The next two monthly member meetings of the Austrian Singing Society “Donau” will be held
Thursday, September 12 and October 10 please attend our meetings.

OKTOBERFEST This MAJOR club event will be held Saturday, September 7th, in our Biergarten! We will be entertained by the Alpenland Tänzer dance group, and The Austrian Boys Band ! The Band has played in the GermanAmerican Steuben Parade, Hofbrau Haus Biergarten in NYC, cultural events and clubs throughout New England, and carries on the tradition of Austrian-German music plus popular Alpine-American rock songs added into the mix! This is a family-friendly event, a variety of authentic food will be sold, so grab your dirndl & stein, and tell your friends and family! Admission is free- food & drink pay-as-you-go. It's going to be Fantastisch!! Contact Mona Starczewski to volunteer, 860-508-8236.

SCHNITZEL TIME Saturday, November 3! Tickets at bar for our 12th Annual Scholarship Fundraiser Schnitzel Dinner to be held in the upstairs hall. Contact Fred Strasser to donate a raffle prize or to volunteer, 860-690-0769. Featuring Ron & Fred "Scha-Musi" and the Alpenland Tänzer dance group, this is our Scholarship Committee's main fundraising event of the year. Please show your support!

AUFRUF AN ALLE FREIWILLIGEN! Calling all volunteers! New members, long-time members, now's your chance! Contact Mike Sabel, Volunteer Coordinator, 860-416-3255, and he'll get you set up. We have so many fests coming up - Oktoberfest - Schnitzelfest - Weihnachtsfest - 3rd Fridays - Breakfasts- we'll accommodate your ability, we need you!

WEIHNACHTSFEST Holiday Fair organizing meeting is set for Thursday, October 3 at 7:30pm. Chairman Zac Cole is looking for volunteers to form a committee for the event, set for Dec. 7. If interested, please attend Oct. 3rd meeting. For those interested in purchasing a table, please keep an eye out for further information. Any questions please feel free to contact Zac at 860-402-3699 or zac.cole15@yahoo.com. Help Zac make this year's Weihnachtsfest special for all!

SETBACK Rich reports: Many players are back from Summer Vacations, operations, dentist drills and other personal adjustments and interruptions affiliated with our 21st Century lifestyles. Quoting Carl Sandburg, "Time is the COIN of your life…it's the only Coin you have and only you can determine how it will be spent…be careful lest other people spend it for you." Commercials on TV are teasing you into spending your Coin at the will of their sponsors. An imagined Set Back player survey has determined that playing Set Back is deemed a desirable profitable expenditure of one's Coin availability. Moral of these titbits is that playing our game of Setback gives us a social encounter that medical practitioners strongly advise us to practice. So, for our Wednesday evening Coin, we play setback every week at 6:30PM with few exceptions, (like holidays, earthquakes and the like). Usually club members Gail and Jan get us started with an assigned player number that leads us to a table where play will begin. After each game the low score partners move to the next table. Partners are chosen by a draw of cards; you need not bring a partner to play. Each week there is open enrollment for club members who may bring guests, your guest must be signed in, as state law dictates

CULTURAL COOKING Continues at 7:00 on September 27 & October 25. Call 860-508-8236 to reserve. It's a fun time; all are welcome, (men, women, older kids) no skills necessary!

DARRELL'S CULT MOVIE and Bistro Kitchen resumes September. 28 "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" 1963, Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winter, "G". October 26: Exclusive presentation with Meriden Ave., Southington, house owner Darrell Kern (Peter Campbell in the book & movie): "The Haunting In Connecticut" 2009, with Virginia Madsen. The former Hallahan Funeral home, the Snedekers (tenants)…"Who you gonna call? Why not call the ghost-buster Warrens?" Kitchen opens 5:30, film at 7:15. Donation $3

LOBSTERFEST SUCCESS! THANK YOU, John Steele, for chairing another successful Lobsterfest! John's report on Rathskeller FB: "Well, folks, another Lobster Fest is in the books and from the comments of all who attended it was a success and enjoyed by all. This could not have happened without the support of ALL those who purchased tickets and attended and the help and support of those who volunteered their time to help me in the kitchen. Mike Sabel and Rosemarie Nyborg, thanks for your time and help prepping. indy Miller, your Chowder was the hit of the day, everyone commented that it was the best they ever had and your help along with Joan Cockcroft's in the kitchen was invaluable. Frank DeFelice, your help in making this event go off without a hitch, even when the "clam crisis" arose, was nothing less than excellence in execution. Mike Sabel, your help at the service window was greatly appreciated. Thanks to Lori Smukala for getting friends from work to provide wonderful entertainment for guests in the Biergarten. Now we come to John & Karen Aston, after their own day of work and commitments they came down to the Club and volunteered their time to clean up the mess that we had made. You both cannot know how much I appreciate your time and effort to help me out at the end of a long and tiring day. Thank you to Robert Hutter and Steve Panarella for setting up the patio and providing our guests with their libations of choice. I send out my heartfelt appreciation to ALL OF YOU who made this event as pleasurable for our guests as you did making it look effortless for us to serve. Thank you all! -John Steele"

GERMAN LANGUAGE school starts Friday, September 13th at 6:00pm. There will be ten classes led by Professor William McNamara and his assistant Megan McNamara. Anyone interested please call Dennis Kern, 860-828-9950. FOOTBALL begins Sunday Sept 8! Come on down to the club and watch some football with friends. Our weekly football pool begins the "previous week" for only $5. The more people that play the more you win! Super Bowl pool will be going up in late November, don't miss out!

YARN CRAFTERS Knitters and crocheters will gather Thursdays at 7pm to knit and chat (stitch and chatter?). If you would like to be part of this select group, please contact Wendy wskwas [at] gmail.com.

SINGING GROUP We are collecting names of members interested in participating in a FUN singing group to be formed in the near future. Please contact John Aston, 860-302-6727, to let him know you are interested!

HUNTER MOUNTAIN BUS TRIP Jeff Bender announces he's organized a trip Saturday, October 19, departing Calendar House, 388 Pleasant St., Southington 9am, Oktoberfest runs 12-6pm, bus departs Hunter Mountain 6:30pm. Tickets $60 per person includes bus ride, tip and parking- admission is free. Vendors at the fest offer German beer, wine, cider, and food and entertain- ment features bands from Germany as well as our ownAlpenland Tänzer dancers! Seats are limited, contact Jeff 860-681-9610 or 621-3315. Make checks payable to Jeff Bender.

THANK YOUS TO FOLKS BEHIND THE SCENES Abig thank you goes to Michael Sabel for keeping our new Singer applications on the fast track! Mike's keeping on top of getting interviews scheduled in a timely fashion and we are pleased to vote in a handful of worthy applicants every month. Thanks, Mike!

VARIOUS ITEMS The club is smoke-free Fridays 2pm- 7pm on non-dinner nights, so please take advantage. To help us save expenses, opt to receive your newsletter via email by emailing DonauNL@yahoo.com including your full name. Fall activities resume: Breakfasts, German class, and Yarn Crafters are back on the calendar. Darts updates will be posted after their Sept. meeting. Join FB group Rathskeller for latest news.