Herzlich Willkommen

03/16/21

Dear GFS Members and Friends,

A new year has started and with it hope for getting things back to normal.  The news from the pandemic portrays mixed information, depending upon what you listen to and believe, but we have THREE (3) approved vaccines!  The vaccines, their availability and people willing to get vaccinated will help to get normal back.  Things are changing quickly and we are poised to slowly open and take advantage.

In February and March we held our first event in over a year!  It was the annual fish dinner fund raisers.  Due to the pandemic, we chose to make this a take-out only event.  We had a customer and volunteer friendly setup with:  one-way lanes for ordering, socially distanced waiting area, one-way entrance and one-way exit.  The last couple of weeks we had limited dine in seating for board members only.  The event, for our first of this kind, was a great success.  Thanks to the groups, the kitchen and all the helpers for making this run so smoothly.

Our up-coming events are:

• April 10th, 9am starting,  we will have our Spring cleaning.  The Spring cleaning will be inside and outside of the club as weather permits.  Please consider volunteering some of your time to help us get the club ready for the up-coming year.  We will have many opportunities for socially distanced work.
• April 16th, 5:30 pm we have our "Beer & Brats Night".  This event will be dine-in and take-out.  We will take reservations for the dine-in, which will have socially distanced seating.
• May 2nd is our scheduled Mother's Day Program.  Unfortunately, due to the groups being unable to practice, we will not be hosting this event.
• May 15th we will have our traditional Vienna Night.  This event will be different than our previous years due to the restrictions, but we will have live music and a performance.  Reservations will be required.
• May 28-30, Memorial Day Weekend, we will host the Donauschwaben Soccer Tournament.  We will have teams from the German Clubs throughout North America and hope to have women's and men's teams participate.

Our dance groups, which have not seen one another in a long time will begin some in-person get togethers.  From these gatherings they will eventually lead to weekly dancing.  They will begin in April and hopefully continue from there through the rest of the year.

Normal is just around the corner and as of last week those 50 and older are able to obtain vaccines. Things are starting to open back up again, restrictions are being lifted and these changes could be happening daily or at least weekly.  I am certain things will be different than before, not necessarily bad, but different.  We will be looking at ways to allow everyone to get back together, safely.  

I would like to ask you and your family to continue to make the German Family Society a priority in your lives and your children's lives.   Please consider helping us this year as we figure out how to navigate through this new norm.  

Remember the comeraderie, friendships, and teaching we provide cannot be found anywhere else and we have had a year go by without any of this.  We miss seeing you and cannot wait to get together.  The dances we teach, the songs we sing, the traditions we share and the enjoyment we provide really make the GFS special.  Our organization cannot survive without your help.  Keeping our children active will only help to strengthen us for the long term.

We do have our calendar set for this year, the bands have been selected & booked, and we are anxious to see you all again.  We are working hard to get organized, coordinated, and procedures/policies in place to allow us to open and keep our people and guests safe!  

Sincerely,

Awald Langenfeld,

President