The RGV German Club has received a $7,000 grant from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs to host a St. Martin’s lantern parade Nov. 11 in Brownsville.
“The club is organized as a nonprofit corporation, which allows us to take donations and it also gave us the standing to apply for this grant,” said Arno Forst, an assistant accounting professor and faculty adviser. “So we have an actual legal entity for the German government and I think they really like to support [us] because we are so geographically isolated.”
The lantern parade will be held as part of Germany’s comprehensive and collaborative public diplomacy campaign, The Deutschlandjahr 2018-2019, which has the goal of presenting today’s Germany to people across the United States, Forst said.
“We felt that we needed an event that would be speaking to families and young kids,” he said. “St. Martin is the patron saint of the poor. … It involves a bonfire and children make lanterns, so it’s a lantern parade.”
The parade will take place in downtown Brownsville and it will end at a public place with a bonfire and German songs.
“It is also for people who can’t afford to go to a classical music concert. … It’s free and I think it’s going to be really cute,” Forst said.
Natalia Davila, president of the German club, said the organization needs volunteers to help prepare for the event.
“Reach us, please, to RGV German Club. We have our Facebook or you can always email me to natalia.davila01@utrgv.edu,” Davila said. “We really need a lot of help for this. It’s a big event.”
The next event for the club is “German Beer Day,” April 21, with tap beer, food and entertainment.
“It’s going to be downtown on the Market Square,” Davila said. “It’s a really big event. It’s going to be 300 to 500 people. … It’s going to be cultural. … We’re going to have a lot of songs.”
The club will visit Germany this summer to take a language, philosophy and culture class.
“We’ve been planning this trip to Germany the whole year,” she said. “Taking a big group of 20 people to Germany is not easy. We’re just really excited that people are going to see a new culture, new people and it’s going to be a life-changing experience.”
To volunteer for the parade or become a member of the German club, email Davila, or Forst at arno.forst@utrgv.edu.
