NEWS FROM KOLPING VANCOUVER While the last leaves are falling and the first night frosts are glazing our roofs, we are approaching the end of another year. After an extremely dry, hot summer, Mother Nature has more than made up for the critical water shortage and amply refilled our water reservoirs.
With our sharply reduced activities, we have only two events to report on. After celebrating
the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 3 with Mass, followed by a luncheon, we were in for a special treat. Dr. Marie-Luise Ermisch gave us a lecture about her pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago-- “Jakobsweg” in German--from Salamanca to Santiago, Spain. The Camino is a network of trails in Europe, considered one of the most important Christian pilgrimage routes of the Middle Ages. To this day, it attracts thousands of hikers, cyclists and horseback riders each year. In the summer of 2013, Dr. Ermisch walked 479 km alone through Spain. Her vivid presentation took us through her day-to-day experiences and trials—blisters, bruises, bedbugs, fatigue, breakdown of her immune system resulting in an infection, not to mention intense heat and periodic utter loneliness. Everyone who walks the Camino has his or her own story and reason to take the pilgrimage: burnout, a crisis or a quest for inspiration, and at the end there is a rejuvenating lesson to be learnt about our lives in a hectic world.
Our Annual Picnic never ceases to draw an impressive crowd, including family and visitors of members. We are so grateful and fortunate to have had the use of Dagmar and Frank Paar’s charming hilltop cabin and property for a number of years. As always, the Bratwurst, salads and pastries were delicious, and the customary sing-along with musicians Karl and Matthias was a pleasant finale to wrap up the afternoon. We owe a big thank-you to Inge Haenle and Erika Fahrmann for their hard work and all the organizing; they have been doing this for quite a few years and have become very efficient at it.
Our next function will be our Kolping Memorial Day celebration on December 6, at which time we will observe the 150th anniversary of the death of our founder. This will also be an occasion for honouring Dieter Howald and Raimund Tessmann for 60 years of membership.
On April 22nd Günther Vetter passed away suddenly, ten days before his 80th birthday. He had come to Canada in 1952 at the age of 17 years and was one of the founding members of the Kolping Society of Winnipeg, where he formed lasting friendships. He would have celebrated 60 years as a Kolping member this December. We also lost our oldest member, Elisabeth Schipitzky at the age of 91 years, on August 8. Liesl, always with a sunny smile on her face, will be missed by us all, but most notably by her friends in the “Handarbeitsgruppe” (handicraft group).
Our El Salvador project is progressing slowly but surely. Since 2008, we have financially supported the community of young people of Jucuaran, headed by Father Montoya and his assistant, Douglas. They have recently purchased three new computers and some video games for the youth. They are also providing English classes in order to help prepare the young people in their search for employment. In an effort to help facilitate the founding of a Kolping Society there, our president, Horst Zimmerman, has for some time been acting as intermediary between the people in Jucuaran and Kolping International in Cologne; also, our member, Delmy Jimenéz, has recently been appointed as liaison between Kolping Vancouver and Father Montoya and Douglas. All that remains to be done now is to fine-tune some of the details of their new constitution, before they can finally establish the first Kolping Society in their country, and we are quite excited at the prospect!
I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all Kolping friends across Canada for your kind expressions of sympathy, your prayers and support on the passing of my husband, Günther.
On behalf of Kolping Vancouver, I wish you the peace and the blessings of the Christ Child at Christmas and throughout the coming New Year!