1st Youth Heritage Day a Success!

Seventeen youth (both boys and girls, including two kindergartners) participated in the first Pommerscher Verein Central Wisconsin “Youth Heritage Day” at Naugart’s Berlin Center on April 25, 2025.
Rosanne Schleif welcomed the group, explained how the morning would work, and gave an orientation discussing:  What is ethnicity?  Who are your ancestors?  Who were the Pommern people and how did they get here? 
Participants were then divided into groups that rotated through four activity stations: 

• Pretzel Making
• Weaving
• Wat ist Dat? & Counting
• Meine Namen (Writing in old German Script)

After experiencing all four activities, the entire group gathered in the gymnasium, where the Maibaum (Maypole) was raised and the PVCW Danz Gruppe performed a Maibaumtanz (Maypole Dance), first winding, then unwinding ribbons around the pole. The dancers then brought the youth into their circle to participate right alongside them.
Our participants enjoyed all of the sessions and were very eager and cooperative learners! To sum up, this event was successful at several levels. We brought together youth and heritage—the type of activity our Verein will be fostering as part of our new mission.  We realize how many people it takes to pull together an event like this.  Having gotten our first “Youth Heritage Day” under our belt, we hope for many more!