News and Events

2009 Performances and Events

22. Gaufest, Toledo, Ohio

Thirteen of us attended the Gaufest (a three-day German dance festival held every two years at varying locations in the U.S.): Carolyn Marquardt, Roger Mowery, Kathy Bruni, Kurt & Jenny Graupensperger, Trina Murphy, Roland Krebs, Rick Senzig, Cheri Bull, John Lofgren, Toni & Iris Auer, and Chris Barnes. Roger's family lives in the Midwest, and eight of them attended the Gaufest, too, including Roger's little granddaughter, Audrey, who celebrated her first birthday on August 2. Roger had invited them to attend so they could see first-hand what it is we spend so much of our time doing; none of them are involved in Schuhplattler, or anything similar. We bought a dirndl for Audrey to wear, so she fit right in.

We had all arrived by Thursday evening, and had fun at the welcome dance, reconnecting with our friends from other clubs. Friday was the day of the adult Einzelplattling competition (where one couple dances at a time), and there were two judging rooms set up-one for the 16-34 age group, in which 46 couples competed, and one for the other age groups. The competition took place Friday morning, but the results weren't announced until Saturday night. Two of our couples competed in the 35-49 age group, which was comprised of 22 couples: Kurt & Jenny placed 8th, and Trina and Rick placed 18th. Two of our couples competed in the 50-59 age group, in which seven couples competed: Toni and Kathy placed 3rd, and John and Cheri placed 7th. There were five couples in the 60+ age group, and Roger and Carolyn took first place! Couples that place in the top three in their age group qualify to compete in Germany the following year, so Roger, Carolyn, Kathy, and Toni will be able to compete in the 2010 competition (the Bayrische Löwe), which will be held on July 17 in Bavaria.

After the competition, there were workshops of various kinds, including one on how to take measurements for ordering Tracht, one on Goassl (whipping) techniques, one on folk music, and one on Muller masks. In addition to the workshops, there were meetings for the Vorplattler (dance leader), Vorstand (president), and Fahnenträger (flag bearer). During the Heimatabend Friday evening, there were performances of traditional Bavarian music by a variety of groups, followed by Ehrentänze. Our group performed the Lechgauschlag, and it went well. At the same time, in another building, a band played more modern music for dancing, interspersed with Ehrentänze, so it wasn't possible to see all the groups perform, or to be in both places at once.

Saturday started with the Gruppepreisplatteln. Sixteen groups competed. As each group danced and was judged, we spectators made our own observations and tried to decide who we thought the winning group would be. We got fired up about the possibility of Enzian participating in this contest at the next Gaufest (2011, in Orlando, Florida), so we paid special attention to this contest.

In the afternoon, after the conclusion of the dance contest, many of the attendees went to the Bauernmesse—a Catholic mass, in Bavarian dialect—that is a traditional part of a Gaufest. Later that evening, we all were shuttled out to festival grounds owned, in part, by the host group, for the evening banquet, parade of flags, awards ceremony (for Einzelplatteln), and dance. The evening was capped by an impressive fireworks display—an unusual ending for a Gaufest banquet evening.

Sunday's events included a picnic on the same festival grounds, with the Gruppepreisplatteln awards, a second parade of flags, speeches, more Ehrentänze, and open dancing. Sunday night, there was a theme party back at one of the hotels, with a MASH 4077th theme. An excellent band from Germany was playing, and we all had a lot of fun dancing, admiring the variety of costumes, and partying. It was a hilarious ending to a great Gaufest.

Visiting Germans

On August 2, there was a group excursion to Tillicum Village. Twelve of us boarded the Argosy boat and made the journey to Blake Island. We enjoyed the salmon dinner and the Native American show, and we took a ton of pictures. After we docked, a few of us headed over to Feierabend (a pub with a German flair) for a nightcap.

Carolyn took Toni and Iris sight-seeing, and they enjoyed the Museum of Flight, the Blue Angels, a tour of Boeing, the Experience Music Project, Seattle Center, and the waterfront. Roger and I joined them for a trip to Mt. St. Helens. I hadn't been to there recently, and it was interesting to progress through three different visitor's centers and relive the events surrounding the big eruption.

At our practice on August 5, we worked hard on perfecting our newest dance, the Lechgauschlag, at which Toni is an expert, and we spent a lot of time on Einzelplattling practice. Since I am dancing with Toni in the competition, it seemed like a good idea to practice together. After the dancing, though, we celebrated the August birthdays of Carolyn Marquardt, Chris Barnes, and Mary Pearse with plenty of good food and beverages and more of our members got a chance to mingle with our German guests.

When Toni and Iris stayed with us, they requested to try golf and bowling, and to attend a baseball game. Roger and I hadn't been bowling in years, but it was fun to take them and we all had a good time. They found the driving range interesting when Roger took them there, but they all agreed that they would never be golf pros. Birgit Ages took Toni and Iris on a ferryboat trip when Roger and I had a meeting we had to attend. They really enjoyed seeing the Sound and spending time with Birgit.

About 10 Enzian folks went to the Mariner's game on August 7. They had a wonderful time, and it was Ken Griffey, Jr. bobblehead night, so our guests got an unusual souvenir to take home with them. Toni was fascinated by baseball, and had spent several hours talking with Roger about it beforehand, as well as having Michi (our resident Bavarian) explain the rules more completely in German.

Since Carolyn is celebrating a milestone birthday this year, she had a big party on August 8. Most of her family traveled up from California for the occasion, and Folk Voice Band played. Good food and drink, merriment, and dancing were the rule for the evening. Prior to Carolyn's party, we had a dance and Goassl workshop to take advantage of Toni's expertise and perfect the Lechgauschlag.

Performances

The annual Oktoberfest Northwest, October 9–11, 2009 at the Western Washington Fairgrounds in Puyallup, Washington, was better than ever, with non-stop fun, a great band from Germany (Münchner Marktmusikanten), the Greg Meier Band, and wiener-dog races—plus our performances, of course. We performed three times each afternoon, as well as teaching dances in the children's area once a day.

Simultaneously, part of our group performed at a new Oktoberfest in Enumclaw on October 9–10, 2009 at the Enumclaw Events Center. We taught some dances at noon on Friday, then performed at 8 p.m. on Friday and 12, 2, and 4 p.m. on Saturday. We performed the popular Miner's Dance (Knappentanz) at both venues simultaneously--a first for our group, since we only recently acquired a second set of the tuned chisels, lanterns, and aprons needed as props for this dance. It sounds like the Enumclaw Oktoberfest will also become an annual event.

On October 4, 2009, we danced for a new Oktoberfest, at the Lopez Island Community Center, Lopez Island, WA. They treated us very well, and we had a good time helping them celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Community Center. Thanks to all the folks there who made it so much fun.

October 3, 2009, saw us dancing for an Oktoberfest on Whidbey Island, in the village of Langley, WA. The weather was sunny but cold, and we danced outdoors, so we got a bit chilly, but we had a fun audience that participated in the dances we asked them to join in on.

We hit the "big time" on October 1 (Thursday evening) when we danced during the Mariner's pre-game show at Safeco Field in Seattle, WA. We stayed for the game, and the Mariners won! We recorded the game on DVR at home and it was fun seeing ourselves on TV.

September 29, 2009 saw us at the Lynnwood Senior Center in Lynnwood, WA. We had a very appreciative audience—and a delightful lunch—there.

Our bi-annual performance at the Leavenworth Autumn Leaf Festival September 27–29 was one of our best ever, despite the dance surface (concrete, surrounded by broken bricks). The weather was perfect—sunny, but not too hot—and we had good audiences. We performed Friday night at 6 p.m., walked in the parade at noon on Saturday, did performances Saturday at 1:30 & 4:30 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

On September 19, we performed at the St. Thomas More Fallfest in Lynnwood, WA. It had rained earlier, so the outdoor stage was damp, despite the tarps protecting it. It was a challenging stage to dance on--small, carpeted, damp, and with sound equipment in the back--but we gave a creditable performance and the audience appreciated it. We got done just in time, too; groups after us got rained on.

Our Lake Wenatchee performance on July 25 was a hit, despite the rain that fell just before our performance and continued lightly for a while as we started. We had a capacity crowd—partly due to one of our junior members, Britta Schwendtke, and her visiting cousin. The teenaged girls hand wrote and personally delivered advertising flyers to encourage attendance at our show. I don't know if it was the personal touch, or the attractiveness of the delivery crew, but a lot of folks showed up!

Our performance at Northwest Folklife on May 24 went really well. We had 18 people performing to a capacity crowd. Kudos to Vorplattler Roger Mowery for putting together such a varied program. We had three of our junior members performing with us, and they did a great job of dancing and remembering to smile.

On May 16, we did our annual performance for the Eastside German Language School Maifest in Issaquah, WA. The Bandltanz is always a hit at Maifests, and we gave the school kids a chance to wind ribbons around the pole after our performance. They had a good time!

There were also two performances on May 2, led by Zweite Vorplattler and Vortänzerin Kurt and Jenny Graupensperger. The first performance was in the morning at the Tacoma German Language School, and the second was later that afternoon at the Austria Club Maifest in North Bend, WA. The group did a great job and had a great time at these annual events.

On May 1, Enzian performed for a multi-cultural night at Central Primary Center in Snohomish, WA. Former Vorplattler Alan Lincoln took charge of the group for this performance, which was well received by the school kids.

We had two performances at the same time on April 23. One was at the multi-cultural night at Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus in Issaquah, WA, led by Vorplattler Roger Mowery, and the other was at a multi-cultural night at Evergreen School in Shoreline, WA, led by Alan Lincoln. We have a big enough group now that we were able to send a contingent to each school and put on a good show, and both performances went over well.

Enzian Video for Sale!

We have our own commercial video, produced from our September 2003 performance in Leavenworth. Take Enzian Schuhplattler home on DVD or VHS! The video is available through this Web site, or at any Enzian performance.

Media Kit

We have a media kit available for those who might like to publicize our performances at their events. Get it here!