Falkirk		Odenwald

April 2012 AGM - Election of Office Bearers At the AGM on Tuesday 12 April, the new Office Bearers for the Odenwald Association are as follows:

April 2012 Notice of Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the Odenwald Association will be held on Tuesday 10 April 2012 at 7.00 p.m. in the Municipal Buildings, Falkirk.   Membership fees for 2012-2013 may be renewed at the meeting and new members are encouraged to join.   Membership forms are available on the website with details of fees.  It is hoped there will be a good turn out at the AGM.

March 2012  On 3rd March 2012, Falkirk's 'Gang Aboot Folk' had the pleasure of performing at the Schottland Vereinigung Burns Supper at Beerfelden along with Odenwald Pipes and Drums and the Heidelberg Castle Dancers. The hospitality of the Schottland Vereinigung team and all of their organisation and hard work were greatly appreciated.   It was a wonderful night that we will always remember says Charles Tibbles of Gang Aboot Folk. photo copyright Gang Aboot Folk

February  2012 Update by Andy McClean, Larbert High School Andy McClean, Music teacher at Larbert High School returned to an Odenwald Association meeting in February to give an update on the active twinning between Larbert High School and the Gymnasium, Michelstadt.  Since 2009, annual events have been programmed although the twinning between the two reaches back more than 20 years.   The idea is to have one event per year. In September 2009 a drama group from the Odenwald performed, "Much Ado About Coconuts" which was a specialised piece and was very well received. In June 2011 a group from Germany came over to Falkirk and spent the day in Larbert High putting together a piece of music for bagpipes and big band.   The group also performed at Falkirk Council's Schools' Concert  and joined with the Falkirk Council band to perform the final item. This year, 2012, a group will return to Germany and are currently considering a common theme for the event. Suggestions include writing a piece of music to celebrate Scottish and German cultures looking at how can we represent our country, our weather, the economy, the Parliament and set it to music?   There are plans for sharing ideas via email and planning a workshop to compose a piece of music.   On the German visit here in March 2013, something will have to be ready!   It will be quite a challenging time ahead. When this year's group of 14-18 year olds travel to Germany, they will travel by chartered coach and this flexibility will allow them to see more of the area.   There is already excitement about what they will see and visit, especially as they have been invited to attend the Scottish Evening of the Schottland Vereinigung in the Freilichtbühne in Bad König. Support the group at a concert in Falkirk Town Hall in March 2013 (date to be confirmed.)

A HAPPY NEW YEAR - Best wishes for 2012 January 2012 First meeting in 2012 of the Odenwald Association The Odenwald Association met for an informal dinner at "The Auld Toll" Grangemouth to celebrate its first meeting of the New Year, on Tuesday, 10 January 2012.   This was attended by 16 members, some of whom can be seen in the attached photo.  It was also good to welcome new members of the Association to their first New Year social event.   At the meeting, the Chairman gave an update of the arrangements being made for June 2012 when a group of 14 members of Schottland Vereinigung, our sister association in Germany, intend to visit Scotland.   Some of the party wish to be hosted by members while others wish to stay in hotel accommodation locally.   Five members have offered hospitality. When Martina Emmerich, Vice Chairperson of the  Schottland Vereinigung visited in December, early plans were put in place and a draft programme is being discussed in the Odenwald with her group.   Suggestions made include visits to, Callendar House, a visit to a distillery, a sail on Loch Katrine taking in Callander,  a day in Edinburgh.   Free days will allow choices of different activities to suit the tastes and abilities of the visitors, with options such as;  a cookery session with Scots and Germans doing traditional food and eating together, or a day hill walking for the more able and adventurous, or a tour of the area with a visit to the Forth Bridges.

August 2011 Report on Visit to the Odenwald 2011 Between 17-23 August, a group of members, accompanied by dancers from the Jenkins School of Highland Dancing and 'The Tonkerers' band, had a wonderful visit to the Odenwald.  The main purpose of the visit was to support the bi-annual Scottish Night organised by our sister organisation, the Schottland Vereinigung and held at the Palace in Erbach.  The Odenwald Pipes and Drums opened the evening, looking and sounding every inch a Scottish band.   The Falkirk young people provided the main part of the programme and we were all very proud of being Scottish!   500 Germans were left calling for more and clearly appreciated the performances by the dancers and the musicians. The programme for the visit allowed time to see the sights, meet old friends and make new ones.   Members enjoyed a walking tour of the historic town of Michelstadt, visited Miltenberg and had a sail on the Main and en route visited the beautiful church at Amorbach.   A visit was made to Heidelberg and was very much enjoyed.    Throughout the visit, the weather was more than kind with glorious sunshine and temperatures, at one point, reaching 38 degrees.    On our final evening we were hosted by Herr Willy Schmidt, Managing Director of the Schmucker Brewery at Mossautal who is a supporter of the twinning.   The hospitality was excellent and members also enjoyed a tour of the brewery which is one of the most modern in Europe.   It provided members with the opportunity of seeing the source of the beer they had been enjoying during the visit. Discussions were held about future events and twinning visits and members were invited to attend the Burns Supper being held in the Odenwald on 3 March 2012.   A group of Schottland Vereinigung members are invited to Falkirk in June 2012 and an invitation has been extended for members to attend the next Scottish Night being held on 22 June 2013.

August 2011 Visit to the Odenwald A group of members from the Odenwald Association, accompanied by dancers and parents from the Jenkins School of Highland Dancing and a group of musicians, 'The Tonkerers' are travelling to the Odenwald on Wednesday 17 August.  The purpose of the visit is to maintain the twinning link between members of the Schottland Vereinigung, our sister organisation, to extend friendships and contribute to the programme for The Scottish Evening at the Palace at Erbach being organised by our hosts.   Some members will stay in hotels in Michelstadt, others will be hosted by families.   The programme will provide opportunities to meet socially, participate in sightseeing visits and discuss plans for the future of the twinning.   It will allow old friends to meet and hopefully result in new friendships being made.

June 2011 Report from Students on Placement in Falkirk Our Internship in Falkirk From 17 April to 7 May we completed our internship in 3 different sections of the Falkirk Council in Falkirk, Scotland.  The first week we were in the library.  There we were at the reception and served customers, fetched the books which were ordered by the customers, decorated the wall of books and once we translated an English text into German.  All the people there were very friendly and helpful.   It was great. In the second week we were in the stadium.  There we wrote letters and memos and packed leaflets.  Once we sat in a meeting. The last week we were in the Callendar House.  First we did a tour of the museum.  It was all very interesting to see.  Most of the time, however, we spent at the reception and helped the associates.  We also decorated the shelves.  But we did some office work, too.  We typed the visitors' surveys in the computer. On the whole we can say that we learned a lot from our stay.  Now we understand much better English, although the accent was sometimes very strong and difficult to understand. About the hotel, we can only say that it is wonderful.   The family was so nice.  Every morning we had breakfast like eggs, mushrooms, sausages.  Typical Scottish breakfast, and since we did not want to eat every day the same (it's boring) the family brought ham, salami and cheese.  Every evening they cooked for us.  Sometimes we even ate with them.    On the holiday the whole family come to the guest hotel and we ate together.  It was really nice. In our spare time we went to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, St. Andrews and the Falkirk Wheel.  To Edinburgh and Glasgow we always took the train.  There, we went shopping and we made a sightseeing tour with the bus. It's so lovely.  A woman from the Odenwald Association took us to Stirling and St. Andrews.  There we visited the Castle.   Or sometimes we visited the Pubs in Falkirk. Yes, it was our time in Scotland and it was a lot of fun. Nhu & Anna (Many thanks to Nhu and Anna for contributing to the website.  Members of the Odenwald Association were happy to meet you and provide some hospitality.  Your conversation on the return trip to the Airport showed a significant improvement in your confidence and your English.  Well done!   Hopefully some of us will meet up with you when members of the Association visit the Odenwald in August 2011.)

February 2011 Talk by Andrew McLean An excellent presentation was made to the meeting of the Association by Mr. Andy McLean, Teacher, Larbert High School, on the active twinning programme which the school has with the Gymnasium, Michelstadt.  The two schools are at the half way stage of an agreed five-year development plan which is progressing with enthusiasm on both sides. A Big Band from the Gymnasium will be performing at the Falkirk Schools Music Festival on 29th March in St. Modan's Church Hall.   For anyone interested in attending, the concert starts at 7.00 p.m. and tickets may be purchased at the door.   This is a great example of what twinning achieves.

2011 Season After the Christmas break and following the January social evening of the Odenwald Association which took place at the Old Toll, Grangemouth, we're back to our regular pattern of monthly meetings. Tuesday 8th February, Municipal Buildings Falkirk, 7.30 p.m. The Association will welcome Mr. Andrew McLean, Teacher at Larbert High School who is involved in developing his school's twinning links with the Gymnasium in Michelstadt. Larbert High School has been an enthusiastic participant in our twinning links with the Odenwaldkreis and is currently in the middle of a five-year programme agreed between both schools, to bring pupils closer together through a range of curricular and extra-curricular activities.   We look forward to hearing about these developments.

New Session  2010-2011 First Meeting of New Session 12 October After a short business meeting which considered the proposed visit to the Odenwald in August 2011, members and friends who attended were invited to sample the cold buffet and take the opportunity to mingle and meet the people who represented various groups with an Odenwald connection.  It was good to see some new faces in attendance who, hopefully, will become more familiar over the coming months.  A slide show of our Summer visit to the Odenwald reminded members of the great hospitality and fun experienced there and was a taster of things to come in 2011. Please note the change of venue for the next meeting The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 9th November at 7.30 p.m. in the Seminar Room, Camelon Education Centre, Abercrombie Street, Camelon, Falkirk.