In 1998, the Youth-Link Group was started with Natascha Steckel as President. The following year, the Group updated its name to Treffpunkt – Meeting Point. The goal of the Group is to encourage the young (and young at heart) to come to the Club and participate in the traditions of the Club.
Harald Schwegel was the longest running president of the Group - from 1999 to 2008 – and is still a member of the Group today. In those early years, it held Euchre tournaments and hosted Halloween parties. Beginning in 2011 under President Ali Nowak and continuing under President Fred Trautrim the Group began hosting “Fruhlingsfest” – a celebration in the spring to try and bring members into the club, ring in spring, and enjoy each other’s company. Treffpunkt members also enjoy stopping by Seniorenhaus during the Christmas season to bring some joy and laughter to our seniors by singing some songs, telling some jokes and maybe even doing a skit! The Group also enjoys organizing a “Fahrt ins Blaue” – a mystery trip where only the organizers know the destination! Since the start of the Treffpunkt Group, they have also enjoyed and continue to enjoy attending functions like the President’s Ball, Bockbierfest, Mardi Gras Maskenball, Stiftungsfest and many other festivities of the club.
During Oktoberfest, the group ran the “Treff Ball” booth until 2010 when they took over running the Dunk Tank under the guidance of then President Ali Nowak. Each year after Oktoberfest is over – the Group enjoys “Treffgiving” – a Thanksgiving themed evening to celebrate the successful end to Oktoberfest and the camaraderie of the Group.
That camaraderie has continued throughout the Group and one of the members’ favorite activities is a cottage weekend that originally started as a celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the Group. The tradition of renting a different cottage each year and enjoying each other’s company for a weekend continues to this day.
2018 marked the 20-year anniversary of the Treffpunkt Group – with Moni Gaertner as President. That year, it was decided to extend the cottage weekend to a 4-day long celebration in Parry Sound where they walked around the Heritage Gardens, hiked up the Tower Hill Lookout, toured the new Trestle Brewery, and then broke into teams to do a scavenger hunt throughout the town!
In 2019, under President Dana Komer, the Group challenged themselves to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation by riding the “Big Bike” in tracht along with other members of the Club. This fun event was successful in raising over $5000 for a great cause! The Group also creates a new target each year for blood donations, donating under CONC010846.
Treffpunkt members meet the second Friday of each month at the Club and are always looking to welcome new members!
