NEWS FROM KOLPING VANCOUVER

As the daylight hours shorten, vacations come to an end and students prepare for another school year, we are reminded of the approach of another change of seasons.
We begin our report on a sad note. Hans Paul, well-known to members across Canada , passed away unexpectedly on April 10th. His beloved wife Gerda had preceded him in December 2006. In the early years in Vancouver, Hans and Gerda had opened their home to newly-arrived immigrants, and they were a driving force in the founding of Kolping Vancouver.
As always, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker was a festive occasion. After the celebration of Holy Mass, some 70 members and guests gathered in the parish hall for a delicious multicultural luncheon, prepared and served by Martha and Marco Herrarte, Rafael and Aracely Monchez, and supported by our president-chef Horst Zimmermann and helpers. Horst then took us down memory lane and gave us a sampling of our activities of 1958 - 50 years ago. We were very busy in those days: Various lectures, a movie evening, a travelogue slide show, Kolping sons acting in a stage play, a Karnival, a May Dance, a Family Night with Dance, an outing to Squamish, a picnic at Alice Lake and a tour of Crown Zellerbach. After observing a minute of silence in honour of Hans Paul, who would have received his 60-year membership certificate on that day, six members were honoured with 50-year certificates: Dieter Fahrmann, Willy Fengler, Tony Furch, Franz Kaiser, Herbert Pauw and Nick Schneider. After we watched part of the newly-released Kolping DVD, Gustavo and Delmi Romero, who had just returned from a visit to Honduras, gave us a progress report on the Kolping Society we are sponsoring there.
There have been some significant changes in Holy Family Parish. Because of frail health, Father Benno Burghardt retired as Pastor on June 30th. On June 29th, after he concelebrated Mass with Father McAllister, a representative of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, parishioners and many guests honoured Father at a luncheon in the church hall. This retirement marks the end of Holy Family as a German Parish. As of July 1st, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, which celebrates the traditional Tridentine (Latin) Mass, has established a parish here, which will retain the name of Holy Family. Father Benno will continue to hold the German Mass until his 75th birthday and the 60th Kirchweih of Holy Family in November 2008.
Our Annual Picnics are always popular and well-attended. We are grateful to Frank and Dagmar for inviting us to their Aldergrove property for many years. Resi, Inge and Horst served as convenors and hosts and served up all the food to accompany the ever-popular barbecued Bratwurst, followed by scrumptious cakes and coffee. Of course, no picnic would be complete without the customary sing-song to wind up the day.
Having to deal with unpredictable weather systems this summer, we planned our outing on the Richmond Dyke on August 10th on just a few days' notice. It turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon, with some people biking and others walking, watching the kite flying exhibition, having a picnic and enjoying each others' company.

Treu Kolping -- Rose Vetter