Oktoberfest fun to be extended with AHSGR Kansas meeting in Hays

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

As part of Oktoberfest weekend in Hays, the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia–Kansas Round-Up of Chapters will hold its 34th annual meeting Saturday, Oct. 1, hosted by the Hays Sunflower Chapter. The day-long event, featuring speakers and programs about the history, folklore and genealogy of Germans from Russia, will be held at Whiskey Creek Restaurant, 3203 Vine Street, beginning at 8 a.m.

Dr. Tatjana Schell, North Dakota State University Dept. of English

Keynote speaker is Dr. Tatjana Schell who was born and raised in Russia. Her family is originally from the Volga German village of Seewald, where they lived until September 1941, when the entire village population was deported to the Omsk region in western Siberia. After 25 years in Siberia, the family returned to their Volga homeland and settled in the village of Frank. In the late 1990s, Schell and her family left Russia for Germany. In 2010, she moved to Fargo, North Dakota to pursue further academic education while she teaches at North Dakota State University.

Two presentations will be made by Hays residents. Dr. Yuri Yerastov, Fort Hays State University Assistant Professor and Director of Composition and Director of the Writing Center, will discuss digitization of Volga German text. He is working on a project through the Kansas Humanities Council in conjunction with the Sunflower Chapter using a local Volga German family’s letters that were received from Russia.

Guy Windholz will talk about the use of limestone by Volga Germans on the treeless Great Plains. The Volga Germans were known for the buildings they crafted from the region’s limestone. Windholz will give an overview on how this was done and show many area landmarks.

Sunflower Chapter members will present “Weihnachtzeit Im Oktober,” Volga German customs of Christmas, including some still practiced and others that have been nearly forgotten.

A newly produced video from AHSGR–“Norka: Passage in Time”–will be shown. The video features film shot in 1921 in the Volga German village of Norka.

More information is available online at http://www.sunflowerchapterofahsgr.net/roundup or by contacting Kevin Rupp, president of AHSGR Kansas Round-Up of Chapters at (785) 656-0329 or [email protected].