General Norman Schwarzkopf, man in charge of the military action in Golf war #1, was chosen to be honored as the “ distinguished German-American of German Ancestry for the year 2006 “at our Annual Meeting in Cape Coral, Florida on Nov.4/06. Since General Schwarzkopf does not like to travel much anymore, we had to find a place for our gathering near his residence; and we found the perfect place in Cape Coral to do just that.

The 24 acre on the outskirt of Cape Coral, Home of the German-American Club of Cape Coral, lend a majestic background for honoring our guest of German Ancestry, General Schwarzkopf and his wife Brenda.

The tasteful decorated Clubhall and a full house gave a perfect background for the occasion, putting everybody in the right spirit and mind. In our wide-range program we thanked General Schwarzkopf for his support of the German Community , and everybody present eagerly listen to General Schwarzkopf acceptance speech. Mrs. Brenda Schwarzkopf was kind enough to enhance the evening with a few anecdote from her own busy life, being Mrs. General Schwarzkopf while rearing three children at the same time.

The German Consul General from Miami, Mrs. Eva Kendeffy, also had some interesting words to say to us about the importance of close and friendly relation between Germany and the United States. Although, I would have loved to hear a more explicit point of view from her about our endeavor, establishing a German Heritage home in Washington. It would have been great timing to get an indication what support level we might expect from the German Government, if any.

Our president, Bern Deichmann, in his speech gave everybody an insider-view of the current state of affair of our Washington project. His announcement, that we will move in our new Heritage Foundation Center in 2007, was enthusiastically applauded. President Deichmann also read a letter he received from ex-President George Bush, senior , endorsing to days meeting and wishing us the best to realize our goals.

The rich cultural program of the evening, highlighting a rendition of the “Wolgalied” sung by Helmut Ziegele, demonstrated that we are in fact use every opportunity to promote and encourage preservation of the German Culture for future generation.

The annual presentation of the founder award this year went to our Director Hermann A.Voss.

During the cocktail hours, everybody took advantage to say “ Hello” to their old friends and at the same time, made new friends with members of our Nation-Wide Organization.

Soon, the “Alpine Express Band” took charge of the evening and everybody had a wonderful time to the music of the Alpine Express.

It was a truly a successful meeting that should proof to be creative and have a long-lasting positive effect on our future German-American Heritage Center in Washington, DC.

I encourage every member receiving my letter to consider next year to participate in our annual fundraiser in person, regardless of where it might take place. This year California was represented by six members. Originally, we had eight reservation but poor health unfortunately forced two members to cancel.

Viele herzliche Gruessse,
Hartmut Galleisky, your UGAC-Calif. Rep. 760-726-6184