Gluckstadt GermanFest 2010 set for September 26

The 24th annual Gluckstadt GermanFest is scheduled for Sunday, September 26, 11 am - 5pm at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gluckstadt.

The family-oriented festival is best known for its food and music. Free music will be provided by Die Mitternachters, an authentic German folk band. The band, which has entertained at GermanFests since the first festival 24 years ago, is a crowd pleaser. People who have never experienced a polka will tap their toes and maybe even get up and dance. And then there is the Chicken Dance, a favorite of young and old which truly has to be seen and heard to be fully appreciated.

Sizzling shish kabobs, bratwurst slathered in sauerkraut and authentic German desserts as well as pies, ice cream and other home-made favorites aplenty will be dished out all day. The menu also includes giant fresh oven-baked pretzels, hot dogs, and rippchenkraut, which is pork chops with homemade sauerkraut. Dark and light beer will be on tap, along with Pepsi products and bottled water. A special treat this year will be a German wine tasting booth.

Meal tickets cost $5 in advance, and will be $6 on the day of the festival. Advance meal tickets are available from parishioners of St. Joseph Catholic Church. Ticket information is also available by calling the parish office at 601-856-2054.

Horse drawn wagon rides, a climbing tower and an assortment of childrens games will provide hours of entertainment. A stroll about the grounds to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells is an experience to be savored.

For those who want to take home something to enjoy, the Country Store will be in business with an assortment of commemorative items, t-shirts, home made breads, desserts, jellies and canned goods. The hottest seller usually is the sauerkraut. Church members make hundreds of quarts of the salty cabbage delicacy using a recipe handed down through generations of German descendants living in Gluckstadt. Gifted church folk also have their creative energies in overdrive to produce fun craft items for sale.

The Gluckstadt community was founded in 1905 by families of German descent. Many of the descendants of the original families still attend St. Joseph. Each year St. Joseph Catholic Church hosts the GermanFest the last Sunday in September. GermanFest is the annual fund raising event for the church.

No coolers or solicitors will be allowed on the grounds. Festival goers are also asked to refrain from bringing pets.

The festival is held on the grounds of St. Joseph Catholic Church, which is located off Interstate 55 north of Madison. Take Exit 112 at Gluckstadt and go west three-tenths of a mile on Gluckstadt Road to Church Road. Or just follow the crowd from the Interstate.

Admission and parking are free. Festival goers may wish to bring a lawn chair. There usually aren't enough hay bales to go around.

For more information, call Pam Minninger, St. Joseph Catholic Church, 601.856.2054.

Gluckstadt move to incorporate threatened by Canton action

In early June Canton Mayor William Truly said he had no objection to the proposed incorporation of Gluckstadt. However, a recent filing by the City of Canton to annex more land has some Gluckstadt residents worried.

In an email shared with the Flora Harvester, Gluckstadt incorporation proponent Bill Weisenberger states he expects an objection to be filed with the court over Canton's plan to annex an area that extends south on Old Canton Road's west side almost to Harvey Crossing Subdivision, and then west to a line on north side of Church Road. That area overlaps part of the proposed incorporated area of Gluckstadt.

The message to supporters is to begin pushing hard towards incorporation in order to fend off moves by the City of Canton, including a controversial rezoning on Sowell Road to allow apartments. That move has been opposed by many area residents and Madison County School officials. The Canton Board of Aldermen is scheduled to meet on August 17th , 6pm at City Hall to vote on the rezoning issue. Opponents hope to pack the meeting, but expect Canton city officials will approve the rezoning anyway. A legal appeal to the decision is expected. The application for rezoning can be viewed HERE.

The call is to move ahead quickly with gathering of signatures on petitions.

"If they get this zoning it will affect all we have been doing, property values, schools, transportation , public safety, everything," Weisengerger stated in the email. "They can then show a change in the character of the surrounding area and it will help them in their future annexation plans. We must stop it now."

Anyone who wants to volunteer to work neighborhoods to get the needed signatures for the incorporation petitions is encouraged to contact Bill Weisenberger at bweis1@bellsouth.net .

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Gluckstadt Incorporation


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The future of the proposed city of Gluckstadt rests on 10 sets of petitions circulating in the Madison County community.

"We're going to put a push on this summer to get the signatures we need," said Bill Weisenberger, listed as the proposed mayor of Gluckstadt for incorporation purposes if a successful petition drive can get the cause to Madison County Chancery Court.

Two-thirds of the qualified electors living in the proposed city have to sign the petition asking for incorporation.

That number is "simply a moving target. The pool of qualified electors changes every day" as people move in and out of the community, said Jerry Mills, the attorney for city-status supporters. "You've really got to prove a super majority of voters - on the day of filing - want this incorporation."

Weisenberger said no target date has been set for getting the required number of signatures, but "we'd like to get them as soon as possible."

The committee overseeing the incorporation effort plans come-and-go meetings in the coming weeks for residents to sign the petitions and find out more.

Read more at The Clarion Ledger



Gluckstadt Incorporation