The next general membership meeting, for all members, will be held on

Monday, February 11th at 8:00 pm.

6/11/1921 – 1/2/2008

Past President and 2nd Vice President

If no one is at the club to answer the phone, you will be directed to an automated voicemail system that will enable you to leave a message. Please utilize this system, as it is the best way to ensure a specific person will receive your message. Simply dial the main club number (302-366-9454) and wait to hear the greeting. You can by-pass the list of mailbox options at any time if you know the mailbox number for the person you are trying to reach.

GREETING: Thank you for calling the Delaware Saengerbund. Please listen to the following prompts carefully, in order to direct your call.

Press #1 for Richard Grieb, President

Press #2 for Hall Rentals and Club hours (Bob Dreibelbis, Gary Huggler)

Press #3 for Tickets & Entertainment information (Brian Schulz)

Press #4 for Ladies Group, Catering and Food Service (Annemarie McNeal/Bettie Hopkins)

Press #5 for Accounting Services (Chuck Snyder)

Press #6 for the Bauernstube

Press #7 for all Property related questions (Fred Escheu)

Liebe Mitglieder (Dear Members):

Many of you might have heard by now that we had a German Newspaper Reporter in our midst at the D.S.B. annual children’s Christmas party on Sunday Dec. 9, 2007. The reporter was a young lady named Katja Gelinsky from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a nationally known and daily newspaper in Germany. Katja wrote a lengthy story describing how she saw Christmas being celebrated in the Delaware Saengerbund. The article was published December 24th in that paper. After reading the article, many – if not most of our club members – especially the members who were interviewed, were quite upset of how Katja portrayed and reported this event.

To paraphrase Ms. Gelinsky’s article:

Among other things, she wrote that coming to a German Club she expected to be surrounded by the smell of German cookies and Gluehwein, but there was no evidence of that. It was evident that the D.S.B. tried to make a statement, within the American melting pot, with its architectural design of its’ building to be German. As she entered the Deutsche Halle, she was greeted by glaring loudspeakers playing American Christmas songs. Not even the Santa Claus or the elves were authentic. The speaking of German was absent in the Deutsche Halle. By interviewing several German speaking people she found out among other things, that children of parents who immigrated to the U.S.A. in the 1950’s can no longer speak German. German children’s stories are being read by grandparents to their grandchildren not in German, but English. For the Christmas show the club brought over German musicians and singers who performed current songs and Volksmusik. In this atmosphere one could quickly forget that the Saengerbund in the 19^th century was established to perform music from Beethoven Symphonies and other great classics to familiarize the American public with these works. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Dec.24, 2007). Enough said-----------------

After having read the article, it is my opinion that Ms. Gelinsky, even though a keen observer, missed the purpose of the existence of our club. What she wrote was generally correct, but all presented in a completely negative view. The facts are that we are a German-American Club trying in the best way possible to preserve our German heritage. We can be proud of the fact that 154 years after the club was founded the Singers of the D.S.B. still sing mostly German songs – in German. The Dancers are dancing German Dances still named by the same name as when they were originated in the 1800’s. Most of the bands hired for our affairs play as much or more German music than one would hear at a dance in Germany. Our kitchen still cooks like our mothers and grandmothers used to. The atmosphere in our surroundings feels German. The fact is that if we ran the club the way Ms. Gelinsky expected to see it run, we would have been out of existence many years ago. She did not understand the point that we are just a small island in a huge ocean of many nationalities. We have many nationalities in our club who took a liking to our culture and have adapted to it. They have embraced our club and made it their own. Most of all they have worked extremely hard to make us successful. We have to hold a very delicate balance of keeping German tradition alive, but also offer all of our members a home where they are comfortable and welcomed. I believe there is no good reason for a rebuttal from the Board of Directors as many of you have indicated, since the article has already been published on December 24, 2007. We could never convince Ms. Gelinsky that her knowledge of the history of German Americans living in the U.S. is non-existent. All of us know that the accomplishments of the Delaware Saengerbund are phenomenal, and we know better how to make our club flourish than an inexperienced foreign reporter who came here determined to write only negative views of us. I would like to thank all of you for being part of our effort of keeping the German Spirit and Gemütlichkeit well and alive in the Delaware Saengerbund.

Mit freundlichen Grüssen, Richard Grieb

The next meeting of the Genealogy Group will be on Monday, Jan 28th at 7:30 in the Deutsche Halle. As one way of studying the social history of our ancestors we will have the privilege of hearing about daily life in Europe from two of our club members who grew to adulthood in Europe before immigrating to America. All members are invited to attend this meeting. The program will be repeated the last Monday of February with two more speakers. Our presenters in January are Mrs. Wally Alberer & Heinz Ambrosch.

The March 31st meeting should be of particular interest to those traveling to Germany in May with Trudy Gilgenast. The first stop of the tour is Bremen and Bremerhaven, with a visit to the Emigration Museum, a must for the genealogical buff doing family research. Lloyd Maier will present a program to highlight the research possibilities, layout of the complex and ways you may prepare to make the most of visiting this site.

Stephanie Lienig and Devin McDowell are the winners of the award to attend the Concordia/Waldsee German Language Camp in Moorhead, Minnesota this summer.

This is an excellent opportunity for these young people to live in an immersed language environment where learning German is fun, cool and exciting. The DSB awards $2,000 per student to participate in this program where German is the daily language. All who have attended in the past say that this was an awesome experience.

The Culture Committee is pleased to announce a wine tasting on Saturday, February 23. The cost is $15 per person, and the wines will be matched to a dinner that is included in the price. The cut-off date is February 15, so sign-up early for this special event.

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Saturday, February 23, 2008, 6:00 pm

Names(s): _____________________________________________________________

Telephone Number: ____________________________

Email Address: ________________________________

Amount Enclosed: _____________________________

Please make checks payable to D.S.B and return reservation by February 15, 2008 to the Culture Committee, Attention: Wine-Tasting/Desiree.

I want to thank the members of our committee who have volunteered their time and hard work to every event this past year. It is with your help and enthusiasm that the membership continues to compliment your efforts. The upcoming year has much to look forward to.

I also want to thank the membership of the Delaware Sängerbund for the continued support.

Carnival or Mardi Gras goes by many names in German, depending on the region and dialect: Karneval (Rhineland), Fasching (Austria, Bavaria), Fastnacht (Baden, Switzerland), Fosnat (Franconia) or Fasnet (Swabia). Whether it's Fasching or Karneval, it is a time to let off steam and live it up before the Lenten period that once called for fasting (die Fastenzeit). It is this fasting tradition that gave the celebration its Fastnacht name ("night before fasting"). In the 15th and 16th centuries, amusing plays known as Fastnachtspiele were performed during the pre-Lenten season. Today there are elaborate parades (Umzüge) in all the large and small communities where Fasching is celebrated. Floats and marchers displaying large caricature heads often lampoon regional and national politicians. Another part of the celebration involves Carnival royalty (princes, princesses) and a sort of "counter-government" during the season. The Rhineland Rosenmontagumzug is an event broadcast each year on German television, similar to the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in New York. It features colorful floats with caricatured figures mocking local and national politicians and other personalities or events.

Tom Groeber and The Windjammers will play from 8:00 to 12:00.

Doors will open at 6:30 and the singers and dancers will perform at 7:00. Food will be available for purchase from the Ladies of the DSB. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, February 20^th. Tickets are $7.00 each.

The entertainment committee will host the annual Easter Party from 12:00 pm to 2:00pm.

Coming soon: Saturday May 3^rd Spring Concert

Sunday May 4^th Spring German Show