Written by Dr. Judith Hecker, German teacher
What is the best way to celebrate German-American Friendship Month? Why, marching in the Steuben Parade, of course.
On Sept. 21, 50 Garden City Middle School German students and parent chaperones marched up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in the parade held each year on or near the birthday of its namesake: Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben.
A Prussian officer, von Steuben joined George Washington’s army in 1778 in Valley Forge, PA, and trained the colonial troops to become a skilled fighting force.
In addition to von Steuben, the parade celebrates the many contributions of other German-Americans to this country, such as Carl Schurz, our first Secretary of the Interior, Johann Roebling and son, who built the Brooklyn Bridge, Dwight Eisenhower, U.S. President and Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during WW II, and many others.
Grand marshals of the parade have included Supreme Court Justice Ute Wolf Lally, super model Carole Alt, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. This year’s Grand Marshals were soccer legend Werner Roth, German Bundestag member Harald Leibrecht, and Christian Dinkelacker, CEO of Dinkelacker * Schwaben Braü.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
