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PRESIDENT: DIRECTORS: REPRESENTATION OF BURGENLÄNDISCHE GEMEINSCHAFT IN CANADA:
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The Executive Committee of the Burgenländer Club: 2016 |
The Board of Directors of the Burgenlaender Club Toronto, Inc.:
Front row, from left to right: Gabriele Grof (President) Lilly Rank, Roslyn Eberhardt, Paula Heinisch
Back row, from left ot right: Tom Zander, Eva Hergovich, Ernst Grof, Joe Eberhardt (absent but part of the Board: Hans Klebesits)
The region of Austria that we call Burgenland today, was within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, part of Western Hungary. In 1921, after a plebiscite, this narrow strip of land joined Austria designating Eisenstadt as its capital. A blend of German, Croatian, Hungarian and Roma nationalities have contributed to its unique flavour.
In the GTA, for decades, Burgenländers socialized within the Austrian community and were part of the Austrian Club Edelweiss. Out of this community evolved the BURGENLÄNDER CLUB TORONTO, INC. in 1977. The first president was Joe Reininger, followed by Rudi Graf, Ed Lackner, Karl Gyaki, Joe Dirnbeck, Frank Orovits, Otto Novakovics, Roy Perl and John Brunner. At this year's AGM, Gabriele Grof was newly elected to the presidency of the Burgenländer Club Toronto. For many years, Helmut Jandrisits was Canada's representative for the umbrella organization "Burgenländische Gemeinschaft" that represents Burgenländers worldwide. Helmut passed on the torch to John Brunner some time ago. After John, Gabriele Grof, the president of the Burgenländer Club (Toronto) Inc. took over this task on a temporary basis. Now, Eva Hergovich is the representative of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft” in Canada. Eva was born and raised in Burgenland, speaks beside English, German and Croatian and writes the newsletter and the website for the Burgenländer Club (Toronto) Inc.
What are the objectives of the BURGENLÄNDER CLUB TORONTO Inc.? As a registered non-profit organization, first and foremost, we would like to pass on the cultural heritage to our children and grandchildren, personal friends and to friends of Burgenland/Austria. The values of preservation and of sharing the heritage so dear to us, are manifested in the scholarships offered to students of Burgenland descent in their first college year, and also in our support of numerous charities. Further, we are committed to retain ties to our native region and to help to stimulate exchanges of Canadian/Austrian culture and philosophy. Many of you might not be familiar with the activities of the Executive Committee. At the recent AGM, we posted all the “jobs” and took a picture of each poster. This might be of interest to you as it will give you some insight into the “inner life” of the Board of Directors.
