German Canadian Harmony Hall had a busy 2019, looking forward to 2020

Justin Seward
Commentator/Courier

The German Canadian Harmony Hall in Redcliff has had another great year in 2019 and looks to build on that success heading into 2020.
“The Harmony Hall has been very busy this year,” said Linda Cleveland, member on the board of directors. “We had a lot of booked outside events. We had weddings, anniversaries, a school from Redcliff had their Grade 6 graduation, we had a basketball club out in Redcliff have a year-end wind up. So we’ve got not just adult things going on but we’ve got youth events coming in which is great for the hall.”
Cleveland says with the increase in youth events, it is good exposure for the young people to the German culture of the hall. The club hosts a dinner or lunch once a month and always a dance.
“We get upwards of 90 to 100 people on an average,” she said. “It’s open to members and non-members. Anyone wanting to come out and have a good evening, they’re usually lots of fun. We have one of the
best hardwood dance floors in Alberta but for sure in the surrounding area.”
Cleveland says their dance themes are about promoting a culture, especially a German culture.
“We just did the Cowboy Poetry in September, which was the agricultural, farming, ranching people,” she said. “So past history of what the previous executive and membership had going, we stick to that and sometimes what the month is. February is always Valentine’s, April is always spring (dance) and May is Mother’s Day, June is Father’s Day. Now October comes and that is always typically Oktoberfest.”
A January dance is planned to start off 2020.
The German Canadian Harmony Club currently has 70 members, which according to Cleveland is low due to decrease of German members.
“We’d like it to be better,” she said. “But what’s happening is our German population and therefore members are aging and so to come out to a dance, maybe they’re not able to do that. We’d like for our membership to be higher numbers, so anyone is invited to join the club if they’d like, especially if they’re coming on a regular basis to our events.”
The board discussed last year of bringing younger people in, ages 40-60, and brought in the Phoenix band, which was a younger group and the club did well with a sold-out show.
“Some of those new people to our event started coming on a regular basis to our other dinner and dances. That was our objective by bringing in band that hadn’t played there before,” she said. “I think we were successful on that. We’re always talking among ourselves or at our meetings what can we do, how can we attract people to our events and how can we attract people to our membership.”
The hall will be hosting a Christmas dinner on Dec. 14, followed by a New Year’s Eve dinner and dance. The club will have a big year in 2020 with it being their 60th anniversary celebration on Oct. 3.
More information on upcoming events can be found at https://www.harmonyhall.site/events.

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