Some Pennsylvania Dutch Talk that Gifs Laffs

We grow too soon oldt und too late schmart. The hurrier I go the behinder I get. Pie is all…cake is yet. Sorry you don’t feel so pretty good. I hope it gives what it looks like for onct. Don’t eat yourself full…there’s pie back. Come down and see us a little wunst.

Kissin’ wears out, cookin’ don’t. What does it gif fer dinner? “Shoo fly pie with schnitz un knepp with Pot pie still gives lots of pep.” “Aunt Emmy’s shoo fly pie sure eat’s good, ain’t?” “A big barn and a plump wife, and a man is fixed up good for life”.

Apparently this dialect comes from the Palatinate area of western Germany and was brought to North America as the mother tongue of the Swiss Mennonites. These sayings are often found on napkins, place mats, tea towels and other souvenirs sold in tourist areas wherever the Pennsylvania Dutch are found.

Lecture: This is my Story, this is my Song

The Mennonite Historical Society of BC presented an afternoon of story and song on May 15, at the Central Heights Church, in conjunction with “The Mennonite Piano Concerto” played by Irmgard Baerg and Betty Suderman.

The 1000 or so guests enjoyed an organ prelude with Wes Heinrichs playing the old hymns of the fifties. Then the Celebration Choir, assembled by Holda Fast Redekopp and Rudy Baerg, took the stage and Bill Baerg conducted the songs of faith and hope, the Kernlieder from our past.  The songs were interspersed by vignettes read by Karen Heidebrecht Thiessen from a script by John Klassen.  These vignettes told of the life and experiences of Mennonites in their journey from Holland to Prussia, Russia, and then Canada.  The stories told of turmoil and peace, want and plenty, leaving home, and new beginnings.  The words of the hymns responded to difficult questions of faith posed by the script.

These stories and songs were echoed by the music of the Mennonite Concerto.  Irmgard Baerg and Betty Suderman superbly played the concerto duet published in 1986 for four hands, two pianos. Many listeners wiped tears as  vignettes and hymns meshed with their own family experiences. One remembered being told that her grandfather had sung “So nimm denn meine Hände” as the Mahknov bandits prepared to take his life.

The ten songs sung by the choir which Victor Davies intertwined to create the concerto were: Wehrlos und Verlassen / In the Rifted Rock I’m Resting;  Wie soll ich Dich empfangen / Oh, How Shall I Receive Thee?; Ein reines Herz, Herr schaff in mir / A Pure Heart Lord, Create in Me; Wirf Sorgen und Schmerz / In Sorrow and Pain;  Wie süss tönt Sabbatglockenklang/  How Sweetly Chime the Sabbath Bells;  O Jesu wievel Gutes / Oh Christ, What Bounteous Kindness;  Shall We Gather at the River;   So nimm denn meine Hände / Take Thou My Hand O Father;  Solang mein Jesus lebt / While my Redeemer’s Near;  Jesu meine Freude / Jesus Priceless Treasure.

 An ad-hoc planning committee consisting of Holda Fast-Redekopp, Rudy Baerg, Ben Stobbe, Dorothy Fast, John Klassen, and Helen Rose Pauls worked hard to streamline the events of the afternoon. They felt rewarded by the outcome and the warm responses of the audience.

A CD of the event ($25) and the script ($5) will preserve these stories and songs for our children. Both are available at the  office. Also available are the CD of the original recording of  the Mennonite Concerto, as well as the video When They Shall Ask, which had this concerto as its score.  Contact the archives at archives@mhsbc.com or call 604-853-617