The 52^nd American Turner National Festival

Springfield, Massachusetts

June 27 – July 1, 2007 

            We attended our last National Festival in Aurora, Illinois 4 years ago, and this year, to our delight, it was going to be closer to home -- in Springfield, Massachusetts!  For months, we have been encouraging our members to attend our national competition both through our newsletter and by word of mouth!  Anyone who has never attended one of our Festivals (which die-hard Turners from the New York District will always refer to as “Turnfests”, has missed out on a wonderful experience!  Our members participate not only in athletic events; they are also encouraged to enter cultural events – a lot like we do in our District Cultural Competition but on a grander scale! 

            We started arriving Wednesday, June 27 at the Springfield Turners clubhouse to register.  It was a good place to meet everyone.  When we received our informational packets, I was impressed that all competitors and guests were given a name tag to hang around their neck, listing the various events and activities they signed up to compete or participate in.  When arriving at a particular venue, a judge could just look at the name tag of a competitor and see what events he/she was scheduled to participate in – a great time saver.   

            That evening, we were supposed to start with a parade and then the opening ceremonies – but the weather seemed threatening and rather than worry about lightning, the Opening Ceremonies were held close by with speeches from our Turner officials *Springfield President Jack Stelmach, Turner National President William Severns and Springfield Mayor Richard Cohen.  After some photo ops – we went back to the Clubhouse where the Miss American Turner competition was being held.  It was a very nice competition (all of the young ladies showed poise and grace) and our Princess received a monetary award from the Jahn Educational Fund.   Afterwards we chilled out for a while catching up with friends from other Turner societies.   

            On Thursday morning, the senior ladies competed in Track and Field at the Agawam, High School.  It was a very humid and hot sunny day and we were glad we started early so we could finish up, relax and cool down.  We also checked out how our men’s volleyball teams were doing at the Agawam Junior High School.  Since we did not have enough players to make up a LI team, our men combined with others to make up a conglomerate team.  These were very exciting games to watch. We saw that Gene and Steve Keller still play very good volleyball. Jim Goetz was also hot, and we saw Matthew Bursig shine when he was playing.  All in all, we were very happy to see our teams do well.  Even if we did not get 1^st place – our players received team points which were for the benefit of Long Island Turners.   

            One of the highlights of the weekend, however, took place Thursday evening, when many of us got together at the Munich Haus, a favorite German restaurant in Springfield.  This evening was arranged by Irmgard and John Maloni of American Turners New York.  About 50+ of us attended. Between the great German food and the fun of seeing so many of our Turner friends from all over, this was an especially wonderful evening.  We were totally delighted and surprised to see Ernie Menze come to this party with his accordion.  Everyone (especially after a little wine or beer) was in “Gute Stimmung” (of good voice) and we sang all of our favorites and an especially very fine rendition of Turner Auf Zum Streite – the equivalent (almost) of a Turner national anthem.  I think some of us even sang “If you want to be a Turner” a very lighthearted Turner song.  There was lots of Gemuetlichkeit, that’s for sure.  It made for a memorable evening.  Fortunately, we were in an area that did not disturb the other dinner guests – so we could carry on until it was time to go home!   

            On Friday morning, the men competed in track and field.  Gail, Booby and I went to Agawam High School and checked out the Cultural Competition. Then we walked over to the gym to watch gymnastics.  We saw some of the senior ladies compete and we cheered for Theresa Buehler who competed on behalf of Long Island, and Louise Horn from American Turners New York, and of course we cheered for Marianne Markus, a friend from Lincoln Turners.  We got to watch some of the younger gymnasts perform and we were pleasantly surprised at how well they did. Unfortunately, we missed the Senior ladies volleyball competition at Agawam Junior High School.  We then headed back to the track to see how our men were doing – but they were already finished!  So we got something to eat and checked on other things that were going on.   

            In between the athletic evens, our talented Turners also had to compete at the Cultural – Steve Keller, (senior and junior) and Matthew Bursig. It would have been great to see everyone perform – but there were just so many things to do!    

            That evening Springfield served refreshments and during the course of the evening, some of the Track and Field Awards were handed out.  Not everyone got all of their awards but it was getting late, a little loud and most people were just tired of sitting, so we did go upstairs and listened to some Karaoke and Stevie Keller did a fine job as “Frank Sinatra”.  

            The Swimming events occurred on Saturday morning.  The Ladies Active Volleyball Tournament was scheduled for after lunch.  So, we headed to the pool to watch the swimmers which was very exciting.  Long Island does have a great swim team and they garnered many awards.  In the meantime, Jim and Gail headed off to the Cultural to pick up the various entries.  When the swimming meet was over, the ladies recuperated for a half hour or so and then it was off to our volleyball tournament.  Of course the volleyball tournament was a challenge for the Long Island Turners since seven members of our team were seniors and only one was an active (under 29).  The age of most of our competition was considerably less – but then – we had EXPERIENCE.  I was tickled that Maureen had me come in to play a few minutes – it made me feel like I was part of the team.  I was really happy that I got my serve over the net!  It was great to see our youngest Turner play – Maiken Bursig.  It was gratifying to see how she covered her mom (who briefly flagged a little probably due to the swim meet), before a jolt of adrenalin kicked in! Our whole team looked super and everyone appeared to cover each other. Most importantly, Maureen did a great job as Captain, and Inge would have been proud.  The Long Island Turners were victorious with no losses. 

            Of course, one of the most important aspects was getting to see everyone again – especially Herbert and Gisela Mildt, Susanne and Steven Keller, and their boys, Steve and Peter.  Susan and Eugene Keller came from North Carolina and Hella Tackenberg from Virginia!  Even Laura and Joe Swezey and kids came by to visit.  We were also happy to see Turner friends from Chicago (Marianne and Ralph Markus) and St. Louis (Chuck).  It was really a treat to catch up on our friendships!  We also met Ingeborg and Dieter Sieger from Cologne – they have come to past Turnfests and we also met Olaf Koehler from the Rinteln Turners who also came to the last Festival in Aurora.  

            The Banquet took place Saturday evening and a lot of fun was had by all. The food was exceptionally fine, the music fun and our Springfield hosts did a great job of making everyone feel good.   

            The Closing Ceremonies took place Sunday morning and we were treated to a fine performance of the Mass Drill by Concordia.  Most awards were handed out afterwards and we were happy that Long Island Turners took First Place in Phys Ed in its division as a small society and, of course, American Turners New York received third place in its division as a large society.  Long Island Turners took First Place in the Cultural and I think everyone was happy at the results. 

Track and Field

Swim Medleys: 

Women’s 3 x 85 meter         LIT =    1^st PLACE
Men’s 3 x 75 meters             LIT =    1^st PLACE
Men’s 4 x 100 meters           LIT       1^st PLACE

Volleyball:    LI Turners Active Ladies  1^st Place