On Saturday evening, June 4, more than 200 members and friends of the area’s Ostfriesen Heritage Society met at the Grundy Center Community Center to enjoy some fun, fellowship and German food at their annual ethnic meal event.

The Platt Duetz/ English menu for the meal was – Platt Duetz Eetens Kort (low German menu): Braten Schwienfleesh/Kotletten (fried pork meat/chop), stampte tuffels mit stip (mashed potatoes with gravy), groen bohnjes (green beans), Oma’s rotkohl (red cabbage), Oma’s gurken (Oma’s cucumbers/pickles), Oma’s robeten (Oma’s red beets), salaat (salad), schwartbrot (dark bread/wheat/rye), witbrot (white bread), rot gruetz puddling mit opst soos (pudding with fruit sauce) or rosinen brot pudding mit bottercarmel soos (raisin bread pudding with butterscotch sauce) or iis mit eerbae’n/rabarber soos (ice cream with strawberry/rhubarb sauce), koffje off Ostfreesen tee (coffee or east friesian tea). The German comfort food brought back a lot of memories for those attending.

The evening included musical entertainment provided by the mother-daughter team of Jeanie and Jan Conrads from Cedar Falls, and a photographic tour of Ostfriesland, including photos of the 2015 Student Exchange Program between the Pewsum, Germany School and the Grundy Center Community School.

A special guest attended the event from Ostfriesland. Helmut Fischer from Norden, Germany, a familiar face to members of the Club over the past 20 years, surprised the group by his attendance. He finished the evening’s program by showing a 1936 film titled “Fischerkinder au der Nordsee.” It was a black & white historical film that had recently been digitized by a historical group in Ostfriesland. The film was about the historical harbor in Greetsiel, Germany, including the fishing boats and lives of the children & families of the fishermen. It was a very good film telling about the Ostfriesen Heritage of many of the club member’s ancestors.