(Published April 23, 2003 update April 26, 2003 and June 10, 2003 - 5
additional pictures added from Ed)
POST-REUNION REPORT
These reunions just keep getting bigger and better. Over 30 people showed
up in Bischofsgruen this year for the annual "Easter Saturday" event. I invite
everyone to start thinking about making the trip across the Big Pond for the
2004 reunion. You won't regret it - just ask Ute and Roger Vilmont and Dave
Fenwick as well as Dave Berger, who came over last year.
A total of 16 hikers gathered in front of the church this year for the
pilgrimage to the top of Schneeberg. Ute and Roger Vilmont (Michigan), Dave
Vaughn (Freising), Reinhard Dirscherl (Munich) and Rolf Treute (Bischofsgruen)
were on hand for the first time for the trek. Joining them were hiking regulars
Elisabeth Brundage, Gunther Zeissler, Heidi Pike-Treute, Uwe Mendisch, Dave
Fenwick, Bob Alokones, Fritz Foltz, Rosie and Sam Hays, Teresa and Ed Railsback.
And our old friend Gerti that we all knew from Tanzcafe Riesman finally made an
appearance. She didn't join us, but she did stop by to say hello on her way home
from shopping. It was really good to finally see Gerti again.
The weather? It was warm and sunny the day before. And the day after. But
on the day of our reunion it was cold and snowing. Sound familiar? But that
didn't stop us from having a good time hiking up the hill. The snow got deeper
and deeper as we approached the top where we found 3-4 inches of fresh white
stuff. Just like old times. The cloud enshrouding the summit limited visibility
to around 50 meters. We couldn't even see the Bundeswehr tower from our old
compound. But by the time we headed home at the end of the day, the weather had
cleared and you could see the tower on Schneeberg from as far away the Autobahn
north of Bayreuth.
When we arrived back in Bischofsgruen we found a large group waiting for
us at the Gasthof zum Deutschen Adler: Maria and Elisabeth Braun with
10-year-old niece Lena, Natascha and Bill Nelson (see "NEW TO THE LIST" below),
Gunther's son Frank Zeissler and Deputy Burgermeister Hans Bayer joined our
group for the first time. Other regulars in attendance were Renate and John
Flood, Irene and Ken Knorr with Irene's mother, Hella Foltz, Andreas Gewinner
and Thomas Puchtler, who runs the Adler. We were all saddened to learn that
Thomas' father Hans Puchtler had passed away two weeks ago following a long
illness. Whether you knew him by name or not, virtually all of us knew Hans, who
together with his family made virtually thousands of Lustiger Bosniaks for us
over the years. We'll all miss Hans.
BISCHCAM
We took advantage of the presence of Deputy Burgermeister Hans Bayer to
stress the importance we place on up-to-date webcam pictures from Bischofsgruen.
The Burgermeister said that the town is working on getting the webcam back
online again and he promised to accelerate the matter.
BEER DAY - April 23rd
Now this is a holiday that most of us can relate to. Back in1516 Wilhelm
IV of Bavaria, so the legend goes, woke up one morning with an
industrial-strength hangover after a night of consuming adulterated beer. He
declared that "from this time onward in our cities, markets and throughout the
land only barley, hops and water shall be used to make beer." Thus the famed
Bavarian "Reinheitsgebot" (beer purity regulation) was born. It was April 23rd.
This day has been celebrated ever since as "Tag des deutschen Bieres". All the
details including a recipe for beer soup can be found at:
http://www.lifestyle.t-online.de/life/life/kuli/ar/CP/ar-tag-des-bieres-2.html
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