Reader Note From Rotraut Bockstahler: Upbeat Report From Pinneberg, Germany
Feb 11, 2011 9:24 - 0 Comments
Rockville Central friend Rotraut Bockstahler, of the Rockville Sister City Corporation, passed along this nice note from our friends in Pinneberg, Germany. Pinneberg and Rockville are sister cities, and this report appeared in the Pinnebrg local newspaper from the German-American Association Rockville Pinneberg (DAGRP) in German. Rotraut helpfully translated for us!
German-American Association Rockville Pinneberg (DAGRP): Birgit Drechsler, Angelika Schulze, Margrit Ziegler, Herbert Hoffmann, Hans-Dietmar Bethke Inge Heinrich, Bernd Hinrichs, Michael Patt
“It lives, it fits, and we are moving forward. We are carried by an expanding wave of self sustaining power.” Bernd Hinrichs, President of the German-American Association Rockville Pinneberg (DAGRP) reported right at the beginning of the annual membership meeting (taking place at the VfL-Building) the very positive development of affairs for the association.
Lots of activities and exchanges straight across the ocean, a growing number of personal friendships between members of the association and its US counter part, the Rockville Sister City Corporation (RSCC): The President of the 166 member association is satisfied.
Besides the sponsorship of traditional activities, such as the Thanksgiving Dinner, the German American Day, bicycle tours, and the Fast Food Breakfast, the board members are busy initiating new projects. For the first time, a hiking tour through the Harz mountains (June 30th - July 3rd) is being organized. From August 18th - August 25th as a test balloon “Bike Ride Baltic Riviera”, a bicycle tour through the eastern regions along the Baltic Sea, Usedom-Rügen-Hiddensee, is on the program. For the Spring of 2012, very engaged members of the association are planning a USA group trip by taking advantage of the seasonally lower airfares.
One major event: The Pinneberg artist Detlef Allenberg will show his works at the Glenview Mansion in Rockville. The full exhibit will open in September 2011 with a reception of the artist on September 9.
Our activities this year will have to stay within a tight budget. Our reserves are down to 443 Euros, warned Treasurer Hans-Dietmar Bethke. The welcome activities left their traces on our balance sheet. Last Fall, DAGRP supported the visits to Maryland by a group of Theodor-Heuss High School students and the Pinneberg Music School Clarinett Ensemble. The DAGRP visitors program and Pinneberg hosts generously treated the Rockville Chorus members during their visit in June.
Our Board of Directors has two new faces: Members of the annual meeting elected Birgit Drechsler and Michael Patt unanimously. Jürgen Kleinhans and Erika Wupperman did not run again. Vice President Margrit Ziegler and Treasurer Hans-Dietmar Bethke were re-elected and remain in their current positions. The remaining board members have not completed their terms and will be up for re-election in 2012.
At the beginning of the evening and before the business meeting, Robert Lucke, history teacher at the Theodor-Heuss-High School and two of the 12th-graders, Isabell Priebe (18) and Kirstie Alcock (17) described their impressions of their visit to Rockville in the Fall of 2010. The visit to New York City and the warm welcome by host families in Rockville impressed them most. “The concept of hospitality received new definiton”, said Lucke.
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