A Very
Personal Experience
by Roy Engel
I arose at 5:30 am on
Saturday, September 5,
2009 with an immediate
sense of anticipation of
the day ahead. This is
unusual for me, since I
have never been a
“morning person” and it
is usually not until I
have had a shower and
downed my first coffee
that the cobwebs clear
and I am ready to face
the world. However,
this day was different
because I would be
attending my first
Landestrachtenfest,
taking place in Sterling
Heights, Michigan. In
spite of my
Donauschwaben heritage
and having grown up with
three generations of
Donauschwaben family, I
had little idea as to
how this day’s events
would unfold. I was
excited about the fact
that my parents, Anne
and Philip Engel, would
be coming with me and
that my father would be
meeting his third and
fourth cousins, Eva
Sklena and Eve Brown,
for the first time. I
knew that we needed to
get an early start
because the drive from
Toronto to the Carpathia
Club would be at least
four hours and we
weren’t going to be
leaving my parent’s
place until a hearty
breakfast was consumed.
I had left Pickering at
daybreak and as I neared
my parent’s home in the
west end of Toronto, the
setting full moon
highlighted the gleaming
Toronto skyline as the
sun rose behind me. We
were on the road by 7:15
and the sun had risen
into a clear blue sky,
promising that the day’s
weather would be
favorable. Three hours
later, crossing the
border from Sarnia,
Ontario to Port Huron,
Michigan went without a
hitch. I am always a
bit uneasy when crossing
the Canada-U.S. border,
even though we had
nothing to declare. The
American immigration
officer eased my tension
by attempting to
practice his limited
German when, upon being
questioned, we told him
that we were attending a
German cultural
festival.
We arrived at the
Carpathia Club in
Sterling Heights between
11:00 and 11:30. I may
not have shown it, but
the meeting of my father
with Eve and her family
was a very emotional
moment for me since I
was acutely aware of the
generations, half a
world of geography and
major events of history
that spanned our
families and the
fortuitousness and
improbability of this
meeting. The club was
very quiet at this time
and the only people that
were about were either
staff or volunteers
making final
preparations before the
many hundreds of
participants began to
arrive. Eve had already
been busy since early
morning setting up the
DVHH table, which was
generously allowed to be
situated just inside the
main entrance to the
club, ensuring that all
would see us as they
entered the club. She
had worked tirelessly
preparing for this day.
All details had been
thought of, right down
to the
professional-looking
DVHH name tags that she
had designed for us and
printed from her
computer. While our
families were getting to
know each other in the
banquet hall, Eve and I
greeted the first
arrivals for the day’s
festivities. Eve had
quickly filled me in
about the material that
was on the DVHH table. It was
an impressive array of
binders, pamphlets and
signs, highlighted by
the wonderful banner
that we managed to
attach to the large
mirror behind the table.
It was very rewarding to
see that so many people
took the time to stop at
the desk, whether it was
to ask a question or to
chat, or simply to look
up their home village in
the binders. I was
pleased to find out that
so many people were
already familiar with
our the DVHH.org
website.
The schedule of events
for the day was packed
with various
activities. It began
with the parade of all
the participating clubs
and their members on the
soccer field behind the
club building. This was
followed by national
anthems and speeches.
The speeches were
pointed, sometimes
humorous and not
lengthy. The
Donauschwaben tradition
of frugality often has
its merits. At this
point, I would like to
compliment the Carpathia
Club on their most
amazing facility and
tremendous job that they
did in organizing this
event. The club is
massive, modern and
clean. Everything from
the scheduled events to
the serving of food went
like clock-work. The
food was excellent and
being able to enjoy
Warsteiner beer on tap
at the bar was an
unexpected surprise. A
tent was set up outside
for children’s
activities and
merchandise sales and a
huge tent for the dance
competitions. These
competitions started in
the afternoon and went
well into the evening.
Even a “Schiess Bude”
(Shooting Gallery) was
set up to keep the boys
entertained.
It was difficult for Eve
and I to take in much of
the events that were
taking place that day
since we had made a
commitment to promote
the DVHH for as much of
the day as we could. I
very much enjoyed doing
this because, even
though this was a day
where celebration and
merriment were the prime
focus, it is important
to me to remember the
heritage from whence
this all originated
from. It was such a
pleasure to meet those
people who took the time
to stop at the DVHH desk
and introduce
themselves. One
anecdote will remain
with me forever: A
gentleman whose age I
would place in his
seventies stopped at the
desk and looked up his
Croatian village. He
told about the worst
time in his life when he
was in a concentration
camp after World War
II. He and his family
had almost no food to
eat and he was ill with
an infection. Tears
welled up in his eyes as
he told me how the local
Croatian people risked
their own lives by
passing portions of what
little food they had
through the fence to the
Donauschwaben people in
the camp. A Croat
noticed that he was sick
and gave him some
penicillin, a rare
commodity at the time.
Overcome with emotion,
he said to me, ”We were
supposed to be the enemy
to these people and they
saved my life”. I have
told this story many
times during the last
year and each time I am
still not able to
suppress those same
emotions that this man
felt when he shared his
very personal thoughts
with me.
After Eve’s mother and
sister had left for home
and we had packed up the
DVHH material, we
enjoyed some food and
drink under the tent
while watching some of
the dance competition
and Eve, my parents and
I had a few minutes to
chat before saying our
good-byes and heading
for home. The sun had
set and as we made our
way eastward to the
Interstate highway, an
orange-colored full moon
was rising above the
horizon and would be our
companion on the journey
home.
Roy Engel
Pickering, Ontario
September 27, 2010
Roy Engel presents
Mike Talan, Vice President of the Carpathia Club a certificate of appreciation from the DVHH
DVHH 2009 Event Guest Book
Entries . . .
Large
Donauschwaben
settlement map at
the club
click image to
enlarge
President/Publisher's
Note:
Special appreciation to Eve for her dedicated time
and efforts spent making arrangements with the Carpathia Club, planning the DVHH
table, and preparing additional brochures and necessary items needed for
greeting the many visitors; and also for taking wonderful photos of the event.
And to Roy for traveling from Canada; and as he
indicated, for a DVHH representative who working at the tables, there isn't much
time to take in the activities. So his special effort for the DVHH is also
appreciated. Thank you Roy for sharing with us your "A Very Personal
Experience" story of the day of the event.
A hearty thanks to Eve and Roy all their hard work
and efforts which made it possible to exchange conversation with our curios
visitors and make sure they leave knowing what our the mission of the DVHH is!
For that, I am very appreciative. Good job Eve and Roy!
The DVHH would especially
like to thank the Carpathia Club
for their
hospitality and
making a place for
us.
~ Jody McKim Pharr,
29 Sep
2010
Publisher's Pick . . .
