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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1984-06-06, Page 25• 10A Times•Advocate, June 6, 1984 NEW RESTAURANT — Christa and Ernst Ihrig and son Frank stand on the parquet dance floor beside an antique wardrobe (and a bar cart made by Ernst) in their almost completed Hessenland Restaurant at St. Joesph which will open this month. Hessenland to open soon A distinctively unique eating place just north of St. Joseph on Highway 21 will open its ornate double doors for business later this month. The Hessenland Restaurant will feature German and Canadian cuisine, served in a luxurious yet homey and relaxed setting with an eye - appealing panorama no mat- ter where one is seated. Green and flowering plants are everywhere, complemen- ting the many German anti- ques ranging from stoneware jars that once held cider, vinegar or marmalade, through old farm implements like sickles, flails, and a wooden yoke for carrying two pails, to a magnificent mir- rored wardrobe. The skills and talents of proprietors Ernst and Christa Ihrig are much in evidence. The wagon -wheel -and horseshoe coat and hat rack, and the bar cart, were made by Ernst. Many of the plates adorning the walls of the Hessenstube(a room within the main dining area that can be closed off for private ban- quets) were hand -painted by Christa, who also hooked many of the decorative wall hangings and rugs. Earth tones dominate in the Bavarian -styled interior. The brown and taupe velour arm- chairs, brown table cloths, Royal Doulton dishes and cer- amic candle hol'd'ers hand- crafted in Germany blend together harmoniously. The main restaurant seats 114 (this includes 40 in the Hessenstube ), and the cob gut blestoned patio can accom- modate another 30 in good weather. Diners may choose from such appetizers as breaded Camembert (a French delicacy served with a pear and garnished with cranber- ries) or Hawaiian toast (a concoction of toast, ham, pineapple rings and cheese), go on to entrees including schweinebraten, sauerbraten, Rinderfilet, Veal cordon bleu and chicken schnitzel, and finish with peach Melba or a Black Forest coupe, washed down with a cup of whipped cream - topped Hessenland coffee containing chocolate and cognac. German labels have priorityon the wine list. The Hessenland Restaurant is the culmination of a dream the Ihrigs brought with them from Germany when they decided to leave their hog and cash crop farm in the pro vince of Hessen near Frankfurt to begin a new life in a country they believe has the brightest future of any place in the world - Canada. They flew to Ontario five times looking for a location with fertile land plus recrea- tion and holiday possibilities before purchasing the 30 -acre site at St. Joseph and coming to stay in October 1982. As they couldn't -take im- mediate possession of their property, the Ihrigs moved in- to a IitHe house on,Highway 21 for the winter. They now call neighbours Norma and Allan Amy their Canadian parents because of the kindness the Amys showed the newcomers. CARVINGS — Intriguing faces carved from tree roots adorn the chimney above the fireplace in the lounge of the new German restaurant at St. Joseph. To Beautify Your Home • Oaks • Maples • Cataulpas • Flowering Crab • Fruit • Mt. Ash and many more 1 Ernst and Christa began to turn their dream• into reality in late September. Cutting through the ,inevitable red tape generated by such an undertaking caused some delays, and the weather was anything but cooperative. "It was not the winter to build, but if you build, you can expect something to go wrong," Christa commented ruefully. The attractive dining room is tangible evidence of the couple's imagination and in- genuity. Christa was respon- sible for the interior decorating, with the accent on rural antiques which she has been collecting for years. "Before my father-in-law threw anything out, he always asked if I wanted it",Christa said with a smile. Ernst worked along with the carpenters, plumbers, electricians and other ar- tisans. At night, instead of dropping into exhausted sleep, the two would visualize the next step. They had no preconceived blueprint; often one innovVtion would lead to an adaptation somewhere else. "Soon the men would say each morning, 'you stay with what you thought yesterday or you change?". Ernst laughed. Local contractors, craft- smen and suppliers were us- ed wherever possible. The Ihrigs have nothing but the highest praise for the workmen. To show their ap- preciation, they imported a delightful custom from their native land. Those who helped to build and equip the Ilessenland Restaurant. friends, neighbours, the reeves of ~Zurich and Hay and MPP Jack Riddell received engraved invitations toa pre- opening on Sunday evening. After a sumptuous smorgasbord. guests stayed on to listen to waltzes and polkas played by George Mathonia on the restaurant's Hammond organ and his own accordion. Ernst interrupted his duties as host several times to sing along in his mellow tenor. The event was Christa's debut as Hessenland chef. She had studied restaurant and hotel management for two years before serving an addi- tional three-year appren- ticeship in Germany. Initial- ly. she will do all the•cooking. She has already established a solid reputation as a cook. Each day during construction she would bring the workmen some delectable confection to enjoy during their coffee break. However, the dream is not yet complete. The Ihrigs plan to add a motel to the restaurant next year, and fence in a20mby40rnriding ring where Ernst will instruct in dressage and jumping. Horse owners can then come and stay with their animals for riding practice and lessons. or board the horses at the farm for the .winter months. . Ernst has loved horses since the days he rode the old plow horse back to the barn as a little child. He brought three brood mares with him from Germany. All are Hanoverian jumping horses, the breed that carried Quebecer Mario Deslaurier to the lop of the World Cup jumping competi- tion in Goeteborg. Sweden. last month. Besides being a qualified in- structor (with a wall -full of ribbons and trophies as pro- of), Ernst is also a blacksmith, and can shoe a horse as skilfully as ride one This community is for- tunate that Ernst and Christa Ihrig have chosen to invest their future in this area. They are wished a hearty Viel Glueck or, as we say in Canada, Good Luck. K of C to host communion breakfast Fourth degree Knights of Columbus along with their wives from the surrounding area (48 in all) enjoyed a delicious roast beef dinner at the Dominion Tavern last Monday night followed by some of their own musical entertainment by Seamus Doherty and Mozart Gelinas and two sons Mozart and Martin. The Knights are hosting the Communion Breakfast this coming Sunday, June 10 beginning with 11:15 a.m. Mass at St. Boniface Church, Zurich. The Fourth Degree Knights, will be honor guards dressed i 1 their impressive attire of cloak, hat and plume, -followed by a procession to the Dominion Tavern direct- ly after Mass for the breakfast (12:30) Tickets are now on sale at $6.00 per per- son, from either Denny Rau 236-4559 or Mozart Gelinas Sr. .236-4981. Anyone interested in going is most welcome even if not a Knight, but please phone soon. Clarence and Beattie Geof- frey attended the wedding of their great-nephew, Marc Bernardi, (grandson of Gerald and Helen Bedard) on Saturday, May 26 in Toronto, and stayed at the home of their daughter and son-in-law, Mary -Ann and Jim Vanos and family in Bramalea. While there they visited with her brother, Father Richard (Dick) Bedard and Father Cyril Doyle who are both pa- tients at the Providence Willa in Scarborough, Ont. Recent winners from the May 17 K of C meeting in St. Columba for the 50/50 draw were Clarence Rau, RR 2 Lucan, 667 and two $25 con- solation draws went to: John Paul Rau, RR 2 Zurich, and his daughter Terry Brandon, Bayfield. Winners of the K of C car raffle draw held recent- ly at the convention in Toron- to were: Oldsmobile Cutlass - Ray Forget, Cornwall; Dodge - Tom Payton, Dale Keith; Torino - Edith Hawkin- son, Oakville. A Mustang went to Ody Argenta at Niagara Falls and an Alliance car went to Earl Thereger of, Thunder Bay. Pearl Gingerich recently spent a couple of weeks visiting with her daughter, Carol and Gerald Witzel and three children in Shakespeare and with daughter Patty and son-in-law Clive 011ies before they moved to Harrison Valley, Pa. where they will be working at the Northern Tier Children's Home for the next two years. Pearl spent this past weekend in Sarnia with her son Gary and his wife Susan and two grandchildren. A very nice bridal shower was held for Patti Regier on Sunday, June 3 at St. Peter's Parish Hall, St. Joseph with 77 relatives, friends and neighbours attending. It was given by her bridesmaids. Guests came from Niagara Falls, Kitchener, London, Ex - Teachers take lessons Heads are bent over the warm, buzzing machines. There is some talking going on as the "students" work through computer learning exercises in the classroom. However, this classroom is different in that the teachers are the students. �olc/en 9,[tmp3e3 This week was relatively quiet following the family din- ner a week ago. It takes a few days to recuperate after all the excitement. Residents are busy during the mornings in reminiscing sessions, exercise groups, flower arranging, and in a very enthusiastic choir who enjoy singing under the direc- tion of Catherine Shantz. Bingo was played on Friday evening followed by -refreshments. On Saturday evening, a quiet but pretty wedding was solemnized in the chapel of the home, uniting in marriage Joyce Jeeter and Clifford Alexander. Rev. Jim Sutton of Exeter Anglican Church performed the ceremony. Karen Wellen presided at the organ during the service. Matron of honour for the. bride was Nancy Thomas of Grand Bend and the groom's best man was Harold (Tiny! Thiel. The bride was given in marriage by Josef Risi. Following the ceremony, a reception followed in the dining -room where friends and family of the bride and groom, residents and staff and their spouses enjoyed a buffet luncheon. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander are residing in the Blue Water Rest Home Apartments. This was a special occasion since it is the first wedding ever to be solemnized in the chapel since the Home's opening. The Sunday evening chapel service was conducted by Rev. Barbara Laing of Zurich and United Churches. Recently about 25 teachers - from the Huron -Perth Separate School system got together once a week for a month to learn more about computers from each other. Organized by the board's computer committee which includes Stratford principals Larry Cook and Don Farwell and St. Patrick's sch(lol in Dublin teacher Terry Craig, the class gives the teachers time to learn. Not only time to learn and learn at their own speed, but the teachers become more comfortable with the computer. - As one teacher explained, the children command the computer during school hours, but in this class, the teacher gets the important time at the computer. There are other means through which teachers may learn about computers, such as Ministry of Education pro- grams, but Craig said the teachers are more comfor- table and learn more with their own colleagues. -For the weekly sessions, the teachers lugged the school computers to St. Patrick's in Dublin from all across the two counties. They plugged in the computers, sat own in front of the keyboard and started learning at their own speed. However, the teachers stress that computers won't take over the classroom. "They're just tools in the classroom," Craig said of the computers. The teachers have been learning about computers through self-taught lessons originally prepared by Toron- to school boards for Gralle 6 and 7 pupils. Any assistance needed by the teachers is pro- vided by the three men in charge. The teachers are keenly in- terested in the computers, however, they aren't the on- ly ones"' - Board tr tee Vincent ANTIQUE IMPLEMENTS One wall of the Hessenland Restaurant displays old sickles and flails. Above is a German harvest crown, and the geraniums sit in an an- cient cement pig trough. McInnes, who is also a member of the computer committee, was also sitting down at a keyboard. Besides just being interested in com- puters, McInnes said he ,would someday like to see a computer in the board room. He visualizes it being used to call up information needed during trustees' discussions. May smoke Smokers may go on smok- ing in the board rooms at the Huron -Perth Separate School Board office in Dublin. A motion by Trustee William Kinahan of RA 2 Lucknow at the school board's May 28 meeting to eliminate smoking from the board room was turned down. Kinahan made the motion because he is the board's representative on the Huron- P.erth Lung Association. He said that although smoking by other people doesn't bother him, x-rays show the smoke actually affects everyone. Most of the trustees said smoking doesn't bother them. However, Trustee Ernie Vanderschot of RR 7 St. Marys, who confessed he smokes, said he would vote in favor of banning smoking from the board room "I smoke myself, but I don't smoke where I'll bother peo- ple," he said Smoking is also allowed in the Huron County Board of Education boardroom but is not allowed in the Perth Coun- ty Board of Education boar- droom. Other public bodies, Huron County Council allows smoking, but Perth County Council does not. eter and Zurich and- Bluewater area. After the opening of several beautiful and useful gifts everyone present enjoyed a Congratulations to Pat and Marion Sullivan of •Mt. Carmel who celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on Saturday in Dashwood with friends and relatives from the Zurich area attending. Marion is the daughter of Mrs. Agnes Regier, Zurich. . Congratulations are in order for Gord and Jeanne Hay who were married 29 years on Monday, June 4. Happy birthday to Mrs. Marcelle Dietrich on Thurs- day, June 7. Beginning last Wednesday the grade eight students of the Zurich' Public School went camping at Camp Sylvan and enjoyed pretty good weather, meals, hiking, camp fires, singing, and sleeping in covered wagons, accompaned by two teacher chaperones. Last Wednesday - the students at St. Boniface School were treated to slides of Australia and New Zealand - shown by (Von) Veronica Etue of Seaforth from a trip there. Von was an overnight and supper guest of Mrs. Florence Denomme. Did everyone read the in- teresting article on Garry Hess, son of Gord and Dot Hess, Zurich, in the May 27 edition of Encounter (supple- ment in the London Free Press), if not do so, as it told of -his breath taking ride dur- ing a test flight on the CF -18 Hornet aircraft at Cold Lake Alberta, which is Canada's new American -built attack plane. It can travel at 1.8 times the speed of sound. Two of these planes were at the in- ternational air show in Lon- don is past Saturday and Sunday. Last Sunday afternoon and evening 12 young people from the Religion class of St. Boniface Parish spent an in- spiring day at the convent with Sister Maureen reading scripture with time out for prayer and reflections. After a supper of Kentucky fried chicken and more meditation, Fr. Mooney ended the day's retreat with Benediction in the Chapel. On Wednesday the grade eights attended a day of Recollection at Ecole St. Marie School with Fr. Bensette and Fr. Morrissey, Grand Bend.' - Many attended the Mass and ceremony held at St. Boniface Church on Satufday afternoon in honor of Sister Carmel Farwell whb was celebrating 50 years of Religious Life as a Notre Dame nun in Hamilton, followed by a lovely reception and hot dinner served at the school for over 75 guests. Sister Carmel is the sister of Louis Farwell and Anna - Marie -Watson, both of Zurich. Also on hand to help her celebrate this joyous occasion was another sister who is a nun, Sister Clare of Hamilton, and a brother Fred of London along with several relatives from various places. The lucky winner of the seven -piece cookware set drawn on Saturday at the grand opening of the Shilbe Pro Hardware in town was Mrs. Gen Doyle. Lucky winner of the $500.00 jackpot• at the Bingo last Thursday was Blanche Bechard of the Maplewopds Apts. Congratulations to both of you! The next bingo will take place on June 14 at 7:45 p.m. Saturday visitors with Mrs. Myrtle Dietz were her son, Glen and Shirley Dietz of Lon- don, daughter, Gloria Allen and two sons, London and Mr. and Mrs. Roger Lavernge of Windsor. All attended the . Turkheim wedding as Myrtle is Dan's grandmother. Mr. and Mrs. Russell Gra- inger spent the weekend in Owen Sound. The Lions are holding their second annual -slo-pitch ball tournament at the Zurich park this coming weekend starting on "Friday with playoffs on Sunday. The 50/50 draw will take place prior to the final games. Mark your calendars for the fabulous 50's dance featuring "Fantasy" on July 14. - Visitors with Barrie and Lyda Gandier this past week v;ere the tatters brothers, Karl Hewitt of Sooke, B.C., Ralph Hewitt, Orillia and her - sister, Cora and husband Stewart Legary, from Pilot Mount, Manitoba. All had a good time reminiscing the past, and visiting together. Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Sweeney and friend Bob King of Listowel visited a ith Dan . and Carrie Eybergen in Waterloo on Friday and en- joyed some shopping in Kitchener. Golden Agers The Golden Agers are hav- ing their next meeting on Monday, June 11 beginning with a pot luck supper at 6:00 p.m. at the Township Hall followed by the business por- tion and social hour. Come out for an enjoyable evening and bring along your favourite dish. Everyone is welcome. smorgasbord luncheon. Patti is the daughter of Clem and Theresa Regier and fiance of Rick Hodgins of Parkhill. They plan to marry on July 14. Congratulations to Dan and Julianne Turkheim (nee Brit - taint who were married on Saturday, June 2 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church with dinner and reception held at the Rec Centre in Exeter. Following their honeymoon the couple will be living in Zurich. It's nice to see that Frank and Gerry Kane arrived home again safe and sound after being away for a month's vacation visiting with their daughters and husbands in California. SWING INTO Savings Pastry Flour unbleached, or bleached, 2.5 kilo 2.29 Cooked Clear Gel 250 g. 79. Instant Clear Gel 250 g. $1.59 Nutrifil Whip Topping 1 litre 2.39 Extra Fine Granulated Sugar 1.692 kg. 3.394 kg. Cornstarch 500 g. Mon.. Sat. 9.5:30 Closed Sunday •Ferguson. Apiaries SPORTS DAY — St. Boniface teacher Lorne Rideout organizes the 100m race at the school's annual track and field day. We're Moving C.G. Farm Supply Ltd. will be closed on Friday, June 8th Sat., June 9th to move to our NEW LOCATION 22 Main St., Zurich, Ontario Watch for our Grand Opening to be held at a later date.