RR3 FRANSEN

Fransen Treffen. July 3 - 6/09
- the relatives were incredibly hospitable, and delightful.
- Johann Dueck, age 58 (our 2nd cousin), who Herb knew, came to the Frankfurt airport with 3 vehicles, son Sam (age 23) and a colleague to take us to his place for lunch before taking us to the Christliches Erholungsheim. Johann had 11 children with wife Helene; before she died two months after the birth of the 11th child, she advised Johann to marry Ursula, their Nanny - he did & they had 3 more children. They are all doing well and the ones we met are delightful. So are Johann & Ursula. During the week-end, Johann decided to join us in Ukraine for the Molotschna portion, and sure enough, he showed up on Wed and stayed until Monday, when he had some work to do there.
- the Germany relatives organized a great event. Present were 170 people, ranging in age from infants to 86 years. The oldest cousin, Liese Fransen Enns born March 1912 was unable to attend. Twins Justa Fransen Hildebrandt and Maria Fransen Flaming celebrated their 82nd birthday at the Treffen.

- Name tags - Red for the Katharina Fransen/Dueck clan, Blue for the Nicholas (Maria Wichert) clan, Green for the Jakob Fransen clan, Yellow for the Abraham Fransen clan, White for the half-related clan (descendants of Elisabeth Funk & Dietrich Wiebe - 3 of this group came).
My Tag said Edith Fransen 2.7 indicating that my Fransen parent was the 2nd child in his family, 7 indicating I was the 7th child in my family. Harold's said Harold Regier &2.7, the "&" indicating he was "married into" the clan.

- they had printed out a huge long Genealogical Chart on one wall, with the 4 lines (Katharina, Nicholas, Jakob, Abraham). Our line was the largest/longest, due to the large Andres component. Although some of our Dueck cousins tend to have large families, they are still younger, many not married yet.

- they had a World map, with lines drawn in the different colours for where the different clans had moved, since leaving Mariawohl. Very interesting routes.

- there are still many large families. Jakob Flaming, who we know quite well, (as I came to Vineland when he was there in 2000, he came to our place (Saskatchewan) in 2000, and we visited at his place in Germany in 2003), was on the Planning Committee....when we got there, we learned he would only be there Friday evening as they had their 10th child on June 28 - Salome, 5 Kilogram! The oldest 2 children, Erika & Helene were at the Treffen the whole time and they thought it was wonderful to have another sibling. Children are considered a blessing.

- they had set up a programme:
* Fri evening was a worship service with Jakob Flaming speaking, prayer meeting, singing.
* on Sat each clan gave a presentation of their clan's life journey - power point, etc. They were well done. In some presentations, a small group sang, or someone recited a poem. Fred & Angelika sat next to Barb, Jeff & Sharon & translated for them.
* we had not come prepared except for Uncle Jack's DVD, but we rallied to the cause, and divided up responsibilities, and everyone spoke on a piece of the clan, including reference to our Aunts and Uncles & Canadian cousins. Fred Fransen translated for those who could not or chose not to do it in German (David, Ted, Sharon). Sharon surprised everyone how she was able to communicate socially in German. Uncle Jack's DVD was well-done, showing him and Aunt Mary sitting, while he spoke from a prepared text. He gave greetings and spoke abit about their family.
* Sat evening was Choir Practice for Sunday am, which I attended. It started & ended with prayer. Two different conductors (Johann Flaming & Viktor Enns (an "&").
* there was a firepit where some people congregated in the evenings.
* Sun service - 2 hours long. The choir sang 5 songs. There were one or two poems, one was especially interesting, about life in Molotschna or maybe even Mariawohl (Herb has a copy of it, and may submit it). Two sermons: Johann Flaming preached the first one; Viktor Enns, one of the conductors the 2nd one. He had gotten to know Fred by then, so when he got up to preach, he asked Fred if he would come up and translate the main points, as he went along. Fred did a marvellous job. Viktor Enns had a brother Peter, I think who had some contact with my brother Werner when Peter was in Illinois doing a medical practical experience.

- the meals were all buffet style and GREAT! Also 2 tea breaks in the afternoons with squares that the relatives had brought.
- the setting was beautiful, very green in a forested area, some walking trails, swimming pool (indoors) and playground for the children. Fred & Angelika's and Sharon & Jeff's children had a great time playing with new-found relatives.

Relationships - various friendship connections were made, email addresses exchanged.

Most people left the Heim on Sunday afternoon or evening. We and a few others stayed until early Monday (6 am). The rest got up to bid us Farewell, and Jakob Fransen prayed for safe travel for us (heading to Ukraine) in the Parking Lot. Again Johann Dueck & son Sam (and David Fransen drove the vehicle they had rented) provided transportation to the Frankfurt airport via the Autobahn(!)

The Treffen was over. It met my HIGH expectations. Since I've had time to reflect, I regret not having spent more time visiting with the older ladies. I don't know where the time went - it went too fast! Edith