, then came 2 festivals
along with ability to host weddings as long
as the wedding couple were members. We
were mis-informed and with only 2-3 weeks
before our upcoming European Fest were
made aware that we needed to make
changes, and rather quickly.
change, how we collected entry fees and
establishing entry gates.
This year also has seen improvements to our
Festival lighting, Dressing up our Bier Garten
with many more flowering plants and unique
to our area, adding Palm trees to our Bier
Garten area. We’ve seen a dramatic increase
in outside weddings enjoying the outdoor
areas of our park for their Nuptials.
As our festivals have grown, It was also decided
to upgrade our tickets to 50 cent segments,
$2.00 per page. Although we’ve experienced
some growing pains with implementing this,
the process is steadily improving.
We’ve seen a dramatic increase with 41
new members this year. With that, our groups
continue to grow and now may surpass the
high numbers of our group members from
the 60’s and 70’s where the Baby Boomer
generation flourished during their time at our
club.
Our Youth group and many members of
our board travelled to Milwaukee over
Labor Day weekend to attend the National
Donauschwaben Treffen. Our kids joined
together with 16 other cities youth groups
to show off their latest dances and spend
time with other groups building relationships
that would continue for a lifetime. Our Youth
Group was recognized and voted on by all
16 cities, as the most Congenial or Friendliest
Youth Group in 2014. Congratulations to you
all. We and our Youth were proud to receive
this award.
The State assisted us to pull together what
was needed to gain a special Fair License
and worked with us to make other changes.
This included applying and receiving a new
License that is no longer members only.
In 2014, our club held 16 events/dances,
including, Night in Vienna, Kindermaskenball,
Schlachtfest, 3 Fish Fry’s, a Mothersday
Dance, our 2 Festivals, a new event, Jimmy
Buffett night out, German Day, Traubenfest,
Christmas Program and our upcoming New
Years Eve Dance. We hosted 10 private
weddings/parties and our Spring Concert
with performers from Germany and Austria.
With these changes, it required us to make
additional changes to our events. Most all
noted the fencing that now accompanies
our two Festivals. With that came another
Of course our club is active nearly every other
day with group practices, food preparations,
spring cleaning and of course the upgrades
and repairs being made by our Vice Presidents
and other Board members throughout the
year. Not to be forgotten are the nearly 10
members of our Grounds Crew and Soccer
leaders in upkeep of our park. We thank each
and everyone for their hard work, dedication
to our club and how well we all work together
to make our club so successful year after year
and the envy of many other organizations.
an Adult Maskenball (Fasching) event in
February, something that was very popular
with our club throughout the 60’s.
We look forward to 2015 and continuing
these successes. Our Youth Group and many
Members of our Board, plan on attending our
National Donauschwaben Treffen for 2015
hosted by the Los Angeles Donauschwaben
Club in Anaheim California in late summer.
Lastly we’ve been asked to once again
invite “Tom Watt and the Fruitcakes” back
for another “Night out with Jimmy Buffett”.
Hopefully we will go without the rain that put
a damper on last year’s event but was one
that most everyone enjoyed.
We look forward to some upcoming surprises
including not only a Kindermaskenball
(Masquerade) party but now bringing back
Our Board extends our wishes to all of our
members, a Merry Christmas and a Happy
and Healthy New Year for 2015.
Milwaukee’s Opening Ceremony for the National
Donauschwaben Treffen.
Lighting of the Blue Candle, a Donauschwaben traditon at
Christmas.
Christmas Program in December.
The Weinstube (Wine cellar) at Traubenfest.
Plans are being made to celebrate our 60th
anniversary dance in May with all kinds of
special presentations made looking back to
the beginning of our club in 1955.
2015 BOARD OF TRUSTEES
GERMAN FAMILY SOCIETY
President............................................................................... Rudy Stagl
1st Vice President................................................ Michael Rodesheim
2nd Vice President............................................................. Frank Ganz
Honorary President.......................................................... Maria Rickert
.......................................................................................... Anna Koenig
House Manager............................................................... Mike Petzker
Treasurer................................................................................ Amy Stagl
Assistant Treasurer..................................................Awald Langenfeld
Bar Treasurer............................................................ Christian Spreitzer
Ticket Treasurer................................................................... Jen Herring
Kitchen Treasurer............................................................. Betty Leipold
Membership Secretary...........................................Allison Burdeshaw
Recording Secretary.......................................................Hilda Rasnick
Corresponding Secretary......................................Hermine Frischherz
Ladies Group President................................................ Helga Hippich
Bar Trustees...............................................................................Tony Pilz
................................................................................ John Schwarzinger
........................................................................................... Tony Leipold
.............................................................................................. Frank Guld
Park Manager.............................................................. George Sensius
Park Committee............................................................... Fred Leipold
Kulturberater.................................................................... Anna Koenig
Youth Group Leader.......................................... Carri & Steve Sensius
Jr. Youth Group Leaders.................................... Carolyn Langenfeld
................................................................................................Lisa Blaser
Children’s Group Leaders....................................................... Liz Miller
.............................................................................. Katrina Marmaduke
Tanzgruppe Leaders............................................... Aaron Engelhardt
.......................................................................................... Steve Sensius
Sports Director............................................................Marty Misbrener
Assistant Sports Director............................................. Laurent Majerus
Reservations.......................................................... Renate Moellmann
..............................................................................................Eva Lehner
Decorations..................................................................... Betty Leipold
Media Group:
Newspaper.................................................................Rich Reikowsi
Web..................................................................................... Chris Pilz
Photo................................................................................ David Hall
Public Relations................................................................. Sandy Clark
Wurstmeister.................................................................. Fred Misbrener
Beautification Committee.................................. Konrad & Sadie Pilz
Calendar
of Events
Kinder
Masken Ball
February 15
2 pm
Silvester Feier
Costumes, Games, Dancing, Food,
Magician Entertainment and more.
(New Years Eve)
Music by:
Eintracht Band
Doors open at 6 pm
All Invited age 8 and up.
Fasching
(Mardis Gras Dance)
February 21
Reservations
Required
Music by:
Spass Band
A Night in Vienna
January 31, 2015
GFS Youth Group Performs
Traditional Waltz Dances
Put on your costume
and come join us for
an evening of fun
and festivities!
Reservations Required
Music by: Fred Ziwich Band
Reservations Required.
If Reservations are made and you need to cancel,
Please call and cancel so that someone else
can attend and enjoy the evening.
Welcome to our New Members!
We are happy to have you join our organization.
Ann Kohner
Joshua Wherley
Gabriel Strayer
Sara Williams
Krysti Maxwell
Daniel Norden
Toni Norden
Richard Tarr
Cameron Carris
Wendy Gibson
Don’t Forget to Make Reservations
for ALL Club Events
Please Note: We require reservations
for our events but if you cannot attend,
please, please call and cancel. Our last
event, Traubenfest was a sell out and
numerous family members turned away.
We had 35 No-Shows which caused many
not able to attend and a loss of hundreds
of dollars in lost food.
Please be considerate for future events.
Thank You, Rudy
Reservations:
Mrs. Moellmann: 330-633-3949
Mrs. Lehner: 330-335-8985
Jacky Harsch
Heather Kraft
Marissa Sensius
Lucas Sensius
David Rodenbucher
Geena Whitney
Alayna Whitney
Marina Stagl
Ryan Pittinger
Dance Groups Updates:
GFS Kinder Group
GFS Youth Group:
With nearly 40 kids ending this year, Liz Katrina
and Mary worked closely with their kids in
preparations for the our Christmas program.
We enjoyed a combinations of singing,
poems, our festive actors and finishing up
entertaining a full house with a new dance.
The Youth Group started off the year with
37 members and ended the year with 46
members. They enjoyed performing at various
events throughout the year for our club as well
as several activities around the area. These
included the Milwaukee Landesverband,
and three Oktoberfest performances at the
Campground, Cuyahoga Falls, and The City
of Kent.
They worked hard throughout the year
performing at our Dances, Festivals and
performing at numerous events in the Akron
area. For anyone interested with a child
ages 4-7, practices are Wenesdays, 6:30pm7:30pm. If anyone has any questions feel free
to contact the Kindergruppe Leader Liz Miller
@ 330-494-0877
GFS Junior Youth Group:
2014 was another good one for Jr Youth
Group! At present, we have 33 members,
10 boys and 23 girls, whose ages range from
8-14years old.
7 of our dancers just graduated up to the
Youth Group. We anticipate that 5 children
will move up from Kindergroup to Jr Youth
group when we resume practice in February
2015, so we will be close to the 38-40 members
we have typically enjoyeded in our group for
the past 5 years.
For the new year, 2015, the kids enthusiastically
requested to hold our kick off party at the KSU
ice arena, a venue we have enjoyed before.
Lenten Fish Fries will be on our agenda again
for the upcoming year, as well as a July group
trip…location TBD.
We will also have the honor of helping
commemorate the GFS’ 60th Anniversary in
May with song and dance.
Thank you to our dancers and their families for
their participation and dedication throughout
the year!
The Youth Group had three major fundraisers
during the year. We made 3000 pounds of
sausage in March and 3700 pounds in October.
This is a record amount and hopefully it will
continue to increase. We would like to thank
Dave and Silvana Sensius for organizing the
sausage fundraiser. We also hosted 3 Lenten
Fish Fries which we plan to host again in 2015.
We would also like to thank Steve and Carol
Rodenbucher for setting up and managing
the Youth Group booth at Old Eurpoeanfest
and Oktoberfest. They work very hard to
set up, manage, and tear down the booth
for both weekends. The next 2 years will be
very exciting for this group as they plan to
travel to Los Angeles, California in 2015 for
the Landesverband Annual Meeting and to
Europe in 2016. This means that we will have
increased expenses. The group is accepting
donations to be applied to both trips. If you
are interested in making a donation please
send it to Carri Sensius, c/o GFS Youth Group
to 1492 Stoney Pointe Dr. North Canton, OH
44720. Call Carri for more information at (330)
715-2365.
We would like to thank everyone for supporting
the group throughout the year including the
parents of our dancers. Thanks to all who
donated their time and efforts, helped with
fundraisers, and to those who purchased
sausage as this is our largest fundraiser. We
will make sausage in March, 2015 so look for
the order form.
Our group is always looking for performing
opportunities as this is how we fund our trips
and uniform expenses. Please contact Carri
at 330-715-2365 if you’re interested in having
our group entertain for your event.
In my effort to keep our members updated
on recent Board decisions, we recently held
Elections that will become effective on January
1st. This was held on Sunday November 2nd
and was attended by over 120 of our active
members. I was given the opportunity to
head up our club for another year. Thank you
all for the opportunity and kind words on my
transition to President as my first year comes
to an end.
We’ve added a new position to the board with
David Hall joining the Club Board as our new
Club Photographer. In addition, Mrs. Anna
Koenig joined us as our new Culture Leader
and she is ready and willing to add her drive
and expertise to this position. Also new is
Tony Leipold as one of our new Bar Directors,
replacing Chris Pilz who will continue to
focus on our website. We have new leaders
of our Tanz Group, Steve Sensius and Aaron
Engelhart were elected to head this up. Thank
you to Jessica and Jason Evans for your hard
work this past year. Mike Petzker, who has
been regularly helping the Grounds crew,
Soccer Crew and working with myself and
our VP’s has now been elected as our Haus
Manager. Mike will be in charge of our club
and facilities with upkeep and repairs. Amy
Stagl and Awald Langenfeld have taken over as
our club Treasurers replacing Jim Rasnick. Jim
has had many years as our club Treasurer and
taking some well deserved time off for now.
We Thank him for his hard work and staying
on top of all the financial issues the club deals
with. Most of the previous positions not
mentioned remained on the board from 2014.
We wish to thank the Board of 2014 for the job
well done. Let us continue it into 2015.
I’m excited about our plans to continue to
improve our Club and Park going into this next
year. We have agreed to pursue a new Küchen
(Pastry) Haus which is tentatively scheduled
to be built beginning April of 2015. Plans
are to have it located near the corner of the
parking lot, on the hillside near the Memorial
Headstone. This would allow us to serve
Küchen and guests lining up along the parking
lot near where the food service is held during
festivals. We have some interesting designs
that we are reviewing at this point. This will
eliminate the bottle neck right inside the doors
for pastry sales and our future plans is to have
a resting area be set up in the coatroom area
during our events.
We are looking at improving our membership,
and see if we can re-gain the many members
that grew up with our club but have drifted
away for one reason or another. Some special
programs are being looked at towards the end
of 2015.
We are looking forward to another Family
oriented New Years Eve dance where the kids
ages 8 years old and up can celebrate their
own welcoming in of 2015 with plenty of
fun activities, fanfare, decorations and noise
makers. Do plan to bring the kids along and
make this a Family event, fun for all. Please
contact our reservations ladies for this event.
Please be aware that this is not a baby-sitting
program and we ask that the parents keep an
eye on their kids during our event.
If you’re a sports fan, you will be happy to
know, we have decided to replace the old,
out of focus, TV near the bar area with a new
42” HD Television. This will be installed prior
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Mike Petzker and I, along with members of
, Balance,
and Tinnitus
our grounds
crew, added additional drainage
unity for
the
past
20 years~
to our soccer fields
and park. An excavator
was rented and almost 30 tons of gravel along
, Balance,
andfeet
Tinnitus
with 400
of drainage pipe was installed.
Hopefully the days of the lower soccer field
flooding will be a thing of the past.
We extend our condolences
to the families of:
Karl-Heinz Fleischer
Mary Albert
Barbara Tonhaeuser
In the
conclusion
like to
wishwith
everyone:
unds of
Fest fillI’dyour
heart
joy!
“Fröliche Weinachten und ein Glüchliches
Jahr”fill
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all ofheart
our members.
unds ofNeues
the Fest
with joy!Thank you
all for your support!
ki, Au.D
Balance, and Tinnitus
ki, Au.D
Balance, and Tinnitus
Family
Rudy Hearing & Balance Center
www.hearingbetterohio.com
2800 S. Arlington Rd. Suite 102 Akron OH 44312
330-644-1932
Quality
Careour
for community
you
~Serving
for the past 20 years~
and your family!
In Hearing Loss, Balance, and Tinnitus
Family Hearing & Balance Center
2800 S. Arlington Rd. Suite 102
AkronHearing
Ohio 44312
330-644-1932
Family
& Balance
Center
www.hearingbetterohio.com
2800
S. Arlington Rd. Suite 102
Akron Ohio 44312 330-644-1932
of the Fest fill your heart with joy!
www.hearingbetterohio.com
May the May
sounds the
of thesounds
Fest
fill your heart with joy!
May the sounds of the Fest
fill your heart with joy!
Dr. Richard Reikowski, Au.D
Director of Hearing, Balance, and Tinnitus
Dr. Richard Reikowski, Director of Hearing,
Balance, and Tinnitus
Dr. Richard Reikowski, Director of Hearing,
Balance, and Tinnitus
German Family Society of Akron
3871 Ranfield Road
Kent, OH 44240
German Crossword Puzzle Challenge
Answers on page 9.