Locarno - Arizona Swiss Society

Arizona Swiss Society
VALLEY ECHO
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Newsletter
www.arizonaswisssociety.com
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SUMMER / FALL 2014
Locarno
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Boyce !Thompson Arboretum State Park
Joint Event with
Arizona Swiss Society Tucson Swiss Club
Austrian Society of Arizona Arizona Center for German Culture
German-American National Congress
D.A.N.K.
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Message from the President
Members and Friends of the Arizona Swiss Society,
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The heat is on, both weather-wise and on the soccer
stage of the World Cup in Brazil. Despite the last minute
knockout against Argentina, I was thrilled by the Swiss
team. With the exception of the game against France,
they showed a strong performance. So did the Americans. With just a little more luck, they could have faced
each other in the quarterfinals. The semifinals are still to
be played by the time I write this editorial, and I decided I
root for the Dutch now. No special reason, except that I like Heineken. Whoever team you were rooting for, I hope this Newsletter finds you in good health and spirit.
Our joint Spring Picnic, together with the Austrian and German Societies, was a huge success. We
had a new record attendance of 160 guests for the event. A big Thank You goes to everyone who
volunteered with the organization, food and microbrews, and entertained with the folk dance. The
Boyce Thompson Arboretum is an impressive place itself and worthy of leisurely discovery any season of the year.
Our next event will be the First of August, Swiss Independence Day, on Sunday, August 3rd, at the
Hall of Flame Museum in Phoenix. We’ll have a great menu and Swiss style entertainment at very little cost of only $5 for members. The Hall of Flame is the largest historical fire museum in the world,
with original pieces dating back to colonial times.
On behalf of the Board of the Arizona Swiss Society - thank you for your continued support and stay
cool!
Sincerely,
Christian Bucher, President
480-621-6195
Christian_Bucher@yahoo.com
Visit us on: Follow us on:
www.facebook.com/ArizonaSwissSociety
www.twitter.com/ArizonaSwiss
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Locarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located
on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps.
It has a population of 14,506. The official language of
Locarno is Italian.
Southern plants such as palm trees or lemon trees
flourish in Locarno and give the city its special
charm. The heart of the city is the Piazza Grande,
well-known for its annual film festival. The narrow
lanes of the Old Town all lead to the Piazza. Castello
Visconteo, a castle dating back to the 12th century,
lies at the edge of the Old Town. About a fifth of the
castle has been preserved in its original state.
The pilgrimage church of Madonna del Sasso is located above Locarno, in Orselina. The church is said
to have been established as a result of an appearance of the Virgin Mary. It is the most notable sight in
Locarno, and boasts an extraordinary view of the
city, the lake and the mountains.
Festival del Film di Locarno
O
My Swiss Story
By LaBriece Ochsner
I think all great stories begin with a dream. My
dream was to become fluent in a second language: to
breathe it, live it, love it. Born and raised in Berkeley,
California, I had studied French in school for seven
frustrating and fruitless years. After graduating from
the University of California at San Diego in 1994 and
completing an exchange term at Dartmouth College
my senior year, I met a German student there who
was from the Technical University in Aachen, Germany. I decided German could be the language for
me (perhaps not as romantic as French but I preferred it anyway). So off I went to Aachen to enroll in a six-month immersion language program designed for their foreign students to gain proficiency in the German language. It was 5 hours a day, 5 days a
week, with no English spoken or known by any of the teachers
or other students! Needless to say I was tired a lot and had a
constant headache from trying to understand what was being
said and taught. But with a lot of listening on my part, it
worked! By the end of the six months I passed the exam and
could read, write and speak High-German. Still, I didn’t breathe
it, or truly love it. I lived it because that is what I was surrounded by. I needed more, I wanted more. After returning to
the States and saving up enough money, I flew again to
Europe. This time I chose Switzerland, a favorite country of
mine thanks to my beloved childhood book HEIDI. I thought I
would try a work-abroad program and live with a host family.
I worked at Migros City in Zurich stocking shelves and as a
cashier. It was nothing exotic or even particularly fun, but I
did learn some of the nuances of Mundart versus HochDeutsch and although in my opinion they are nothing like each other, my High-German background
laid the foundation for learning the language that captured my heart: Swiss-German.
continued on next page
continued:
The Ochsner Family
Fast forward to 1999. I found myself married to a Swiss man, mother to
my first child (Alexander, now 15), and living in Switzerland. Initially I
struggled with the culture and communication. My language skills were
still only mediocre at best. I looked ‘foreign’ and was an unemployed, athome Hausfrau and mother. I did what I knew best: I listened. I refused
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people’s offer to speak High-German to me as I was determined to learn
the true language of the Swiss. One can only understand the people and
their ways if one can speak the language. We stayed for seven years. By
the last year I had transformed myself from the obvious American making stupid (and sometimes unknowingly rude) mistakes, to a person able to speak Swiss-German with such fluency and without an English accent
that the Swiss themselves often thought I’d grown up there.
In 2006, pregnant with my 2nd child (Shani, now 7), we decided to leave my
husband’s sunny mountain village home-town of Einsiedeln and relocate to
the even sunnier (and of course hotter) Arizona, where my brother and his
family resided. Here in Arizona we settled in Surprise where we had our
3rd child in 2010 (Savanah, 4). I spoke exclusively Swiss-German with both
of the girls from birth on and they, as well as of course their older
brother (who attended Swiss Kindergarten and First grade), are bilingual
and extraordinarily successful in the American schools.
In the summer of 2012 Patrick became an American citizen. In the summer of 2013, after only 6 months of waiting instead of the typical 2 years, I became a Swiss citizen. Friends and family had asked me why I wanted to
become Swiss. Good question, although it seemed so obvious to me: BECAUSE I AM SWISS. The paperwork was just making it official. My hus-
band is Swiss, my three children are Swiss, I lived in Switzerland, worked there, and have close friends there. I understand that being Swiss is more than fireworks on the 1st of August or Gipfeli for breakfast. Being Swiss is a part of me. It is in my soul, and it got there through the language. My dream came true… I breathe Swiss, live Swiss, and love Swiss: I AM SWISS.
Arizona Swiss Society Takes Flight with Solar Impulse!
The First Flight from Solar Impulse 2 took off
on June 2, 2014
The Arizona Swiss Society accompanied test pilot Markus Scherdel on his historic first test flight of the Solar
Impulse HB-SIB, or Si2, from the Payerne military airbase. The newly constructed Solar Impulse solar airplane is designed and built to fly around the world in 2015. Your Board approved supporting this epic project that is making Switzerland proud by purchasing two solar cells on the wings for just under $500. Our
solar cells are located in the first row of the wings’ leading edges just behind each of the outside engines.
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You can find cells 2840 and 7912 on
http://www.solarimpulse.com/en/join-us/supporters-program/?utm_source=site&utm_medium=thumbnail&utm_content=join-us&utm_campai
gn=supporters#.U7HyH_ldWSo, just enter the cell number in the field “FINDING YOUR SOLAR CELL.”
What is Si2?
This revolutionary single-seat aircraft made of carbon fiber has a 72
meter wingspan (larger than that of the Boeing 747) but weighing just
2,300 Kg, equivalent to that of a car. The 17,000 solar cells built into
the wing supply four electric motors (17.5 CV each) with renewable energy. During the day, the solar cells recharge lithium batteries weighing 633 Kg (2077 lbs.) which allow the aircraft to fly at night and therefore to have virtually unlimited autonomy. Unlike electric cars, Si2
doesn’t get plugged in at all. Rather, to initially charge the batteries it
takes sunbaths, then recharges during flight. Larger wingspan than a
747 but only 2,300 Kg? Only the Swiss could engineer such a masterpiece.
Behind Si2 is a small army of engineers, modern pioneers, corporate
support, mission control, ground crew, communications, and of course
the two charismatic pilots and co-founders Bertrand Picard and André
Borschberg. The Arizona Swiss Society will be with them for the rest of the project in including their Round the World flight in 2015.
Go to www.solarimpulse.com to get more information on the “Round the World” (RTW) adventure and to support the program yourself.
HONORARY SWISS CONSUL FOR ARIZONA
Alisa C. Jost
7320 E. Shoeman Lane, Suite 201
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Tel 480-329-4705
Fax 480-945-4350
E-Mail: phoenix@honrep.ch
www.swissemb.org
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All correspondence should be sent to the following address:
Consulate General of Switzerland
456 Montgomery Street, Suite 1500
San Francisco, CA 94104-1233
Tel: 415-788-2272 * Fax 415-788-1402
email: vertretung@eda.admin.ch
www.eda.admin.ch/sanfrancisco!
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All you want to know about Swiss News
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Swiss community:
www.swisscommunity.org
Is the platform for Swiss Abroad. Connects Swiss people worldwide.
Newly Swissed:
www.newlyswissed.com
Is a new media agency. Topics will be presented from around Switzerland: Design, Events,
Culture, Tourism and Curiosities.
My Swiss Video:
www.myswissvideo.com
Shows exclusively videos with Swiss roots and offers a more nuanced, more vivid and
realistic picture of Switzerland.
Swiss Center of North America:
www.theswisscenter.org
All about Culture, Heritage and Roots.
The Swiss Center of North America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located and
incorporated in Wisconsin. We are dedicated to connecting, archiving, showcasing, educating,
promoting and celebrating all that is Swiss in North America.
Swiss Review:
www.revue.ch
This is the magazine for the Swiss abroad with regional news, culture, politics, the
parliament etc. from Switzerland. Regional Swiss Review appears four times a year.
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Interlaken Student Farewell Party
From April 5-21, 2014, Scottsdale hosted the seventh bi-annual youth exchange with their Sister City, Interlaken, Switzerland. Begun in 1999 by then Swiss Consul Max Haechler, Superintendent Don Enz, and Principal of the Gymnasium Interlaken, Helmut Reichen, this unique
school-to-school exchange has placed nearly one hundred Scottsdale Schools students in
Swiss homes for two weeks, and in turn, Scottsdale has hosted nearly one hundred students
over the past 15 years. Twelve Swiss students and two teachers enjoyed our hospitality for
two weeks in April, attending Coronado, Arcadia and Desert Mountain High Schools in addition
to sites around Scottsdale and Arizona such as the Grand Canyon, Phoenix Art Museum, Musical Instrument Museum, and Desert Botanical Gardens. The use of social networking has improved the long-term communication between these exchange brothers and sisters, as they
can exchange pictures and information before and after the trip. Many have or will return to
stay with their Swiss families in the future, and lifelong friendships have been made. The fare-
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well BBQ was held at the home of Max and Elsbeth Haechler, with help from John Thornton,
Anthony Haechler and the SSCA Board of Directors.
Students involved in the 2013-2014 exchange:
Arcadia
Katerine Cowdry hosted Rahel Weinekoetter, Matten
Lili Donnenwirth hosted Nathalie Gees, Meiringen
Emily Marderness hosted Sara von Kaenel, Scharnachtal
Coronado
Savannah Thalheimer hosted Janine Meyer, Wilderswil
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Elizabeth Munoz hosted Maria Winterberger, Meiringen
Angelica Ramon hosted Chantal Griesser, Boenigen
Desert Mountain
Tala Masri hosted Tanja Haenggi, Wilderswil
Samantha Matta hosted Susanna Schmied, Ringgenberg
Mehek Mohan hosted Larissa Liechti, Unterseen
Emma Westerhoff hosted Laura Ogi, Interlaken
Ashley Norman hosted Caroline Widmer, Brienz
Tijana Cooley hosted Linda Mathys, Grindelwald
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Fussball WM 2014
Die Schweizer fiebern mit der Nationalmannschaft mit und zeigen stolz die Schweizer Fahne!
Nicht nur am 1. August, auch eine WM animiert Schweizer ihre Fahne zu zeigen. Man sieht in der
ganzen Schweiz Autos, Balkone, Gärten etc. die mit Schweizer Fahnen geschmückt sind. CH-Ecuador CH-France
CH-Honduras CH-Argentinien 2:1
2:5
3:0
0:1
Leider sind sie ausgeschieden.
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Ruth passed away peacefully
Saturday morning, July 19th, 2014
We report with sadness that Ruth Brandy, a dear friend to many, and a longtime
and honorary member of the Arizona Swiss Society, passed away.
Ruth generously contributed much time and expertise to our society. She started the VALLEY ECHO, our newsletter, and developed it into a valuable communica-
tions tool. She was extraordinarily conscientious about getting the VALLEY ECHO out on time and including in it many informative items, often funny, and sometimes with important official information. And who does not remember Ruth the Photogra
pher taking pictures at our events and including them cleverly in the newsletter, thus giving it a very attractive look. Ruth also for many years opened our picnics !
and formal meals with a thoughtful and down to earth prayer, reminding us how lucky we were to be gathered together and enjoy a day of Swiss companionship.
Ruth will be missed by all who knew her. She was very capable and intelligent. She was not afraid to speak her mind, but people appreciated her opinions, because her aim was always to do the best for our society. Most of
all, Ruth had a good heart; even if her day did not go too well, she managed to make other people feel better with her humor and by helping others whenever she could.
Good bye Ruth from all of us. May you rest in peace.
P.S. At this point we have no precise information about a future memorial service for Ruth. We will let you know
when details become available.
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Upcoming event
October 19th, 2014
RESERVE THE DATES
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History of Switzerland
The Confederacy of 13 Members
With Solothurn and Fribourg (Freiburg) that entered into the confederacy in 1481, Basel Stadt and Land
and Schaffhausen in 1501 and Appenzell in 1513 the confederacy now had 13 members.
Admission of Fribourg and Solothurn
In 1477 the confederates did quite disagree on the future of the confederacy: The rural communes Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug and Glarus allied themselves with the bishop of Constance, the cities of Berne, Lucerne and Zurich with the cities of Fribourg and Solothurn. The
admission of Fribourg and of Solothurn to the confederacy became a breaking test for the
confederacy.
The rural communes feared dominance of the cities and did not want to enlarge the old Swiss
Niklaus von der Flüh
confederacy. Finally in 1481 a suggestion of Niklaus of Flüe, a former peasant, commander of troops, politician and respected judge in Obwalden, that had withdrawn from public life and lived as a hermit, found a way for the admission of Fribourg and Solothurn. The treaty is called "Stanser Verkommnis" [agreement at Stans].
In 1803 the following six cantons
deration.
entered into the Confe!
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The six cantons are
1. _______________
4. _______________
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2. _______________
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3. ______________
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5. ______________
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6. ______________
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If you unscramble the word you get the answer: NEGASTELL
BANGRÜNUD
AUGARA
AGURUTH
NESSIT
TAWAD
Answer
In the last issue did you know the answer? It was Solothurn, Fribourg, Basel Stadt and Land, Schaffhausen and Appenzell.
Board for 2014
President
Christian Bucher
Committee Members:
Vice President
John Thornton
Newsletter
Treasurer
Fred Kohler
Sylvia Brunner Reichen Editor
Suzanne Steadman
Wood Rudolph
Secretary
Nancy Tossell
Sunshine Committee
Activity Chairs
Susan Oake
Kurt Schittli
Ron Tossell
Elsbeth Haechler
Yvonne Zaugg
Historian
Sigrid Kuster
Webmaster
SocialMedia Coordinator
Philipp Reichen
Membership Chair
Past President
Max Kuenzle
Doris Torres
Entertainment Coordinator Ellen Muskatevc
Investment Committee
Ex-Officio:
Honorary Swiss Consul Alisa C. Jost
Swiss Consul Emeritus Max Haechler
Arizona Swiss Society
Sylvia Brunner Reichen
7101 W. Beardsley RD #1103
Glendale, AZ 85308
Vivian Stearns-Kohler
Adviser
John Thornton, Chair
Christian Bucher
Fred Kohler
Ueli Zaugg