Our group at the Augustoberfest in Boonsboro, Maryland.
L to R: (seated) Morgan Schulz, Jenn Blank, Emma Walter, Kristen Reiter, Mikaela Malofiy, Christopher Deely; (standing) Patty Walter, Sofi Walter, Erik Walter, Marlene Fricker. Joey Reiter, Alex Blank, Bob Walter, Jayden Biesenbach, Stevie Paul, Evan Wolz, Sasha Malofiy, Karen David, Janet Malofiy, Chris Deely, Nichole Deely, Joe Reiter.
Eastern Pennsylvania is an ideal location: an hour and a half to Delaware; two hours to the Jersey shore; two hours to the Pocono Mountains; three hours to Washington DC; and Two and a half hour to New York (these times are all approximate of course New York depends a lot on the Van Wyck). That of course isn’t even mentioning the close proximity we are to great places in New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, and a few others. On top of that we are relatively quick rides to more western parts of Eastern Pennsylvania like, Oley, Reading, and Lancaster. And that doesn’t even include other longer drives, flights, train trips, or even a nice float on a Schachtel.
Everyone knows that German-American’s love a festival, and if you didn’t know it, the German-Hungarians LOVE a festival. Come to think of it we love an event, a party, picnic, or anywhere there are people really.
But maybe, just maybe its more than that.
“This is what we do! We enjoy each other’s company, and we support our friends. That’s what makes us special.”
-Bill Galgon
Bill Galgon served as our 25th President from 2004-2014. He was named Honorary President by the Board of Governors upon his leaving office. Bill offered the above statement following the Delaware Oktoberfest on September 22.
Fest season, which every year seems to start earlier and earlier has had many highlights. Just like Mr. Galgon said, we like to be together and like to be with friends. So, let’s recap some of the great festivals of the season.
On June 1 we hosted the Mid-Atlantic Kinderfest. We held the event on a beautiful day for the weather, in the beautiful, wooded picnic grove at the Erzgebirge. Friends from the following dance groups attended: Auerhahn SV, Alpenrose SV, Alt Washingtonia, Bayern Verein Newark, Enzian Volkstanzgruppe, GTEV Schlierachtaler Stamm, GTV Edelweiss Reading. Maria and John provided music in the afternoon. Each registered child received an nice quality golden colored drawstring backpack commemorating the event. A good time was had by all. In the evening many stayed for the Erzgebirge’s biergarten with music from Philly German Brass.
After we hosted Kinderfest there have been a couple of other events we’ve gotten to take part in over the summer.
On June 8, we took my family up to Long Island for the Original Enzian’s Long Island Bavarian Festival. We attended Saturday, and we found out some other members attended on Sunday. It was a great time and wonderful to see so many faces of friends. Plattduetsche has a great facility and the Schuhplattler Vernügungs Verein filled the fest with colorful, happy, dancing and entertainment. Special thanks to Cindy Rom for dancing with Michael K and taking him along for the ice cream parade!
Our club also traveled to Reading to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the GTV Edelweiss on June 22. A great outdoor event was had at the Reading Liederkranz, with great food, cold beverages and even better company. Congratulations to the folks in Reading for their history and strong club, but also on their winning bid to be the hosts of the 31. Gaufest in 2027. We can’t wait!
The dance group along with die Heimatklänge kicked off dance job season in Maryland on August 17 and 18:
” On Friday, August 16th we headed down to Hagerstown, Maryland for the 27th annual Augustoberfest. This event has become a staple in our dance group schedule as it kicks off the busy fall season. We’ve been performing there since 2019, and it gets better each year.
A few years back the event moved out of downtown Hagerstown and over to a remote fest ground in Boonsboro, providing the perfect atmosphere for a large German Festival. And for the first time since we’ve been attending, it wasn’t a thousand degrees outside.
What we love most about this weekend is we get to sing and dance to the sounds of Die Schlauberger and Die Heimatklaenge. Both bands put on a great show as usual and we all enjoyed the camaraderie at the event, and of course back at the hotel.
A special thanks to the Augustoberfest Charitable Foundation for putting on a wonderful event. We look forward to performing again next year!”
-Alex Blank
The Cannstatter hosted a wonderful event on August 23, with the legend himself HEINO! Fans from near and far attended, and a nice size group from the German Hungarians as well as the Delaware Saengerbund attended! Rumor has it Werner III, even got a handshake as the singer left the building.
On Sunday, August 25 our club participated in Tag der Donauschwaben in Philadelphia. The Danube Swabian Society welcomed our Children’s Dance Group, our Major Soccer Team and our members for a great fest.
Members traveled to St. Louis for the Landestreffen and all reports are that they looked great and enjoyed a nice weekend of Donau-Schwope culture.
Die Heimatklänge played the Cannstatter Volksfest over Labor Day weekend. In addition, Susi Hartmann and her volunteer helpers hosted our Trachten shop at the event, raising funds for our dance group. A group of our members attended the event on Monday, enjoying the music, the beer, the food, and the dancing by GTV Almrausch.
The beginning of September brought the Erzgebirge’s Sportsfest (stylized as the Bucks-Mont Oktoberfest). For the first time in some many years our soccer team did not play at the festival, a group of members supported the event and attended. That same evening folks traveled to Delaware for the Enzian Volkstanzgruppe’s 56th Stiftungsfest. The Saengerbund hall was full, dancing by the guest clubs was exciting, and music by the house band filled out the atmosphere. Of course, good food and beverage was shared!
The weekend of September 21, saw the Delaware Saengerbund hold their Oktoberfest. The weather was the best in the last few years and a group again from the German Hungarians attended on Sunday!
South Street Oktoberfest celebrates German beer and culture – WHYY
By Ryan Mercado September 22, 2024
Also, on the 21st was the Brauhaus Schmitz South Street Oktoberfest. Crowds were reported as being heavy throughout the afternoon. The group looked phenomenal in traditional red, and the HK rocked it as usual. South Street also ushered in a series of soccer legends sightings over the next few weeks of festivals.
On September 28, we ran into Brian Blesi at the Oktoberfest on the Square in Haddon Township with Schmitz. A great festival more family focused we love to attend. The Blesi family was also great to see. John and Maria with friends played great music despite the rain.
On Sunday, September 29, two of our guys traveled to Cape May Courthouse to help out the Enzian Volkstanzgruppe in a Job for Kindle Auto Plaza. Michael Fricker and Evan Wolz joined, Allyssa Schulz-Fricker and Morgan Schulz. Thanks to Bernie’s Orchestra for being a great partner that day!
October 5 took us back to the neighborhood of Oakford, as we danced for the 1675 Oktoberfest at the Ridges. It is always great to hear and see Kirko! Three for three that weekend we saw Dave Straub and his family!
Of course, the largest and longest festival we danced at this season was the 23rd Street Armory. When it comes to folks from our soccer team, we saw many over the two days: Dave Straub, Kenny Tomczuk, Gabe Dwyer, Jason Karasow, and Dave McCall.
Die Heimatklänge is the musical highlight of the weekend. I’ve said it before and I will say it again and again, they are the best. Thanks to the fellas, as well as a legend who joined us on Saturday and even got back up on stage for a number or two, good to see you, Dieter.
Friday evening it was really great to see so many local German-American clubs and societies participating. Folks from Philadelphia, the surrounding burbs and from Delaware attended. I heard many compliments to our dance group and comments about how good a time was had. Thanks to Jayden Biesenbach for dancing with us on Friday.
We were lucky to have friends from as far as Milwaukee, Wisconsin spend the whole weekend with us. And they didn’t just come as spectators, they got involved helping us with our performances, security, and danced a few numbers as well. More than that, they patted us on the back when we needed it most. Thanks for coming, Rebecca Fischer, Zach & Katlin Fuchs, Megan Laughlin, Julie Patton (and we can’t forget Pferdie and Lüstig Der Güstig)
Thank you to Doug Hager, Erin, and his whole team at Brauhaus Schmitz for having us. What you folks do is a great addition to the community, and we are honored to be a part of all of it.
By the end of the weekend and the season, we did lots of dancing, lots of smiling, laughing, eating and drinking. We listened to great music and spent time with even better friends and family. To me, our club members, and the friends that join us are all so valuable to what we do. Together we are stronger than alone. We get through good times together; we get through hard times together. Traditions we continue don’t mean a thing if we are doing them alone. That makes me excited to be with all our people at one last festival this coming weekend: KIRCHWEIHFEST!
Like Bill Galgon said, this is what we do!
Michael N. Fricker
