Trenton Donauschwaben -127 Route 156 Hamilton NJ 08620
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~Willkommen bei den Donauschwaben~
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~Willkommen bei den Donauschwaben~
Join our weekly emailed newsletter!
stay tuned for the menu!
Welcome fellow countrymen and friends of the Danube Swabians! Founded in 1956, the Danube Swabian Association of Trenton is a volunteer run, community based social organization dedicated to the promotion and perpetuation of Danube Swabian/German culture, language, genealogy, and history. Explore our website!
Trenton Treffen Commemoratives still available for purchase. Contact LTindall.llc@gmail.com
Pins: $5.00 each
Tee-Shirts: sizes S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL : $10 each (price reduction)
Flags: $25.00 each
(Tee-shirt shows front and back). Designed by our own Sofi Walter!
As many of you know, the 14 organizations that comprise the Dachverband der Donauschwaben USA gather for meetings each year on the last weekend in April. It’s a great time to interact with folks doing the same things we do. We talk about common problems, we look at new ideas and solutions, and we organize and plan Verband supported activities. Indeed, astute readers might recall a small party we threw back in 2022 called the Trenton Treffen. Well, that event was sanctioned by the Verband and it brought member clubs from across the continent to our doorstep.
This year’s meetings held in Cleveland produced a really big surprise for all of us “back east”. We are delighted to announce that Trenton’s very own Ray Martini has been elected president of the Verband. This is an unprecedented first time for the Trenton organization and you have to go back more than 50 years to find the last president who came from the eastern region of these United States!
Ray is the son of club members Eva Martini and the late Adam Martini, both native Donauschwaben from the Viovodina region. Like many of his generation, Ray “grew up in the club”. He was a shepherd or one of the three kings in who knows how many Christmas plays “back in the day” and attended the club’s German School from roughly age two right into his teenaged years. He became a mainstay in our Jugendtanzgruppe and Tanzgruppe for many years too.
It’s fair to say that Ray’s connection and belief in the importance of the Verband grew out of his love of the Treffen, an event he, his wife Marie and their children, Kathleen and Adam, embraced with great enthusiasm and affection. In more recent years Ray served as 2nd vice president of the Verband and assisted wherever he could. With his election to the presidency this past weekend, he completes a long journey from the one-line poems he once recited at St. Stephen’s Hall in Trenton where our Christmas plays were once held, to heading up one of the most important institutions in our Donauschwaben community. Congratulations and best of luck, Ray!
Ray succeeds Robert Filipi from Cleveland who joins a long line of presidents who have served the US Donauschwaben community most ably. The Trenton organization thanks Robert for his many years of service and valued contributions. Vergelt’s Gott, Robert!
The Trenton Donauschwaben commends club member Anna Walls (Martini) for her service as Assistant Youth Leader of the Verband. As part of her responsibilities, Anna had to arrange a very complicated three-week multi-state, multi-club visit by a large dance group from Hungary last year and she did it with great professionalism and an exceptional measure of patience! Danke Anna!
Reelected this year was club member Kathleen Martini to another two-year term as National Youth Leader. Kathleen helps organize dance group performances by the member clubs among many other activities and contributions. Kudos
and best wishes Kathleen!
The weekend also included a meeting of the financial, charitable side of the national organization called the Stiftung, or Foundation. The meeting centers around how we get donations, how we grow the donations, and how we give those donations away to best support our cultural heritage now and in the future. Our very own club president, Joe Brandecker, has been one of the key people in the Stiftung for several years now and he was reelected treasurer for another two-year term. Wir gratulieren, Joe!
Final note: From our sister club in Philadelphia, the United German Hungarians, Werner Fricker III was elected National Sport Leader and his brother Michael Fricker was reelected as press secretary. Fred Gauss of the Philadelphia Donauschwaben was named eastern region president.
Congratulations and best wishes to all.
127 NJ 156 Trenton NJ 08620
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