Zurich Citizens News, 1975-12-22, Page 6Page 6 Citizens News, Dec. 22/75
The International Scene
of a young Eduadorian girl
through the Foster Parents' Plan.
1 owe it to one of my faithful
teachers that the idea was formed
that it might be nice to teach them
to sing a carol that was not origin-
ally English to begin with but one
that they already knew. When I
say teach them, the idea was to
show them how to sing it in the
original language. What better
one, than, Silent Night, which is
not English but Austrian in
origin, and so, a couple of Sun-
days ago, 1 warned the kinds to
have a good sip of sauerkraut
juice before corning to church
next Sunday, because they were
going to do something special.
This brought the usual laughs and
ugly faces but nevertheless, when
next Sunday came, they were
all prepared.
I put the words on the board
and we went at i*. Much to every-
body's delight, and my relief,
they took to it like ducks to water
and soon we were singing Stille
Nacht like the best of them.
Kinds can never keep a secret
and so the word got out. To make
a long story short, they have been
asked to sing it at our annual ,carol
concert before Christmas. My
wife, who is in the choir and who
gets her tongue around the Ger-
Smtut
4111
At1.Y'CCy'l.
vv
Zurich Public School concert
GRAND BEND CLOTHING
47 Main St. DeJongs 238-2358
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
From The DeJong Family and Staff
THANKS TO ALL OUR CUSTOMERS
man gutterals without any diffi-
culty, has taken over the task of
directing them and, so, for the
first time, the strains of a German
hymn will be heard from 50 small
children (and the five demons) in
Byron United Church.
The story of the origin of Silent
Night is quite interesting and you
probably don't know it, so here
it is. In a small town in Austria,
there lived a boy named Franz
Gruber. He took • a liking to
music, studied it and, one day
when the organist of the local
church fell ill, he was able to
step in and play an entire mass
without any mistakes. This
started him on a music career and
a few years later he found himself
organist at the church in Obern-
dorf, a few miles north of Salz-
burg, which some of you may
know as the home of Mozart.
One day the church got a new
assistant priest, Joseph Mohr,
and he and the organist soon
became very good friends.
Shortly before Christmas, 1818,
Mohr suggested to Gruber that
they write some special music
for Christmas eve service. Early
on December 24, the young priest
brought the words to Gruber and
suggested that he compose suit
able music for two solo voices
and a guitar accompanyment.
To the surprise of Mohr, the
music was writen the very same
day and a frief rehearsal was
held in the church before the song
was performed that evening.
Mohr and Gruber were the
soloists and the choir repeated
the last two lines of each stanza
in four part harmony. Mohr
accompanied the singing on a
guitar.
The hymn did not appear in
print until after 1831. It was writ-
ten down only when somebody
heard it being sung that year at
the Leipzig fair as an authentic
Tirolean song. In 1838 it first
appeared in a Catholic hymnbook
in Leipsiz and soon afterward
it was to be found in both Catholic
and Protestant hymnaries.
As for Mohr and Gruber, they
both lived to see their creation
spread. Gruber died in 1863
while Mohr, the priest, died
almost peniless in 1848 after a
bout of pneumonia.
There.are actually six verses to
the hymn of which only three
are normally sung. The origin
of the song has been commemor-
ated by the erection of a Silent
Night Chapel in 1937 in the same
village where the song was first
heard 157 years ago.
Somehow this Christmas Stifle
Nacht, Heilige Nacht will mean
something special to me.
Zurich PS
Christmas Jottings
0 HURRY UP!
Tim and Danny Welchman,
Who were both nine years old,
Came to help the other kids,
Who were freezing from the cold.
Come on, you lazy rascles
Pick yourself up 1 say;
Get the snow a fly' en,
We haven't got all day!
So with that, away they went
To fetch the shovels new,
And, before the day was done,
They had it done all through.
If you are wondering what I mean
And what the kid's were do'en,
They were building up the fort,
To make room for me and you en.
Karen Thornton
A SCRUMPTIOCJS CHRISTMAS
DINNER
I have never seen or tasted
such delicious Christmas meals
as those prepared by my two
grandma's. The goose was
fully stuffed and browned thor-
oughly. Golden brown and thick
was the slow flowing gravy.
Baked potatoes were steaming
hot. The hot vegetables were all
mixed together. The creamy
butter melted on the hot buns.
Last but not least the Christmas
cake with the flowing cinnamon
sauce adorned the centre of the
,table. 1 still say my two grand-
ma's make the most scrumptious
Christmas meals yet.
Darlene Oesch
May each of us follow
his own star to
gror,J'.'' peace and joy!
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ALAMecda• m,
40'4,6 Thank you
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J: v.
Lucky Dollar Food Market
ZURICH
CLARENCE GASCHO and FAMILY
FOR A JOYOUS
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May the light of joy and good will shine
brightly into the hearts of all mankind, as on the
Holy Night when the Prince of Peace was born. During
this Christmas season, we wish you and yours
an abundance of holiday blessings. And at this time
we say a special "Thank You" for the privilege of serving you.
C(IriTS M ffiS
(Day the warmth of good friendship
glow in your hearts throughout this joyous
time of love and brotherhood.
THE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF
SHARON and ALLAN BROKENSHIRE
A. 13. POFFSET and LETTERPRESS
BOX 12 ZURICH, ONTARIO
Bank of Montreal
Canada's First Bank
?URICH BRANCH