80th Anniversary of Alpenclub

80th Anniversary of Vancouver Alpen Club!

Honourable Suzanne Anton is presenting a Happy Birthday Certificate from the Province of British Columbia to Justin Hoffman, VAC President and the Honourable General Consul Josef Beck.

Justin Hoffman, VAC President Speaking

Saturday, February 26th, 2016 between 2 pm and 4 pm, the Vancouver Alpenclub celebrated their 80th Anniversary.  As VAC President Justin Hoffman put it, “In perspective, Disneyland is 61 years old!”

The program started a typical “Saengergruss” and then with MC Dieter Momeyer, the Lyra Men\’s Choir welcoming the crowd of around 400 guests and then introducing the VIP speakers one by one. The 80th \”Jubilaeumsfeier\” was a two-hour celebration with guests from the German Canadian Business Association, the German Canadian Heritage Plaza, the German Canadian Benevolent Society, from the St. Mark\’s Evangelical Church, the former Berlin Club, the former German Canadian Congress, the Schuhplattler, and other clubs that are listed below.

Over the last 80 years there have been many changes in the immigration of young people from Germany and the number of club members peaked at 1,000.  The challenge, as ever, is to be relevant for the new wave of Work & Travel Visa young people, Work & Study Visa young people, young entrepreneurs and professionals.  Perhaps the advent of (the historic Canada and European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement ) CETA will bring even more changes to immigration – who knows?

First to speak was VAC President Justin Hoffman.

Minister of Justice & Attorney General Suzanne Anton President of the Austria Vancouver Club, Eric Wutschnik

Second to speak was the Honourable General Consul Josef Beck of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Rolf Bruehlhart spoke on behalf of the Swiss Society

Third was the Honourable Suzanne Anton, Minister of Justice and Attorney General

Fourth was Pastor Hardo Ermisch from the St. Mark\’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Fifth was the president of the Austria Club.

Sixth was Rolf Bruehlhart, on behalf of the Swiss Society and the Swiss Choir and the Swiss Community.

The Concordia Choir sang:

• Hab Sonne im Herzen
• La Pastorella
• Rot sind die Rosen
• Wenn der weisse Flieder wieder blüht.

The MGV Lyra Choir sang:

• Freude am Leben
• Heimat
• Steig ich in den Berg hinauf

We were then served coffee and cake.

After this, \”Die Drei Tenore\”, a big hit at the last Saengerfest performed not just one, but two songs, and the closing was a sing-a-long with Al Pichler.

To quote Alex Schoebel, the 1995 VAC President:

Stehen bleiben, liebe Mitglieder, können wir nicht.  Wir müssen weiter planen. Wie Sie alle wissen, hat sich die wirtschaftliche Lage verändert  Die Zukunft des Klubs muss gesichert werden, und deshalb bitte ich jedes Mitglied sich einmal Gedanken darüber zu machen und uns Vorschläge für den Erhalt des Klubs zu unterbreiten.\”

Patrick Buehrmann, club sponsor Mr. Honig & two others. Right to Left: Beatrice Schreiber, President of the German Canadian Business Association, Honourable Josef Beck, Consul General of Germany, Pastor Hardo Ermisch and my relative Heinz Stuehlmuller.

To quote Peter Dacher with “Dacher Printing Limited”, after the 60th Anniversary, now 20 years ago:

Morge der Vancouver Alpen Klub auch für die nächsten 60 Jahre der Mittelpunkt deutscher Kultur und Unterhaltung sein!

Original Founding Members from 1936:

1.  Mr. Sebastian Schmidt
2. Mr. Jakob Klett
3. Mr. Jakob Kopp
4. Mr. John Standacher
5. Mr. Ed Maxreiter
6. Mr. John Punt
7. Mr. John Stohl
8. Mr. Joe Putz
9. Mr. Loi Gasser
10. Mr. Julius Pichler
11. Miss Mary Weinberger
12. Mr. Peter Bach
13. Miss Madalaine Reiter
14. Mr. John Marxher
15. Mr. John Hack
16. Mr. Lawrence Feldes

The Board in 1995 was:

1.  Frank Adebahr
2. Oskar Hanschke
3. Kurt Meier
4. Harald Dether
5. Gustaf Rosenke
6. Ingrid Schafmeister
7. Fritz Momeyer
8. Inge Webb
9. John Misera
10. Artur Luebkemann
11. Irmgard Rueger
12. Alex Schoebel
13. Lukas Mayer
14. Willi Brauer

There is also the Organization called “Alpen Holdings”, which was formed to buy 8 properties and to actually build the club.  The Original President was August W. Henschell.

Important dates:

1. The North Pacific Singing Federation (Nordpazifischer Sängerbund) was established in Bellingham in 1901
2. A “Schuhplaettler” group made up of Swiss, Austrians and Germans formed a dance group in 1935 and called themselves “Deutscher Alpenverein”. (German Alpine Association)
3. After 3 years of dancing under the umbrella of the Canadian Folk Society, they decided to officially register as the Vancouver Alpen Club.
4. The “Deutsches Haus” was opened at the corner of Victoria and 33rd on October 19th, 1950.
5. 1947 is when a “Frauengruppe” was formed.
6. 1947 a Theatre Group formed
7. 1952 a soccer team (Alamania Kickers) was formed
8. 1958 the Alpenclub participated in the 100 Year Anniversary of British Columbia by collecting the contributions of German Pioneers in the Province of BC and creating a book.
9. 1959 the Vancouver Alpen Club celebrated the 200th Birthday of the poet Friedrich Schiller.
10. 1965 Men\’s Choir \”Lyra was officially formed.
11. Fall 1973, the Deutsches Haus Restaurant (\”Kleine Kneipe\”) was officially opened.
12. 1973 was also the year that a \”Carnival Association\” was created to help celebrate Fasching and other special events. They quickly became 80 active members
13. 1975 was the year a \”Skatverein\” was created.
14. 1976 was the year the Concordia Choir was created by Hans and Lotti Hirsekorn.
15. 1978 is the year they started crowning the \”Prince and Princess\” of the Carneval.
16. 1985 they created a \”Schuetzverein\” or a shooting club.
17. The Concordia Choir performed at Expo \’86
18. The Concordia Choir performed at GERMANICA \’88
19. 1990 was the 25th Anniversary of the Lyra Men\’s Choir
20. 1991 a Youth Choir was performed
21. June 1st, 2002 is when the Concordia Choir sang at the European Festival for the first time.
22. February 6th, 2016 is when the Vancouver Alpen Club celebrated their 80th Anniversary in the “Festhallte”.

Man denkt halt immer wieder an den Nachwuchs, und die Kinder im Jugendchor singen und lernen viel und haben auch viel Freude dran.”

Beatrice enjoying the “Kaffee und Kuchen” Concordia Choir performing Feb 6th, 2016

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia:

Germans arrived in Canada with such diverse citizenships as Austrian, Swiss, Luxembourgian, Hungarian, Russian, French and American; with a variety of regional identities, such as Palatine, Bavarian, Saxon, Burgenländer, Sudeten, Danube Swabian, Baltic, Alsatian and Pennsylvania Dutch; and with such religious allegiances as Mennonite, Hutterite, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Moravian and Jewish. Their mother tongues included High German, Low German, Pennsylvania Dutch and numerous regional dialects. From their homelands and histories of previous migrations, German-speaking immigrants transplanted a mosaic of German cultures, including ancestral traits extinct in Germany as well as unique adaptations to non-German environments.

Also according to the Canadian Encyclopedia:

German communities composed of mixed backgrounds formed the predominant pattern of German settlement, membership in churches, and voluntary ethnic associations, as well as in celebrating symbolic events such as German Day, Oktoberfest and Karneval.

Finally, here is a complete list of Societies that used to be connected with the Vancouver Alpen Club. The addresses and phone numbers are most likely out of date and come from:  https://www.laenderkontakte.de/kanada/deutsche-vereinigungen

Alemania Soccer Club 
9820 Aquilla
Richmond, BC V7A 3R2
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-277-2723

German Theater 
9432 Kingley Crescent
Richmond, BC V7A 4V7
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-271-3570

Uhubund Schlaraffia Porta Pacifica 
P.O.Box 88047
Richmond, BC V6X 3T6
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-270-2923

Sergio Pires accompanying the Lyra Men\’s Choir

Amazing performance of \”Die Drei Tenore\”

Wolfgang Christl \”Mr. Oktoberfest\” and Beatrice Schreiber

Erna Schaefer & Rolf Bruehlhart from the Swiss Community

Gift from the Lyra Men\’s Choir – handmade and it even folds up!

Carnival Society Naerrische Garde 
12168 Boundary Drive South
Surrey, BC V3X 2B7
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-464-0696

German Canadian Congress 
10288-149A Street
Surrey, BC V3R 4A4
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-251-7111
Fax: 001-604-251-7266

Almrausch Schuhplattler 
6360 Elgin Street
Vancouver, BC V5W 3K3
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-325-3565

Association for German-Canadian History Research 
P.O.Box 46226 Station 6
Vancouver, BC V6R 4G5
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-228-0696

Edelweiss Credit Union 
201-1867 W. Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6J 4W1
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-734-7242
Fax: 001-604-734-4278

German Canadian Baltic Aid Society 
8334 Selkirk Street
Vancouver, BC V6P 4H9
Kanada

German-Canadian Benevolent Society of British Columbia 
2010 Harrison Drive
Vancouver, BC V5P 2P6
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-324-7346
Fax: 001-604-324-4945
(Deutsch-Kanadisches Hilfswerk von Britisch Kolumbien)

German Canadian Cultural Society 
6650 Culloden Street
West Vancouver, BC V7V 1T8
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-321-2891

Mennonite Historical Society 
5800 University Bl. Regent Coll
c/o Prof. John B. Toews
Vancouver, BC V6T 2E4
Kanada
Tel: 001-800-663-8664

Society for Ancestral Research of Germans from Poland & Wolhynia 
3492 West 39th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6N 3A2
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-263-3458
Fax: 001-604-263-4444
(Herausgeber der Zeitschrift \”Wandering – A Magazine for the Descendents of Germany from Volhynia and Poland\”)

Tirol Ski & Mountain Club 
P.O.Box 1033, Station A
Vancouver, BC V6C 2P1
Kanada
Tel: 001-604-987-0715

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