Keep In Touch Newsletter
Volume XXIV No 3 December 2012
The KIT Newsletter editorial staff welcomes all suggested contributions for publication in the Newsletter from subscribers and read-ers, but whether a given submission meets the criteria for publication is at the sole discretion of the editors. While priority will begiven to original contributions by people with past Bruderhof connections, any letters, articles, or reports which the editors deem to beof historical or personal interest or to offer new perspectives on issues of particular relevance to the ex-Bruderhof Newsletter reader-ship may be included as well. The editors may suggest to the authors changes to improve their presentation.
Have you made your KIT Newsletter subscription/donation payment this year? Please find details on last page.
Contents
Nadine and August Pleil Celebrated Diamond Wedding 1Happy New Couple: Johanna Homann and Hans Zimmermann 2
Hanna Lacy’s address
Gudrun and Andy
Harries’
Golden Wedding 2KIT Gathering at Friendly Crossways in August 2Message for my KIT Folk 2An open letter to the Bruderhof-Communities 2Letters to the Editor
Addendum to George Maendel’s Report on Forest River
3The Bruderhof excited by the visit from Forest River 3Thanks for the last Newsletter 4Greetings from Abilene, Texas! Part 2: 4Mandy Stängl and I Met First on the
Oktoberfest
in MunichIn Memory of Eileen Goodwin 5Celebrating Martha Ostrom-
Schyll’s Life
7My Escape from the Bruderhof 7Communal Ripples: Building Community in the Classroom 8Childhood Memories of Primavera, Paraguay
–
Part 6 108. Oh Heart, Where Are You Going?
–
Part 4 12KIT Newsletter
–
Contact Details 16 ____________________________________________________
We celebrated our Diamond Weddingwith Family and Close Friends
By Nadine Pleil, Washington/Pennsylvania
August and I want to express our thanks to all of you who sent uscongratulations for our Diamond Wedding. We married the year Elisabeth II. became the Queen of England. We are very thankfulthat we have been given sixty years of marriage. It is not to betaken for granted. We also received a card from the Queen of England.Our children arranged for a celebration at Century Inn, Scen-ery Hill. It is a very old inn, a beautiful place. George Washing-ton spent a night there when he was traveling in Pennsylvania.
The jubilees Nadine and August with their special guestsConstancia D
’
Hoedt and her daughter Lucy (from right to left).
We celebrated with family and a few close friends. For us a defi-nitely memorable occasion!Our children put a tribute together and our pastor son-in-law,Ted Chapman put it all together and read it at the beginning of the celebration. It was indeed touching to hear how our childrenactually honored us, and how well they thought of us.We also received flowers from two communities, Spring Val-ley, and New Meadow Run. The card was signed by Jörg andRenate Barth. We were amazed that they remembered our wed-ding anniversary.Once again our thanks for all the greetings! Added are some photos from our celebration at Century Inn.
Not all children of August and Nidine could be present, these fourwere: Andrea, Else, Raymond and Helga.The two youngest grandchildren: ZuZu and his Lion King
–
on Au-
gust’s lap, and Liam wi
th Else. (Photos: Ted Chapman
–
son in law)
The
“BRUDERHOF ESCAPE” BOOKS
written byElisabeth Bohlken-Zumpe, Miriam Arnold Holmes, and NadineMoonje Pleil are all stll available. Please contact:
Margot Purcell
Keep In Touch Newsletter 2 Vol. XXIV No 3 December 2012
Happy New Couple: JohannaHomann and Hans Zimmermann
KIT:
Ramon Sender commented on the Hummer on November 17
th
2012: “What wonderful news! A ‘match’ via KIT/
Hummer
connections!”
Earlier that same day, Johanna Patrick Homann
and Hans Zimmermann had announced “that we found each ot
h-
er and intend to make our future together”. Johanna
gave up her home in West Des Moines, Iowa and moved into Hans Zimmer-
mann’s house
in Colorado. Both of them immensely enjoy roam-ing through the lovely mountain surroundings, watching animalsand nature.We wish them both a happy future.Changes for the KIT Address List:
Hans
Zimmermann
and Johanna
Homann
18330 Spruce RoadMonument, CO 80132 USAtel: +1 719 487 1953
KIT.
Hanna Lacy asked us to include her address in the KITPublic Address List, and she wants to share her address here be-cause there are some slight changes:
Hanna
Lacy
Our Golden Wedding
By Andy and Gudrun Harries
We had our 50
th
wedding anniversary recently. Our daughter Ve-ronica gave us this photo frame which shows us on our weddingday in August 1962 near Bremen, Germany, and then at our 50
th
celebration by the River Thames. Spot the difference? It was ahot day. We thought it would be nice to share this with our KITfamily.
KIT Gathering at Friendly CrosswaysThird Weekend in August 2013
Our next ex-Bruderhof reun-ion will be in theUSA this com-ing summer. Itwill be on Au-gust 16
th
throughthe 18
th
2013 atthe lovelyFriendly Cross-ways YouthHostel in Little-ton, Massachu-setts. All are welcome, young and old! Bring yourselves andyour families. It will be a great opportunity to catch up with eachother. We will talk, have camp fires, cook and be
gemütlich
. For those who want action or adventure, a variety of activities will beavailable. We will be close to the ocean and mountains in thisscenic area of the Northeastern USA. Please invite those whohave never been, or have been too shy to come.The organizers for this weekend are Maeve Whitty, VirginiaLoewenthal, Al Hinkey, and Miriam Arnold Holmes.
Message for my KIT Folk
By Connie McLanahan, Seattle/Washington
Lacking the ability to travel long distances any more, I look for-ward all the more eagerly to each incoming issue with all thenews and information about old and long-time friends. The pic-tures
–
are a real “plus”. I feel I was “there!”
So many thanks for keeping me in touch with all of you
–
atleast many of you!
Because my health has improved almost “dramatically” since
early August 2012 (no change in diet, medicines (I need veryfew), I simply thank God several times each day, and wonder what He still needs me to do
–
at age 95 now. But while I wait todiscern His wishes, I am grateful for countless blessings: beingone of you all
–
my KIT sisters and brothers among them, andfor our two-plus years at (then) Oak Lake in Pennsylvania. We
joined people who were living “the Sermon on the Mount” –
per
Eberhard, Emmy and Else, plus the other few “originals –
with
happy, open hearts. Not till we’d lived there over a year did we
voice, even to each other, Jack and I, that our daily observationsof the hierarchy told us the new, (since1960) regime was on anentirely erroneous path, and we left, broken-hearted at the be-trayal. Even so, they were most kind and helpful to us as we pre- pared to go!Blessings on you all, always and all ways.My address: 1802 17
th
Avenue, Apt 422, Seattle, WA 98032USA.
An open letter to theBruderhof-Communities
By Dr. Konrad Kluever, Bamberg
When sipping my “Mate” each morning, I give thanks to our
Heavenly Father
–
Creator of The Universes and EverythingTherein
–
for my wonderful and protected childhood in Pri-
Keep In Touch Newsletter 3 Vol. XXIV No 3 December 2012
mavera as well as for my parents who had ventured out to forge a New and Special Society in an unknown and hostile environment
“in the name of Christ and His Kingdom”, entailing a
life of LOVE and SHARING for their children and grandchildren, and
to follow the directive of Jesus in the so called “Great Commi
s-
sion”.
For this I am grateful in spite of the fact that everything my parents gave their lives, health, suffering and stood for, all of
which supposedly was “OUR
Heimat:
'til death do us part!!!”had crumbled and disappeared into oblivion…
“
Das Haus ist zerfallen, was hat
’
s denn für Not,
Der Geist lebt in uns Allen und unsre Burg ist GOTT!!!“
In this sense I feel overjoyed for the wonderful thing that is
happening to the “Now
-
Bruderhof” youths, for their chance to beable to frequent their own “Bruderhof
-
Highschool” at which the
so-
called “Great Commission” will be central to all activities.
My earnest wish:
“That history will not repeat itself!”
SHALOM. November. 9, 2012, Dr. Konrad Kluever,, Kantstraße 9,96052 Bamberg, Germany
Letters to the Editor
Addendum to George Maendel’s Report on
Forest River
–
Paragraphs 7 and 8
At Forest River there was a real spirit of spiritual questioningand searching which was led by three men who worked closelyto manage the affairs, and on a personal level got along well too.These three men were Joe Maendel, the farm boss, JohnnyMaendel, the newly appointed minister, and Allan Baer, the business manager (my father). Their questioning and searchingwas prompted to some extent by the recent visit of Clarence Jor-dan from Koinonia who had made a visit to each of the HutteriteColonies in Manitoba. It was also prompted by the restlessnessof Allan Baer, for whom joining the Hutterites was already histhird quest in communal life. (The first was Kubassek Colony inBright, Commune with two brothers and their families, and hehad investigated the possibility of joining the Bruderhof in 1947as well.)I especially remember my father during this time at ForestRiver quoting from the New Testament: Matthew 5: (14, 15, 16):
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” Don’t hide your light under a bushel; let it shine
in theworld. If you have found the best way to give expression to
God’s will, tell the world. He was promoting the idea of enga
g-ing with others of like faith and doing active missionary work tospread the good news.
Forest River Organized a Trip to Koinonia and Woodcrest
Eager to live out their words and ideas, Forest River organized atrip to Koinonia in Georgia, and to Woodcrest in New York. Mymother, Edna Baer, who left all of her ten children with me (agethirteen) in charge, was the only female who was chosen to go onthis trip along with Johnny Maendel and a man from another colony. (Having a female along was already a major departurefrom typical Hutterite culture.) They were gone perhaps two or three weeks. We expected they would have glowing words aboutKoinonia on their return, but surprisingly, they were over-whelmed with enthusiasm for the great outpouring of love they
found at Woodcrest. I noted my mother’s emotional enthusiasm
about this, as she normally was a very self contained GermanicMennonite woman, who did not usually carry her heart on her sleeve.
I’m making these corrections because from your report, George,
it sounds as though the Eastern
Arnoldleut
suddenly appearedwhen in fact they were invited by Forest River based on the very po
sitive report by Johnny Maendel and my mother (a man’s point of view as well as a woman’s). I personally was very much
aware of what was going on, and remember such things as grownmen pushing each other off doorsteps in order to get inside andinfluence someone to vote in a certain way. It was a rough time;it was a time of great tumult; it was a revolution after whichnothing was ever the same again, and two years later a similar but more vicious break took place between the Bruderhof andForest River. I was a teenager during this time, intent on findingmy way in the world while the world around me was goingthrough revolutions.
The Second Detail
One of the first things the Bruderhof leaders did when they ar-rived at Forest River was break up the strong relationship among
the three top leaders, George Maendel’s father Joe, Johnny, and
Allan. They immediately sent Johnny to Woodcrest. Joe was sentlater, and there was a lot of back and forth with his family. Infact, George, your family was seriously, very seriously brokenapart. I wonder who took care of you young ones. I don't think you ever got shipped to Woodcrest, but your mother and father certainly were.I think you have lots of interesting information and storiesand you tell the story well but there are occasions where the storygives a different impression from my first hand knowledge andexperience.
Ruth Lambach, Chicago, Illinois
The Bruderhof excited by the visit fromForest River
KIT.
The above “addendum” was sent to the Hummer shortly a
f-ter the September KIT Newsletter was published with George
Maendel’s article “Forest River’s Exclusion 1955” (page 10).
Hector Black also remembers the visit Ruth Lambach mentions:
I remember that visit very well, Ruth. Can't recall the name of the brother from Montana who came with Johnny and Edna, butI think he was kin to my wife Susie's Mom and the
Lehrerleut.
Itwas my second introduction to Hutterites and the (to me) rather confused connection. I was in Paraguay when the decision wasmade to break with the Hutterites. People had been a little laxwith the headscarves and such, but at that joint brotherhoodmeeting saw wagonload after wagonload of people fully dressedas Hutterites.Our first introduction to Hutterites was a visit by JuliusKubasseck and others from Ontario. As I remember, this was avery different meeting, much more subdued, and I got the feelingthat something was not quite right or
kosher
with the Kubasseck community
–
breakaway Hutterites, or something.We were as excited by the visits, as Johnny, Edna and thethird person were. I seem to remember that the visit of the four carpenters was the next big Hutterite event
–
again very joyfuland exciting for all of us. I remember going down the rooms over the shop where the brothers were hou
sed and singing “
Gute
Nacht”
. It was a very moving encounter. They helped build whatwas Forest River House, now gone.After that came the exchange. I was sent to Forest River along with Art Rosenblum, and I'm not sure who else. That wasthe point at whic
h bad stuff came in, like “winning the hog for the Cause”, etc. We thought that having the majority of Forest
River members on our side made it right, but it didn't. It would
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We celebrated our Diamond Wedding with Family and Close Friends By Nadine Pleil, Washington/Pennsylvania August and I want to express our thanks to all of you who sent us congratulations for our Diamond Wedding. We married…
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