With a long history and deep connection with Edenvale’s German Club (Edenvale Deutscher Verein) chairperson Marie Koch hopes to see the number of club members grow.
Marie, who joined the club when she moved to Edenvale in 1977, has been the chairperson since 2014.
Founded in 1952 by Albert Werner Aab, who bought a portion of the freehold farm Rietfontein no. 9, the club was originally established to promote and cultivate sporting activities amongst German-speaking members of the community.
Originally, the property was 1 5146 hectares; however, the club sold off portions of the land over the years.
Marie decided to join the club after her children joined the children’s theatre, which used to be offered by the club.
“At first I was quite involved in producing content for the club’s newsletter and magazine, coming up with puzzles and putting jokes in the magazine.”
Marie said when she first joined the club it was strictly for German-speaking community members only.
There were approximately 400 members at that time.
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“If you weren’t German-speaking you couldn’t join, it was a very close-knit German community.”
“No non-members were allowed to frequent the club but guests had to be invited by members, had to sign in at the door and the members had to vouch for them.”
Marie said this was done until about 1987. Today, the club welcomes one and all into its ranks as members and visitors.
She said when the previous chairperson, Mike Polak, died she was nominated as chairperson for the club.
“I was very proud to have received the nomination. It was always something that I had wanted to achieve but had never actively sought.
“After all these years I still am very proud to be chairperson.”
Marie explained that there is no term limit for the chairperson, adding that new chairpersons are nominated when the current chairperson either dies, retires from the position or moves away from the area.
Besides being chairperson, Marie is part of the committee which includes members Artur Vock, Erich Paris and Siggi Berger.
The committee recently took over the day-to-day running of the club with Erich running and managing the club’s bar and restaurant.
Marie said when she is not the chairperson of the club she is an administrator for a specialised cooling company.
As a hobby, she does line dancing each Wednesday at the club with the Tangle Foot dance group.
For those looking for a more classical form of dance, the club is home to the Edenvale Ballet Academy.
Marie said because of Covid-19 the club is running a limited time special and charges R350 per annum for club membership.
The fee, which does not include the R100 administration fee, provides members with a 10 per cent discount on all charges.
For more information, visit the club’s Facebook page or website.
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