The German Heritage Society of Humboldt and District celebrated their 30 anniversary with a supper and dance at the Bella Vista on Oct. 10.
It all started with the province of Saskatchewan sending a team all over Saskatchewan to host a panel about heritage projects, said charter member Rosa Gebhardt.
“The panel asked questions like, ‘Humboldt is a very German town. Do you have German language church services, do you have German taught in the school, do you have German cultural things here?’ And sorry to say, the answer to everyone of those questions was no,” said Gebhardt.
After the meeting, the people in attendance thought this would be a good project to pursue, starting with a survey of Humboldt residents about what they want for events and various language classes.
“We also opened it up to what languages you’d like to learn. The answer was overwhelmingly German,” she said.
The results were in and the German Heritage Society was born in 1985.
Gebhardt fondly remembers the events and celebrations the society has put on over the years, including a tea party at Mario’s Restaurant with the line reaching around the block, German dance and language courses, and a German Thanksgiving celebration that packed the Uniplex.
“It’s almost second nature to value old customs that you’re used to from home and it’s wonderful to get together with people and speak German once in a while,” said current president John Saxinger. “First of all, we are Canadians, but we have our heritage, (and) some things we like to hold on to, so this is what the German Heritage Society is all about.”
Saxinger moved to Canada from Germany in 1956 and goes back to visit family still living there, including some brothers and sisters. After a few weeks in Germany, Saxinger is ready to come home to Canada.
“I have quite a bit of incentive to go back to Germany but Canada is our home, there is no doubt about it,” he said.
There is quite a bit of work that needs to be done to keep the society going. That is why Saxinger was happy to see some young faces in the crowd.
“We have some younger people, thank God. For a function like this, it is a fair amount of work to get everything organized and get the hall decorated,” he said.
With all the German heritage in Humboldt and area, the support from Saskatchewan was very evident in the representatives from the City of Humboldt and the Government of Saskatchewan.
