The Crediton day

Another sign. The welcome sign in front of Crediton Zion United Church

Stefan Pertschy is our guide this morning. He came to Canada in 1951, originally from the Batscha, and he speaks his native German well.

Crediton Cemetery

A grave at Crediton cemetery. Or Baiersbronn? Look at the names: Finkbeiner, Klumpp, Haist, Faist, Mohrlock, Gaiser, Wuerth, Wein, Braun, Kienzle...

Wallace Pfaff has listed 63 graves that might be of interest. On the cemetery the graves themselves are marked (How much thoughtful preparation went into this reunion!). The gravestone of no. 12 (Jacob Fahrner, 4/14/1804-4/22/1876) was broken in three pieces, but has been repaired and set up again. It bears a German inscription of four rhymed lines mentioning the town of Baiersbronn, where the ancestors emigrated from. The pine trees in the oldest part of the cemetery came directly from the Black Forest. Stefan alerts us to the fact that an English-looking name may go back to a German one. During World War II many Braun, Schmidt, Finkbeiner preferred to call themselves Brown, Smith, Fink.

Crediton and vicinity, Finkbeiner farms

Donald Finkbeiner's car. Mind the license plate: Finks

We leave the village and turn to the farms. Wally has listed 30, and we look at 30, many of them run by Finkbeiners. No wonder that here, too, a lane was once called Finkbeiner Line. After no. 17 there is a welcome interruption. We pay a visit to a German couple who immigrated from Hesse about ten years ago. They grow soybeans and corn, and they fatten pigs. They are proud of their flower-garden, and justly so. As a farewell they let us taste their homemade Aeppelwoi (Hessian for cider) served in the appropriate pitcher, an imported "bempel" At no. 21 Stefan has us note the style of the barn, with a penthouse, a protected place for harnessing horses, etc. This overlay was a typical feature of the barns built by Finkbeiners.

Crediton, Stephen Township Municipal Office

Wilmar Wein one of the councilors, is stationed there. Stephen Township - Crediton is a part of it - had its sesquicentennial in 1992. Dr. Gerhard Wein, Tumlingen, planted a tree on the occasion. In one room of the Municipal Office there hangs a plaque with the Baiersbronn coat-of-arms, a souvenir that Cal Fahrner brought home from the Black Forest.

Service of celebration at Zion United Church, Crediton

Zion United Church, Crediton

In the afternoon a service is celebrated at Crediton church, a service on occasion of the Second International Finkbeiner Reunion. Many of us become aware of the connection in retrospect, only. They are well rested for the event of the evening.

Gala dinner

Our way to the gala is not long as it is staged in a former hangar, now gym, on the Academy grounds. At the entrance there is a surprise present for everybody: a T-shirt for Emma, a book about shipwrecks on the Great Lakes for Lore, a thermos bottle for Ines, a cookbook for Erika, a cushion for Michael, a picture-book for Guenter, a box of golf-balls for Brigitte (something to hand on to Hartmut the tour guide), and so on.

The great table. The German Finkbeiners waiting for the gala to start

Reginald's wife Pauline Finkbeiner is the M.C. of the evening. The acoustics are bad, so it's more by gestures than by words that she tries to direct the lines of the hungry towards the buffet. Dealing out equal portions to ca. 250 people is no easy job. Ilse, the inn-keeper, knows from experience; she eyes the first high-piled plates skeptically. There is enough food, but barely so. After dinner a dancing-group of young girls enthuses everybody.

Wolfgang with 3 flags. Wolfgang Finkbeiner with his flagstand

Dalton Finkbeiner, he with the cowboy hat, auctions off the flagstands that decorated the tables. Wolfgang and Christian are among the successful bidders.

The Quartett. Manfred with Gretel and Gretel with Heinrich Finkbeiner are »The Heinrich Finkbeiner Singers«

Guenter delivers kind regards from Dr. Gerhard Wein, and he presents a plate showing a Finkbeiner coat-of-arms, a gift from Elisabeth Finkbeiner, Stuttgart. The Canadian organization committee celebrate themselves - with reason. Reginald has red roses for Linda, Linda has presents for her helpers. Our quartet, known by now as the Heinrich Finkbeiner Singers, are a great success again. All join in their farewell song "Auld lang syne". We all get up and hold hands.