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| SAS Update October 2006 |
Dear SAS Members, Please make yourself comfortable and be prepared for a lot of information! For once I cut back on my personal remarks and just deliver the facts – there is a lot going on in your Club… Upcoming events With this mailing you receive the invitations to a “Bündner Abend” on Sunday, October 29, in Summers Street Restaurant, Kennesaw. Chef Josef Vondra will prepare specialties from the mountain Canton Graubünden in the Eastern part of Switzerland. Also, our member Adriana Mettler had her book “Verschobene Grenzen” published recently, and she offered to read from it at a private event on Sunday, November 12. Obviously this evening is in German. You should have received an invitation to a “Jass-evening” on Wednesday, October 11, at the residence of Marie-Claire and Ulrich Hunn. If you can not attend this time but still would like to play once in a while please contact our Board Members Beat Schindler or Fredi Mettler. They will introduce you to the small group of members who is ”in the game”. The German Cultural Center organizes a Bavarian-style Oktoberfest on October 27/28 in Atlantic Station. You should have received an invitation by email. I will be glad to send a printed version by request to those of you without Internet access. Please mark your calendars for the following events – reservations will be sent out later:
Members’ news Berti and Ed Mikulcik were the winners of the grand prize at last year’s “Serata ticinese”. They recently enjoyed a wonderful weekend in the 4-star hotel Bellevue au Lac in Lugano. Our former long-term member Gisela Nuckolls has moved back to Switzerland last spring.
We have had the pleasure of meeting some of you in person already, and we are certainly looking forward to having all of you at our next events! Obituary Our friend and long-term member Horst Baumann passed away on August 13, just a few days after sharing his big smile with us at the Swiss National holiday celebration. A memorial service was held on September 16 and was attended by 9 SAS members. Our thoughts are with his wife Gerda and the whole family. It is only in the past few days that the Board has learned of the sudden passing of Willi Boelsterli in February of this year. Willi and his wife Jewel have been members since the early days of the Club but have not been very active in recent years. Yolanda Wallace has informed us that our former member Alex Hitz passed away on June 26. Mr. Hitz was a member in the 1970’s and 80’s and has served as Honorary Consul of Switzerland in the years before the opening of the Consulate in Atlanta. Membership Directory Markus Engel has put together contact information of those who agreed to have it published. You should have received a membership directory by email. Again, I will be glad to send a printed version to those of you without Internet access. As of today we are now at 65 family memberships and 24 singles, adding up to a total of 152 adults and 82 children. Great news for our youth! Like every year the Organization of the Swiss Abroad (ASO) offers several Winter Sport Weeks and an Easter Camp in Switzerland for young Swiss citizens living abroad (for the age group of 14 to 25). If you are interested in these great opportunities to make friends from all over the world, please check out the options at www.aso.ch. ASO also offers Summer Camps in various regions of Switzerland for the age group of 8 to 14. These camps are a wonderful experience for Swiss children abroad to connect with their home country and to enjoy two weeks together with children from all over the world. (My daughters keep fond memories from their Swiss Camps in 1999 and 2000, and I have heard that Emmy and Kyle Rechsteiner also had a great time in their camps). The Board has decided to promote these opportunities and to motivate our children to keep their interest in Switzerland alive. You are eligible to participate in the contest and win a free Swiss Camp 07 if
The topic and the participation details will be announced in the next few days by email. You can also request the information from any Board Member. The goal is to announce the winner of the contest at our Christmas Party on December 3.
SAS teenager event Several of our young members have expressed an interest in having an event just for teenagers. The Board supports the idea and encourages our youth to come together, get to know each other better, and share their common experience. We will help to organize such an event, however we expect that the group takes the lead. Sibylle Freiermuth has offered to coordinate a first get-together for early 2007. One program idea would be a volunteer activity followed by a pizza dinner, but nothing is written in stone as of yet. If you have a suggestion or a comment you can contact Sibylle at sibylle.freiermuth@lakeviewacademy.com.SAS Board Members 2006/07 Helen Freiermuth President
Feel free to contact any of us in case you have a question or suggestion. Also, if you would like to come to one of our Board Meetings - or actually become a Board Member - please call Helen for details. This is by far the longest Update I have ever written, but I think it is proof of the fact that we are an active group, and I am glad you and I are part of it! For the SAS Board
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Link to photo album of National Day 2006