The Swiss Mennonite Cultural and Historical Association (SMCHA) is
a nonprofit organization comprising descendents of immigrant Mennonites
who came to the USA in the 1870s from what is now the Ukraine.
Their ancestors originated in Switzerland passing through many countries
in Europe including France, Germany, Austria and Poland on their way
to the Ukraine.
Major purposes of the SMCHA are to educate descendents of the Swiss
Mennonites on the origin and culture of this group through various cultural
events, research activities, maintenance of historic places, etc. There
are several thousand of such descendents, many of them located in central
Kansas, South Dakota, and other mid-western states.
The Swiss Mennonite home pages are considered to be
a work in progress. Improvements are always possible. New
materials may be added and factual errors will be corrected.
Some materials will be added and some may be removed Suggestions
for changes of this nature are most welcome and should be forwarded
to a web committee.
Current Events and Announcements
-
January 2012 Monthly Feature:
Indians and Boa
Constrictors: The Making of a Swiss Volhynian Community in the Dakota
Territory
Benjamin Waltner Goossen is a Kansas native and a student of History and
German at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. During the spring
and summer of 2012, he is studying abroad in Germany, where he is
researching German Mennonite history. His maternal grandfather, James H.
Waltner, was born and raised in Freeman, South Dakota, a Swiss Volhynian
Mennonite settlement founded in 1873.
-
Annual Meeting Sunday, March 11, 2012, at 2:30 p.m.
At First Mennonite of Christian in Moundridge
Speaker is David Habegger, Newton KS. Topic will be the history of First
Mennonite Church of Christian. Music by Jerry Voth. Business will include
election of officers and actions related to the Cemetery west of Moundridge
now owned by the Swiss Mennonite Cultural and Historical Association.
- SMCHA Banquet, Thursday, October 20, 2011, 6:00 p.m. at West
Zion Mennonite Church, Moundridge KS
 Gary
J. Waltner, curator of the library and archives at the Mennonite Historical
Society of Germany in Weierhof, will be the speaker at the Swiss Mennonite
Cultural and Historical Association Banquet on Thursday, October 20, 2011,
at 6:00 p.m. at the West Zion Mennonite Church in Moundridge KS. A graduate
of Freeman Jr. College and Bethel College, Gary served a 3-year PAX
assignment in Weierhof, Germany and later taught and was Principal at the
Weierhof Elementary School there. Because of his interest in Mennonite
History, he volunteered at the Mennonitische Forschungsstelle (Mennonite
Research Center) which after retirement led to his current full-time
position. Gary has led numerous historical tour groups through Switzerland,
Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria in the footsteps of the Anabaptists
and Mennonites. Gary’s wife Gisela passed away in October, 2009 after a bout
with cancer. They have three children. Gary will be speaking on a topic
about which he is an authority – “: "E bisseli vun demm und e bissili von
sellem or bits and pieces of our European history." The European roots of
Kansas and South Dakota Schweitzers before the Russian sojourn is the
history he knows best; we will be privileged to hear about that.
While Gary is in the U.S., he will attend “Only Schweitzer Spoken Here” in
Moundridge. He admitted that he loves our dialect which is the basic dialect
spoken in the Palatinate where he lives.
The women of West Zion Mennonite Church will be serving a sausage supper
including poppyseed cake. Reservations for the banquet may be made by
calling Kathy Goering (620-345-8532 email kjgo@mtelco.net) or LaVern Stucky
(620-983-2348 lavern@powwwer.net) or West Zion Mennonite Church
(620-345-6696) before Friday, October 14. Cost is $15/plate.
Come join the Swiss Mennonite Cultural and Historical Association and/or
update your membership of $15/year. All are welcome.
- October 2011 Monthly Feature -
Schweitzer Land
(McPherson & Harvey County, Kansas)
- Minutes for Jul 14, 2011 SMCHA Board meeting
- Minutes for May 5, 2011 SMCHA Board meeting
- Minutes for Mar 20, 2011 SMCHA Board meeting
- Minutes for Feb 10, 2011
Recent Past Events and Announcements
 The
Swiss Mennonite Cultural and Historical Association (SMCHA) scholarship
committee awarded a $250.00 grant to Sarah Pohl, a member of First
Mennonite Church of Christian, Moundridge, KS. Sarah, a sophomore
at Bethel College, North Newton, KS, is participating in a ten-week
Ministry Inquiry program in Reedley, CA. This is a program designed
for exploration of Christian Ministry. Scholarship applications
will again be accepted in July 20, 2011.
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The Swiss Mennonite Cultural and Historical Association - SMCHA