It was 1989 and we had traveled to Parsippany, New Jersey to not only have our Schuhplattler Group participate in the competition for the first time but to have our members attend for the first time. Bayern Verein Newark and Edelweiss Passaic were the hosts.
Our dancers had attended as observers in 1985 in Denver Colorado and in 1987 they performed an “Ehrentanz” in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Now they had invited us to come along. It was a large group and it continued to be a large group over the years. Many times, we won the “Meist” (most) prize. In Parsippany, we placed 14th in the group competition. In British Columbia 6th; In Buffalo, Milwaukee and Newark, Delaware we place 3rd each time. In 1999, in St. Paul, Minnesota we placed 1st.
We basically used the same dancers each time. Janet Malofiy, Sasha Malofiy, John M. Blank, John Reiter, Rolf Stielow, Lisa Fricker, John Hubert, Billy Simon, Connie Reiter, Karen David, and Susi Hartmann. Others included were Joe Reiter, Barbara Reiter, Frank Schiller, Yvonne Frazier, Jason Noel, Jennifer O’Farrell, Ed Tokarski, Chris Tokarski, Nichole Blank Deely, Michelle Galgon, Christine Krueger, and Linda Buchhalter. Marlene Blank was the Schuhplattler team coach while Jack Mattes was the accordion player. Later the player was Maria Antonia and presently it will be Dino Jakovasic.
In 2001 in Ellenville, NY, hosted by the Gemuetlichen Enzian we placed 4th. This was the Gaufest that was to change everything. The Couple Einzelplattler was introduced for all ages. In 2003, we, the United German Hungarians hosted the Gaufest and we placed 2nd. We were now invited to compete in Ingolstadt, Bavaria Germany where we placed 5th. In 2005, we placed 7th in Buffalo, New York.
It was now 2007, and our club has always believed that the youth should be put into the limelight when they were ready, dancers or soccer players. The coach and the dancers realized that we would need some new and younger dancers. Danny Galgon, Werner Fricker III, Alex Blank, and Nichole Blank were added. Susi Hartmann, Karen David, Janet Malofiy, Connie Reiter, Lisa Fricker, Rolf Stielow, Billy Simon, John Reiter remained. At the Hershey Gaufest (2007) we placed 1st!!! In the Individual Adult Einzelplattler Couples (ages 35-49) Janet and Sasha Malofiy also placed 1st. We were now invited to Planegg, Munich Germany (2008) to compete and we placed 6th.
2009 in Toledo, Ohio we placed 5th and in Orlando, Florida we placed 8th. In 2013 in Sandusky, Ohio we placed 6th and Werner Fricker III and Alyssa Reiter placed 3rd in the Couple Einzelplattler (ages 16 to 34). In Milwaukee in 2015, we placed 4th. During the past years we have retired the older dancers and have added Sasha Malofiy, Jr., Michael Fricker, Karina Fricker, Mikaela Malofiy, Emma Walter, Michelle Paul, Allysa Reiter, and Kristen Reiter.
With the graduation of the older dancers, our senior fans have also slowly eliminated themselves from the scene. They had been attending for over 25 years. They were slowly approaching 80 years of age. It was an effort to travel so far and to walk so far from place to place. Now the former dancers and their friends are the fans and their children are the prize group dancers. BUT we, the seniors and all the club fans, can still attend the warm-up and cheer our Prize Plattler Schuhplattlers who so many years ago were the little kids who watched their parents and friends dance.
Please attend our warm-up on Sunday, June 25, 2017 at 11:00 am. There is NO ADMISSION charge for this event. We will be selling food and drinks. We will be happy to see you there! We also invite any Soccer players who are free at that time to join us.
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