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German Culture Fest

 

23-26 May 2003


Mason City, Clear Lake, Charles City and Rockford/Iowa

 

             Fifty-three percent of all Iowans and Minnesotans claim German ancestry, yet two world wars and simply the merciless passage of time have erased most traces of that heritage. The non-profit educational organization TRACES is changing that.

           Over the 2003 Memorial Day Weekend it and partner organizations hosted a German Culture Fest, which took place in four Iowa communities. A celebration of German music, food, wine/beer, films, exhibits, cars and special guests, the festival also included tours of relevant sites and special events. (An Iowa Public Television feature about German POWs in Iowa and Minnesota during World War II aired pre-event in mid-May and a postponed open-air German brass-band concert took place in mid-June.) All of the events were well attended and many of those present expressed strong interest in having the German Culture Fest become an annual event.

           A native of North Iowa, Michael Luick-Thrams left his family’s farm 22 years ago to live in Europe. Now a local historian, author and TRACES’ executive director, he is helping his compatriots become more aware of their own history—as well as the richness of contemporary Germany, where he lived eight years while completing his doctoral studies. “The more we understand the past, the better prepared we are to handle the future,” Luick-Thrams says. “And, with currently strained trans-Atlantic relations, it is especially important to reflect on how much the Midwest owes to its German roots and has been enriched by them.”

           The German Culture Fest began at 11AM Friday, May 23rd, with a “Celebration of German Desserts” and ended at 5PM Monday, May 26th, with a tour guided by Luick-Thrams of A Captive Eye: German POW Art and Artifacts, TRACES' temporary exhibit at Mason City’s Music Man Square: in between a roster of events and other attractions unfolded. See the below schedule for details. There was no charge for most of the events.

           Plans are underway for the event to be repeated in other Iowa communities each spring, using local sponsors' involvement and talent, far into the future; the next German Culture Fest will take place May 21st through 23rd, 2004.

 

Schedule of the 2003 German Culture Fest:

Thursday, 15 May:

 

activity: Iowa Public Television’s newsmagazine Living in Iowa featured German POWs’ 2002 Iowa visit

time: 7PM                                              location: public-television channels (24 in Mason City)

contact person: Nancy Heather              phone number/email address: 800.532.1290 heather@IPTV.org

 

Friday, 16 May:

 

activity: Iowa Public Television’s newsmagazine Living in Iowa featured German POWs’ 2002 Iowa visit

time: 8:30PM                                         location: public-television channels (24 in Mason City)

contact person: Nancy Heather              phone number/email address: 800.532.1290 heather@IPTV.org

 

Tuesday, 20 May:

 

activity: Iowa Public Television’s newsmagazine Living in Iowa featured German POWs’ 2002 Iowa visit

time: 6:30PM                                         location: public-television channels (24 in Mason City)

contact person: Nancy Heather              phone number/email address: 800.532.1290 heather@IPTV.org

 

Friday, 23 May:

 

activity: Celebration of German Desserts

time: 11AM – 2 PM                               location: Marjorie's Tea House, 320 Pennsylvania Ave. S., Mason City

contact person: Steve Musson               phone number: 641.421.8066

 

activity: Celebration of German Food

time: 5PM – 10PM                                location: Docks Restaurant, 475 North Shore Drive, Clear Lake

contact person: Roger Dahl                    phone number: 641.357.6338

 

activity: Bouquet of German Music concert http://www.globegazette.com/archives/archive_template.php?content=http://www.globegazette.com/rednews/2003/05/22/stories/feature/fn7.txt

time: 7PM – 8:30PM                             location: United Methodist Church, 508 2nd Avenue, Clear Lake

contact person: Priscilla Waitek             phone number/email address: 641.420.3738 ADCInc@mchsi.com

 

Saturday, 24 May:

   

activity: a local daily newspaper featured article “Germans in Northcentral Iowa: Yesteryear and Today”

time: Saturday                                        location: Globe-Gazette, Mason City

contact person: Kristin Buehner             phone number/email: 641.421.0500 kristin.buehner@globegazette.com  

http://www.globegazette.com/archives/archive_template.php?content=http://www.globegazette.com/rednews/2003/05/24/stories/local/ni4.txt

activity: individual sightseeing tours, starting at MacNider Art Museum (including puppets used in “The Sound of Music”), Meredith Willson Bridge, Rock Glen (neighborhood featuring Prairie School houses), Stockman House and Park Inn Hotel (sites designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; Stockman House entrance fee was $4)

time: 10AM –  4PM Stockman House/9AM – 5PM MacNider Art Museum         location: east side of downtown Mason City

contact person: Bob McCoy                 phone number/email: 641.424.3444 mccoy.robert@mcleodusa.net

 

activity: “Tracing Your German Roots”, a workshop/panel discussion hosted by the North Central Iowa Genealogical Society

time: 10AM – 11:30AM                        location: Mason City Room, Mason City Public Library

contact person: Irma Harris                   phone number/email address: 641.423.5930 iharris@netconx.net

 

activity: German Film Fest, featuring three German films

time: 11AM – 4PM                               location: MacNider Art Museum, 303 2nd Street Southeast, Mason City

contact person: Sheila Perry                  phone number/email address: 641.421.3666 perry@macniderart.org

 

activity: Celebration of German Desserts

time: 11AM – 2 PM                              location: Marjorie's Tea House, 320 Pennsylvania Ave. S., Mason City

contact person: Steve Musson               phone number: 641.421.8066

 

activity: tours of brick kilns where German POWs worked during WWII and nature walk at fossil park

time: noon to 5PM                                 location: one mile west of Rockford/Iowa on B47

contact person: Barb McKinstry            phone number/email: 641.756.3490  fpcenter@omnitelcom.com or www.fossilcenter.com

 

activity: “Medieval to Modern”: display of original German and other masters' drawings

time: 1PM – 5PM                                  location: Mooney Gallery in the Charles City Public Library, 106 Milwaukee Mall, Charles City

contact person: Virginia Ruzika              phone number/email: 641.257. 6319 vruzicka@charles-city.lib.ia.us

 

activity: Celebration of German Wine and Beer

time: 3PM – 6PM                                  location: Sour Grapes Bistro, Decker House, 119 2nd St SE, Mason City

contact persons: Lee or Fredde             phone number/email address: 641.423.4700 or 888.363.4700 sourgrapes@netconx.net  www.masoncityiowa.com (reservations requested)

 

activity: Celebration of German Food

time: 5PM – 11PM                                location: Docks Restaurant, 475 North Shore Drive, Clear Lake

contact person: Roger Dahl                   phone number: 641.357.6338

 

activity: public tours of surviving German-POW-Camp Charles City site (self-guided)

time: 7:30AM – dark                             location: Wildwood Golf Course, on Hwy. 14 just west of Charles City

contact person: Julie Ash                       phone number/email address: 641.257.6322 ashlund@rconnect.com

 

Sunday, 25 May:

 

activity: Celebration of the Lutheran Church in German History and Culture

polka service with sermon by Herb Brokering                         time: 11AM – noon

lecture: Herb Brokering                                                               time: 1:00PM – 1:45PM

                                                              location: St. James Lutheran Church, 1148 4th St. SE, Mason City

contact person: Scott Duffus                  phone number/email address: 641.423.4702 skduffus@charter.net

activity: a Sonntagswanderung (a Sunday stroll), a chance to speak German while participants hiked amidst nature,

                past ruins of a brewery built by German immigrants

time: 1PM – 3PM                                  location: Lime Creek Nature Center, Hwy. 65 just north of Mason City

contact person: Marty Pauley                phone/email: 641.696.5600 mpauley@jumpgate.net

 

 

activity: Celebration of German Food

time: 5PM – 11PM                                location: Docks Restaurant, 475 North Shore Drive, Clear Lake

contact person: Roger Dahl                   phone number: 641.357.6338

 

Monday, 26 May:

 

activity: “Poetry in the Park”: a reading of German poetry, in German and English

time: 10:30AM – 11:30AM                   location: seawall opposite Public Square, West Main Street, Clear Lake

contact: Michael Luick-Thrams              phone number/email: 641.423.8000 BUSeumTour@yahoo.com

activity: public picnic with German guests

time: noon                                             location: Music Man Square, 308 Pennsylvania Avenue S., Mason City

contact person: Patricia Schultz             phone number/email address: 641.696.3483 pals42@earthlink.net

 

activity: guided tour of German-POW exhibit A Captive Eye: German POW Art and Artifacts

time: 1PM – 2:30PM                             location: Music Man Square, 308 Pennsylvania Avenue S., Mason City

contact person: Carl Miller                    phone number/email: 641.424.2852 musicman@mach3ww.com

 

activity: Celebration of German Food

time: 5PM – 11PM                                location: Docks Restaurant, 475 North Shore Drive, Clear Lake

contact person: Roger Dahl                   phone number: 641.357.6338

 

Sunday, 15 June:

 

activity: German Brass Band concert

time: 3PM – 4:30PM                             location: Band Shell, City Park, West Main Street, Clear Lake

contact: Ludvig Wandberg                     phone number/email address: 641.357.3237 ludloie@netins.net

 

all of Memorial Day weekend:

 

activity: German Car Show

time: Friday 10AM – 9PM; Saturday 10AM – 6PM; Sunday 12PM – 5 PM; Monday 10AM – 5PM 

              location: Southbridge Mall, 11 South Federal Avenue, Mason City

contact person: Heather Forsyth            phone number/email: 641.423.6349 heatherf@berglandandcram.com

 

for accommodation contact the Mason City Convention and Visitors Bureau at 641.422.1663 or 800.423.5724 or cvb@masoncityia.com, or visit www.masoncitytourism.com