1971

1971 wasn't the best year for the Green White first team, but it was pretty obvious that the times they were a changin. Team manager Rudi Hrbacek was mixing in some of the younger players (like Peter Mathes) along with the mainstays like Joe Laxgang (photo), John Woolfe, Steve Zimmer, and Nick Willer, and though the team didn't quite make it back up to the Major Division, they were close.

The club celebrated their 15th anniversary in 1971, and paid homage to the players that had helped make Green White into what it had become. Joe Laxgang was singled out, because he had now played in over 600 games with either the first team or the reserves. Stefan Zimmer wasn't far behind with over 500, and three others had logged more than 400 (Nick Willer, Albin Schwarz, and Rudi Hrbacek). Others honored that night included the over-300 club (Sam Berleth, Stefan Laxgang, and George Polaretzki), and the 250-club (Fred Ott, Alex Gyurko, Stefan Strumberger, and Klaus Kilian).

President Martin Schneider wrote the following in the 15th anniversary program book...

“Dear sports friends, a hearty welcome to all of you on the occasion of our fifteenth anniversary. It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since this small group of soccer friends from the Donauschwaben Jugendgruppe formed this club. 15 years that have brought us on a journey all the way to the Major Division. Yes, we have slid backwards for a short time and currently reside in the First Division, but our pride and joy is our young talent. They represent our future. Like all other German-American clubs, we can no longer rely on players coming here from the homeland. I think Green White has been on the right path in that regard for the past few years. With our wonderful homegrown talent, I’m absolutely certain we will move back up to the Major Division soon.

Since our tenth anniversary we have made two trips to Germany, once with our men’s team (1967) and once with our junior team (1970). Both trips were a big success, providing great competition and camaraderie. We’re also in the midst of renovating our clubhouse, and we’re working closely with the Donauschwaben to also find a regular field for Green White.

In conclusion, I’d like to express my gratitude and thanks to all of the hard workers on the Green White board over these past 15 years. Without your sacrifice and diligence, we certainly wouldn’t be here tonight celebrating our anniversary. We’re a big club with over 300 members, and we can be very proud of them all. We’re on the right path and our future looks bright.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening tonight, and I encourage you to continue to make our clubhouse the center of your sporting life."

Green White Youth

As Martin Schneider mentioned, the youth program was very strong. But that didn't stop the Green White newsletter from making the following observation early in 1971...

“It’s sad to report that things aren’t going quite as well as they should with the youth team this year because some of the players just aren’t taking their training as seriously as they should. It’s too big of a job for one man—currently Nick Racz, the manager of the team. He needs some help. Whoever is willing to volunteer must understand the youth of today—not the easiest thing to understand.”

The mindset of the Green White old guard was pretty obvious, and was reflected perfectly by the title of a much ballyhooed father-son game. They called it: "The Generation Gap Game". It was held on August 29.

Hans Metzinger Jr. remembers it as one of the highlights of his Green White career. "Playing in that father-son game with the Green White Juvenile team in 1971 at Welles Park was a special memory. It was probably the biggest crowd to ever watch a youth soccer game in Green White history."

Among the dads on the field that day: Christian Kidric, Frank Schmidt, Walter Dinkel, Hans Metzinger, Steve Friedrich, Lou Massong, Frank Olah, Micheal Meiss, Martin Schneider, Franz Hehn, Gustave Stark, Mathias Mayer, Adam Knoll, Hans Pfatschbacher, and Stefan Lemann. They faced off against their sons Gerhardt, Frank, Tom, Hans, Steve, Lou, Frank, Mike, Guenther, Gus, Gerhard, Joe, Hans, and Manfred.

The sons came out victorious, winning the game 6 to 3.

The youngest Green White team, the Midget "B" team, also showed signs of things to come. Manager Simon Andres and trainer Stefan Laxgang reported in the Green White newsletter that the boys were improving every year and forming a very strong disciplined club. Among the goal scorers at that point of the season: Mike Andres, Mike Hrbacek, Richard Schneider, and Robert Klaus. Other players included Michael Blaas, Frank Schmalz, Markus Laxgang, Robert and Tony Bless, Walter Stadler, Nick Racz, and Mike Kraemer. Many of those names would make their mark at every stage of their Green White development.

Green White Women

The first Green White women's team took the field in 1971, coached by Klaus Kilian. One of the mainstays of that team was Maria Zimmer (photo), who remembers that time very fondly. "Our first game was against Schwaben," she recalls. "We formed a league a few years later with teams like the Chicago Kickers, Park Ridge Orange Crush, Real FC, Schwatben and a Hoffman Estates team. In those early years, I played in the midfield."



Green White Off the Field

President of Green White was Martin Schneider and the VP was Peter Hehn. The rest of the executive board was Alex Jordan—Treasurer, Eckhard Kaempfer—Secretary, Anton Kirschner—Protocol Secretary, Horst Melcher—General Manager. Among the other board members and coaches: Martin Rutterschmidt, Ottmar Scheer, Heinrich Bischoff, Franz Stadler, Mathias Kraemer, Otto Fladischer, Fritz Becker, Fred Feichtel, Adam Kessler, Helmut Jicha, Peter Berger, Adam Harjung, Christian Kidric, Franz Schmidt, Stefan Friedrich, Hans Kolleng, Josef Schuster, Heinrich Wittje.

The president of the women’s club was Sue Hauptmann (shown here with fellow board members Anni Scheer, Hilde Kaempfer, and Trude Stadler). The big event of the year was a family bowling night at Golf Mill bowling alley in May.

Miss Green White 1971 was Anni Richter. The 15th annivesary program book described her this way: "She came to the U.S in 1963, and became an active member of the Donauschwaben youth group, eventually becoming their president in 1969-1970. She attends the University of Illinois (circle campus), and is studying languages. She speaks German, English, French and Spanish!"

1971 Green White Babies

A bevy of future Green White players were born in 1971 including...Brian Bischoff, Greg Boltz, Keith Andersson, Chris Ryan and Les Rebbeck.


In Pop Culture

~The number one hit of the year was "Joy to the World"

~The top show on television was "All in the Family"

~The Best Picture Academy Award went to The French Connection


Elsewhere in 1971

~Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin became the first to ride in a lunar rover on the Moon.

~Evil Knieval set a record by jumping 19 cars with his motorcycle.

~The New York Times printed the Pentagon Papers.

~Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida.


COMING NEXT MONTH: 1972. The Green White youth program pays dividends.

As always, if you have any thing to add or correct in this month’s installment, please drop me a line at amishrick@yahoo.com. I consider this a group project, and a work in progress, so we can add and subtract until we get it all exactly correct. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please do.

1970

In 1970 the National Soccer League expanded the Major Division from 8 teams to twelve. But after a few years of very solid play, Green White was a team in transition that year. Long time team captain Adam Kaempf was contemplating leaving the club. His brother Georg had already gone to the Kickers.

"I was listening to the German radio on a Saturday morning and the announcer Manfred Gursch said: 'Big news! Georg Kaempf has signed with the Kickers.' I said 'WHAT? That son of a gun didn't even tell me he was leaving. I still give him a hard time about that. My own brother, and I heard the news on the radio."

And, while some of the former mainstays were leaving or retiring or playing with the reserves, some of the young new stars were also away from the team, playing in college. The NCAA rules prohibited them from playing on a club team at the same time. So, players like Joe Laxgang, Nick Willer (photo), Leo Skorohod, and Johnny Woolfe gave it their all, but at the end of the season it wasn't quite enough. Green White was relegated back to the First Division.

Adam Kaempf made his farewell official at the end of the year. "Why did I leave Green White? You know, to be honest, trying to think back now what my reason was, I'm just not even sure anymore. I really loved the club. My wife was very involved with the women's club. The kids loved the clubhouse. I look back on that time as the best time of my life."


Green White Youth

While the men's team was struggling, the rest of the Green White teams were showing the older guys how it was done. The Junior team remained dominant, finishing in first place once again. In July, they took that team to Germany where they played against Ebingen, Tailfingen and Reutlingen.

The younger teams were following in the footsteps of the older boys. The midget boys "A" team, trained by Green White's first big star Stefan Laxgang, started off strong (beating teams like Hansa and Real F.C. 8-0 and 9-0), and they continued on that path all season. The midget "B" team coached by Simon Andres also played well.

The Green White youth system appeared to be stocked with enough good young players to keep them competitive for the next fifteen years.


Green White Off the Field

The Green White board was led by the husband-wife team of Matz and Joanne Kraemer. (Matz was the President of the men's club, while Joanne was the president of the Women's club.)

And while the men's team was in transition on the field, the board of directors for both the men's and women's side read like a Who's Who of Green White history. On the senior board, names like Martin Schneider, Josef Schuster, Eckhard Kaempfer, Alex Jordan, Horst Melcher, Martin Ruterschmidt, Fred Feichtel, Franz Stadler, Rudi Hrbacek, Adam Harjung, Toni Kirschner, Heinrich Bischoff, Ottmar Scheer, and Walter Melcher. On the women's board--Maria Zimmer, Hedy Klaus, Trudi Stadler, and Maria Blaas.

Green White didn't have to work at creating a family atmosphere, because they were a family. Even though most of the members no longer played soccer, the Green White games were still the hub of activity for the week. The families hung out together on the weekends.

There were 235 members of Green White in 1970, and nearly all of them still lived in Chicago. A few families had begun to move to the suburbs (in towns like Mt. Prospect, Des Plaines, Schiller Park, Niles, Bensenville, Morton Grove, Hoffman Estates, and Prospect Heights), but they still attended most of the Green White events.

(Photo: Mr. Green White Steve Zimmer entertaining the crowd at the Green White family picnic)

1970 Green White Babies

*Tony Melcher

*Future first team player Peter Kaempfer




*

*Tanja Feichtel








Elsewhere in soccer, 1970

The 1970 World Cup was held in Mexico, and is considered one of the all-time classics. The final four featured Brazil vs. Uruguay, and West Germany vs. Italy. Naturally the Green White crowd was following this closely. The Germany game was particularly exciting; considered by some to the be the greatest World Cup game ever. After 90 minutes the score was tied 1-1. Two goals were scored in injury time to make it 2-2. It went to into overtime and once again each team scored, making it 3-3. Italy finally scored a fourth goal in the 111th minute to win the game. Franz Beckenbauer played the last few minutes of the overtime session with a broken clavicle because both replacements had already entered the game.

Of course the real star of the 1970 World Cup was Pele. He led Brazil to their third World Cup title.


In Pop Culture

~The number one song of the year was "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel.

~The most popular show on television was "Marcus Welby, M.D."

~The Academy Award winning film was "Patton" starring George C. Scott


Elsewhere in 1970

~Two consecutive days of huge snow storms crippled the city on March 25 and 26, among the ten worst back to back days of snow in Chicago history.

~Vietnam War protestors at Kent State University clashed with National Guard troops. The National Guard fired into the crowd, killing four, and wounding nine.

~The Beatles broke up after the release of their album "Let it Be"

~Ernie Banks hit his 500th career home run, and Hank Aaron & Willie Mays got their 3000th hits.

~Cigarette Ads were banned on television.


Coming next month: 1971. Green White celebrates its 15th anniversary.

As always, if you have any thing to add or correct in this month’s installment, please drop me a line at amishrick@yahoo.com. I consider this a group project, and a work in progress, so we can add and subtract until we get it all exactly correct. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please do.

1969

Coming off their strong 1968, Green White had high hopes for 1969. Manager Rudi Hrbacek's club got off to a good start, making it all the way to the finals of the Illinois Amateur Cup. Unfortunately, with player of the year John Woolfe hospitalized, and two of their other stars (Szabo and Mavric) classified as "pros" (and therefore, ineligible to play in the Amateur Cup), Green White fell one game short once again.

The Eagles won the Cup, 3-0.

But 1969 had a few memorable highlights, as well. Joe Laxgang (photo), a fixture on the team since the very beginning, played in his 500th game for Green White. Then, in August, Green White hosted a team from Germany; SC Reutlingen. Several members of the board took the Germans to Harry Kempf's "Treffpunkt" restaurant, and then escorted them to the Donauschwaben tournament to play Green White on the field. After a very close 2-1 Green White victory, SC Reutlingen gave special gifts to Green White members Peter Hehn, Josef Schuster, Matz Kraemer, Eckhard Kaempfer, and Martin Schneider to thank them for their hospitality.

At the end of the regular season, Green White was in the middle of the pack of the Major Division.


Green White Youth

But while the men's team was scuffling a bit, the Green White youth team had a season for the ages; simply one of the most dominant seasons in Chicago soccer history. The goal differential for Green White's Junior team was a sickening 200:4 in 26 games. They easily defeated the Liths 6-0 in the city championship game.

The star player of that team was Hansi Mayer. Hansi scored an astounding 61 goals.

Trainer Fritz Fernbach (photo) also took the boys to training camp that season in Genoa City. According to the Green White newsletter, the boys did something better than excel at soccer there. They behaved well...

"Our boys made a great impression--the people running the camp were very impressed by their good behavior, especially since the last few teams that came there from Milwaukee and Chicago (including, sadly, some our fellow German clubs) had to be sent home after one night for bad behavior. Our boys represented Green White with honor."

Unfortunately, not all of the Green White youth were quite as upstanding. It appears that there was a bit of an issue at the New Years Eve party. The Green White newsletter reported the news this way...

"Because the price was $10 for all you can eat or drink, a few of the youth members from the Donauschaben took a little advantage of the situation, if you know what I mean, and this caused some problems. We’ll have to be more careful in the future."


Green White Off the Field

The women's club led by Julie Kaempf (Pres), Stella Polaretzki (VP), Martha Hrbacek (Sec), Maria Zimmer (Rec. Sec) and Maria Blaas (Treas) kept the club hopping. They had all sorts of events for the kids and the grown ups.

In March they organized two outings; a bowling night, and a dinner at the Bismark Hotel followed by a Blackhawks game at the Stadium (against the Maple Leafs). In April they put on a special Western-themed dance, where all the good German cowboys and cowgirls dressed in traditional Wild West costumes. In July, they took all the kids to a Ladies Day game at Wrigley Field. (Little Ricky Kaempfer kept his scorecard that day. The Cubs beat the Pirates 7-5, and four future Hall of Famers homered; Stargell, Clemente, Williams, & Santo). On July 26th, the same week Neil Armstrong took his one giant leap for mankind, the Green White ladies helped the men organize a big picnic/pig roast at Rock Lake.

But those activities paled in achievement to the collective accomplishment of four Miss Green Whites. Julie Hehn (1966), Ingrid Winterkorn (1967), Marianne Oswald (1968), and Annie Schuster (1969) formed a singing group called "Das Heimatquartett". They released an album on IRC Records which got quite a bit of airplay on the German radio stations. IRC Records is the same record label that recorded Green White's house band (Die Goldene Drei), and some famous radio personalities in Chicago, including Dick Biondi ("The Pizza Song") and WGN's Franklyn MacCormack ("Why Do I Love You").


Green White Babies

The Gyurko (photo), Laxgang, Polaretzki, Jordan, Harjung, Franz, Scheer, Albrecht, and Kilian families all had baby girls in 1969.

The Filian, Schlenhardt, Melcher, Wambach, and Skorohod families bucked the trend by having boys (Norbert, Tom, Kurt, James, Paul).






In Pop Culture

~The number one hit of the year was "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" by The Fifth Dimension.

~The number one show on television was still "Rowan & Martin's: Laugh In"

~And the Academy Award winning film in 1969 was "Midnight Cowboy"



Elsewhere in 1969

~Green White's own Nick Wirs returned from his tour of duty in Vietnam, but while he was gone, public opinion had changed. That summer 250,000 people marched on Washington to protest the war.

~The John Hancock Building was completed in Chicago. The Green White logo was changed to incorporate it.

~In August, the Woodstock Music Festival was held in upstate New York. Among the performers; Joan Baez, Santana, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly & the Family Stone, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker, The Band, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Jimi Hendrix.

~Charles Manson and his crazed followers went on a murder spree in California.

~Edward Kennedy was involved in the death of woman in what became known as the Chappaquiddick Affair.

-Two Iconic television shows debuted: "Sesame Street" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus".


Next month: 1970

As always, if you have any thing to add or correct in this month’s installment, please drop me a line at amishrick@yahoo.com. I consider this a group project, and a work in progress, so we can add and subtract until we get it all exactly correct. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please do.

1968

In 1968 Green White made history by having their first ever "Player of the Year". That honor went to John Woolfe. At the Sport, Radio and Press Ball he was given the trophy by the former coach of the German National Team, Sepp Herrberger himself.

This was the write up about John in the 1968 "Gruen Weiss Vor" newsletter...

John was born in Manchester, England, a famous soccer town. In fact, as John tells us, the soccer team Manchester United was in the top of the first division. John went to high school at Mt. Carmel and later St. Gregory's College, where he majored in math. Right now he works for material control at Motorola.

John has been playing soccer since he was "knee-high to a grasshopper," about the age of two or three. He played in the Northeast of England vs. West game, which was a testing for the Olympics.

In March of 1965, John came to America. One day he read in the newspaper that a soccer team by the name of Green White was playing against the Lions. He called George Kaempf, who told him to come out and see the game. John liked the guys, found a regular schedule, and signed up.

When asked if it sometimes feel strange that everyone around him is speaking German he said: "No, soccer is the same all over the world. I understand all the dialogue in a soccer game. Anyway, some people speak English to me, and although I know a couple of German words, I wish I could speak it better."

His favorite soccer players are Adolf and Florian Bachmeier from the Kickers, and Ed Murphy of the Mustangs, whom he really learned a lot from during an indoor game.

Among some of John's favorite activities are skiing and tennis. He belongs to a ski club at work, which takes up a great deal of his time. But, of course, his favorite sport is soccer, which we all approve of. We hope he sticks to it!

Naturally, John will stay with Green White.

1968 marked the first season that Green White did not participate in any indoor games, because the indoor league folded. But when outdoor season rolled around, the team was tremendously strong. Leo Skorochod pointed out that in addition to the player of the year, and the incredible captain Adam Kaempf, the future looked bright because of young up and comer Rudi Mayer (photo). "We simply have the best players in the league playing for Green White."

The first team played in the finals of the Open Cup against the Olympics, and came up just short--a 2-1 loss. Nick Wirs said after the game: "So close, and yet so far".

Green White avenged that loss in the regular season, beating the Olympics 3-1, but once again they ended the season in second place, one point behind Schwaben. Adam Wambach spoke for the fans when he said: "We have been a bridesmaid much too often, let's be a bride for a change!"

Manager Horst Melcher promised a championship for the next season.

Green White youth

There were so many kids that wanted to play for Green White, a "B" team was added to the youth side. Alex Gyurko volunteered to take that team, called the Midgets. They traveled to Springfield and won 1-0.

The older boys team was incredible. One of the stars on that team was a goalkeeper named Hartmut Ritter. He played tremendously well, leading the team to 5-1 win over Schwaben in the opener. But that was just the start. It was a season of complete and total domination, which featured wins with scores like 12-1 and 17-0. In a game against Tabor, Green White won 16-0, and Hansi Mayer scored six goals. He added another three in the 10-0 win against Hansa. At the end of the season their goal differential stood at 63:5, and they were the champions of the league.

The Junior team (the oldest youth team) was also very strong. The goalkeeper for the Juniors, Mike Winter, was even chosen for the U.S. Junior National team.


Green White Off the Field

The social calender for 1968 was jam-packed once again: Ski trips to Rib mountain (in January—which included a rowdy all-night birthday celebration for Joe Laxgang, and a broken foot for Helen Wambach) and Alpine Valley (in February) and Michigan (in March), another table tennis tournament (in February, in which Green White kicked the Kickers butt), another Dating Game night (March), and even a trip to Canada over Labor Day weekend.

Hans Bittenbinder was the president in 1968, but nobody wanted to be the treasurer. After much debate, Eckhard Kaempfer finally agreed to take the position, and Wilhelm Franz took over Kaempfer’s secretary position. In the fall, Marianne Oswald was named Miss Green White.

The Women's Club was led by president Stella Polaretzki (and fellow board members Hilde Kaempfer, Joanna Kraemer, Hedi Klaus and Helen Hertl). Their big event of the year was a beach party at Montrose Beach, followed by an indoor beach party at the Green White Clubhouse.

While the club did manage to have it's share of fun, they were all too aware that a war was going on in Vietnam. Guenther Lepprich came back safe and sound, and reported: “I was plenty scared and lucky.” Pfc Dittmar Dittrich was still serving there, and Green White player Nick Wirs was drafted, and shipped off as well. He corresponded with the club while he was there.


GW Babies

*Moni Zimmer (photo)

*David Kaempf

*Gabrielle Kelm

*Anita Ruterschmidt

*Karin Naumann

*Walter Melcher

*Steven Schwarz


In Pop Culture

~"Hey Jude" by the Beatles was the #1 song for 9 weeks, and the biggest hit of the entire decade.

~The best picture at the Academy Awards went to "Oliver!"

~The highest rated show on television was "Laugh In"


Elsewhere in Chicago

~In April, Chicagoans on the west side rioted after Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis. Chicago was not alone. There were riots in Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Kansas City, Newark, Washington, D.C., and many others. Across the country 46 deaths were blamed on the riots.

~In June, after winning the California primary, Robert Kennedy said "On to Chicago". Those were his last public words. He was assassinated moments later.

~In August, Mayor Richard Daley opened the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. On that Monday night demonstrations were widespread. On Wednesday night, the police beat some marchers unconscious and sent at least 100 to emergency rooms while arresting 175. Mayor Daley famously explained: "The policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder."

Next month: 1969

As always, if you have any thing to add or correct in this month’s installment, please drop me a line at amishrick@yahoo.com. I consider this a group project, and a work in progress, so we can add and subtract until we get it all exactly correct. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please do.

1967

This is a photo of the Green White players, coaches, and members who went to Germany in August of 1967. The trip was organized by Martin Schneider (third from left).

Green White played in Kronach, Sindelfingen, Nurnberg, Crailsheim, and against Osterode.

How did Green White do? The Germans had no idea what hit them.

"That trip to Germany in 1967 was one of the all-time highlights of my time with Green White," team captain Adam Kaempf recalls. "That was a wonderful trip. The Germans thought ‘Oh what are the Yankees doing here?’ Well we kicked their butts, that’s what the Yankees did. They thought we had no chance. They asked me things like ‘Where did you learn soccer?’ I said ‘You idiot, I’m as German as you are.’”

Green White won four games in Germany, and tied another. A few of the games weren't even close. Green White won the first game 8-3 and the second game 7-2, and this despite free-flowing beer and unlimited bratwursts at the various dances and banquets. At one of them, the players marched in behind the U.S. Military band.

The team that showed the Germans not to take Americans so lightly: Stefan Strumberger, Adam Wambach, Nicolaus Wirs, John Bartlang, Leo Skrochod, Joe Fessel, J. Laxgang, Horst Stemke, Harry Palmer, A. Kaempf, G. Kaempf, Adolf Kelm, John Woolfe, Rudi Mayer, Jimmy Benedek.

When they returned home the players had a few observations to share with their fellow club members. For one thing, they noted that the beds were shorter in Germany than they were here. Also, they were surprised baths cost DM 2.50, and that the meat tasted a little different.

But they weren't surprised they played so well. Their confidence was at an all-time high.


Player Profile: Georg Kaempf

This is how he was described in the 1967 Green White newsletter. "The Green White record goal scorer (he recently shot his 101st goal for our club) is often argued about by the spectators. Either Georgie has a day when nobody can catch him, or almost every shot misses the goal. He is also one of the few players that can single-handedly take 'our chestnuts out of the fire'. Fast, sometimes a little selfish, and with a shot you can't anticipate, he is the type of player every club needs."



Green White off the field

The social calendar at Green White was packed solid. Every month they held a big event that drew members closer together.






*In January, Eckhard Kaempfer led a group on a ski trip. He reported that everyone returned with all of their limbs, even though there were quite a few tumbles—even one from the expert skier Nick Willer. The conditions weren’t exactly ideal, the temperatures were near 50, but Georg Kaempf went right to the toughest hill, even though he was a beginner. He’s lucky he’s alive to speak of it.

*The Masquerade Ball was held on 2/11/67. Die Goldene Drei were the band. Luckily the incredible snow storm of 1967 had let up enough to allow everyone to make it to the event. It was a big hit. Alex Gyurko, Stefan Zimmer, and Adam Harjung were the organizers.

*In March Green White held a table-tennis tournament as a fundraiser. The final game was Gerhard Berger against Martin Schlenhardt, and Berger came out victorious. According to the descriptions of the event by commentator Wilhelm Franz, the choke of the tournament was made by Adam Harjung, who was up 12-2 and lost 21-16 in the first game, and then was up 19-13 and lost 21-19 in the second game to the eventual champ Berger.

*In April, Green White staged their own version of “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Show”. Inge Winterkorn chose John Bartlang (over Martin Stilling and Rudi Mayer) for a night out at the Ivanhoe Theatre and dinner, and Miss Green White Juliane Hehn picked Walter Schellhorn over John Woolfe and Rudy Schock. They got tickets to the ice-review at the Conrad Hilton Hotel. The winner of the Newlywed game was Eva and Eberhard Suhr, who won AM-FM radios. Adam Kaempf, Georg Kaempf, and Joe Laxgang and their wives were the big losers. The Polydors provided the musical entertainment and it went late into the morning. Adam Wambach and John Woolfe organized the event.

*In May, another dance was held ("Mai-Tanz"), and that’s where the Miss Green White field was narrowed down. The three finalists were Ingrid Winterkorn, Liz Friedrich and Sieglinde Trzewik.

*There was also a summer dance in July, with music from Die Goldene Drei, and the crowning of 1967’s Miss Green White! The winner was Ingrid Winterkorn.

*In August, the Green White picnic was held at the Genoa City Recreation camp north of Genoa.

*In October, Green White held their annual anniversary dinner/dance.

Though the social calendar was ridiculously full, there was a downside to all of this. The women did most of the work cleaning up, and they got a little ticked off. Wilhelm Franz took the men of the club to the woodshed with this little tidbit in the newsletter: "A memo from the women, particularly Kathy Racz, Johanna Kraemer, and Marianne Kaempf—they had to clean up the clubhouse after you slobs and there was lots and lots of work! Does it have to be this way?"


Green White Milestones

*The Stadlers and the (Tony) Zimmers both welcomed baby boys, and The Skorochod's were thrilled with the birth of a daughter.

*Wedding bells rang for Otmar Scheer and his lovely bride Anna Wingert.

*And sadly, Green White member Eduard Speth (photo) passed away at the very young age of 29. He left behind two sons (ages 8 & 6) and one daughter (4 years old). Eddie played goalie for the reserves only a few months before his passing, and had just returned from a trip to Germany with his family. Eduard was very involved with coaching and mentoring the kids. He often remarked “Sie sind die ganze Arbeit wert!” (They are worth every bit of the hard work!) Wilhelm Franz described him this way in the Green White newsletter: “In losing Eduard, we’re losing one of our most important members, in losing him we’re losing a comrade, a co-worker, and a mentor to our children. But we will always live by the spirit of his sportsmanship, because he set a great example for us all.”


Sports on the Radio

To keep up with the the latest local sports news, the Germans of Chicago tuned in to the show "Sportsecho", which aired every Monday night on WXRT Radio (93.1FM) from 6:30-6:45. It was part of the nightly German radio show, which aired 5-7pm.




In Pop Culture

~The number song of the year was "To Sir With Love" by Lulu

~The top rated show on television was "The Andy Griffith Show"

~The best picture Academy Award went to "In the Heat of the Night"


Elsewhere in Chicago...

~The city experienced its worst one day snow storm in history (23 inches of snow), and Chicago was virtually shut down for nearly a week.

~Richard Speck was sentenced to death for murdering eight student nurses.

~Muhammad Ali refused induction into the army and was stripped of his boxing title.


Next Month: 1968. A Democratic convention comes to town and explodes, and a big honor goes to a Green White player.

As always, if you have any thing to add or correct in this month’s installment, please drop me a line at amishrick@yahoo.com. I consider this a group project, and a work in progress, so we can add and subtract until we get it all exactly correct. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please do.

1966

Green White celebrated it's tenth anniversary in 1966. On the field, they had a tremendous year at every level.

The First Team won the First Division and vaulted up into the Major division by the end of the year. The starters on that team were Joe Laxgang (captain), Eberhard Suhr, Georg Kaempf, Sando Szabo, Sam Berleth, John Woolfe, Adam Wambach, Nick Willer, Dietmar Dittrich, Jim Benedek, Gottfried Winter, Albin Schwarz, and Adam Kaempf.

But they weren't the only Green White team to succeed. The reserve team (Klaus Kilian, Harry Bayer, Nick Wirs, Hans Bittenbinder, Georg Polaretzki, Walter Melcher, Fred Ott, Alex Gyurko, Herbert Fink, Jorgen Bo-Hansen, Joe Schlenhardt, Karl Buegner, Toni Rauscher, Stefan Zimmer, Stefan Strumberger) also won their division.

And maybe most excitingly, the youth teams both had tremendous seasons as well. The Junior team was led by a youngster named Rudi Mayer, who was named the second best player in the league. Along with his teammates, including two Kirschner brothers (George and Konrad), the Green White Junior team was dominant.

The youngest Green White team was even better. Edmund Dalitowitsch, Manfred Mathes, John Schwab, Frank Schwab, Otto Fladischer, Ernst Rieder, Danny Mijajlovic, Joe Schwab, Nick Leicht, Hans Metzinger, Herrmann Wittje, Rudi Korivisi, Michael Winter, Stefan Marx, Hans Mayer, Hans Marx, and Peter Mathes all made their mark on the field. Several of them would go on to become important cogs of Green White's future.

Green White Stats

For Green White's tenth anniversary, team historian Andreas Laxgang created a plaque that had all of the stats from the team's first ten years. It still hangs in the Green White clubhouse. Sadly, the stats will not be kept this meticulously in the years to come.


(Photo: Proud Green White members, Horst Melcher, Stefan Zimmer, Albin Schwarz, and George Kaempf)


As of 1966, here are the stats against the other clubs...
Green White—FC Fortuna. 18 wins, 8 ties, and 10 losses
Green White—SC Fichte Rams 10 wins, 7 ties, 11 losses
Green White—SC Wanderers 16 wins, 1 tie, 3 losses
Green White—Schwaben AC 6 wins, 1 tie, 12 losses
Green White—FC Hansa 5 wins, 2 ties, 12 losses
Green White—SC Kickers 3 wins, 4 ties, 13 losses
Green White—Real FC 2 wins and 1 tie

From 1957-1966, the top ten leaders in games played...
1. Joe Laxgang 398 (photo)
2. Stefan Zimmer 277
3. Sam Berleth 254
4. Rudi Hrbacek 254
5. Nick Willer 242
6. Stefan Laxganf 236
7. Adam Kaempf 234
8. Georg Kaempf 226
9. Dietmar Dittrich 197
10. Albin Schwarz 167

From 1957-1966, the top ten goal scoring leaders are...
1. Rudi Hrbacek 94 (photo)
2. Georg Kaempf 93
3. Adam Kaempf 92
4. Gottfried Winter 64
5. Stefan Zimmer 61
6. Toni Rauscher 40
7. Stefan Laxgang 40
8. Joe Laxgang 39
9. Manfred Kovacs 37
10. Franz Stadler 27

Green White's overall record as of September 30, 1966: 233 wins, 113 losses, and 56 ties. The goal difference is 923 goals for, and 542 goals against.

Green White Off the Field

1966 was also a big year for the club because it was the first full year in the new clubhouse on Lincoln Avenue. The Donauschwaben moved into the upstairs section of the building and Green White was given the downstairs section.

They poured a lot of sweat and blood into that clubhouse. Klaus Kilian remembers it well: “When we moved to Lincoln Avenue, the whole basement was in terrible shape. It was very shabby. We remodeled the entire thing. Martin Schneider and I did all the plumbing. We put showers in there, we put a kitchen in there, and we made a clubhouse out of it.”

It was their pride and joy, and soon became the main hangout for Green White families. To Adam Kaempf, it was one of the great joys of that era. "We had that gym in the basement by the clubhouse, and the kids could play down there. The men could go to the bar. The women enjoyed each other’s company. What more could you ask for on a Sunday? Those were some wonderful times.”

The team president in 1966 was Hans Bittenbinder (photo below). This is what he wrote in the 10th anniversary program book...

"It is an honor for me to welcome our guests tonight. It’s particularly pleasing to see that so many of our friends have come out to help make this evening a great success. We’ve come a long way since the establishment of our club, haven’t we? Who would have predicted this ascent from that old clubhouse on Southport Avenue?

A handful of idealists, armed with nothing more than persistence and hard work created a soccer team from nothing, then a reserve team, and later, the most important part of any club that has hopes of growing in the future: a student and youth-team.

I do not want to go into all of our sporting accomplishments here, because you will find this in another part of the program, but I would like to take a moment to mention my predecessors, all of whom have contributed in the development of the SC Green White: Fritz Becker, Paul Wenson, Matz Kraemer, and Michael Melcher. I also don’t want to forget the spirited work of our honorary members, Andreas Laxgang and Martin Schneider.

Our growth stalled a bit during at our stay in our home at Elston Avenue, but after we moved last year into our current home, we climbed to new heights. The number of members has doubled, we now have our very own clubroom, and we are the only sports club in Chicago that has its own newspaper, "Gruen Weiss vor... ", which has become well known to all of our members, allowing them to follow the development of Green White with keen interest. This incredible growth has been an encouraging sign, and it’s my hope that by the time we meet again for our fifteenth anniversary, our current home will be too small to accommodate all of our friends.

Once again, I would like to wish all of my friends and guests a pleasant and entertaining evening, and I hope that we can provide the kind of sporting camaraderie you seek in the future.

Yours in soccer,
Hans Bittenbinder"

Green White Babies

*(Photo) Steve Albrecht (September 17)

*Sonja Melcher (October 2)








In Pop Culture

~The #1 pop hit of the year was “The Ballad of the Green Berets” by SSgt. Barry Sadler

~The #1 TV show of the year was “Bonanza”

~The Academy Award for Best Picture went to “A Man for All Seasons”


Elsewhere in Soccer

The World Cup was held in England in 1966. Led by manager Alf Ramsey, England started off slowly in the tournament (a draw against Uruguay), but came on strong. They faced Germany in the final game, and won a controversial 4-2 victory; clinching England's one and only World Cup.




Elsewhere in Chicago

~The Chicago Bulls basketball team was founded.

~Martin Luther King marched in Gage Park and was hit in the head with a rock. He later met with Mayor Daley and made an agreement to end the marches in exchange for Daley's promise to promote fair housing.

~John Lennon held a press conference in Chicago to apologize for saying "the Beatles were more popular than Jesus".


Coming next month, 1967: Green White Goes to Germany

As always, if you have any thing to add or correct in this month’s installment, please drop me a line at amishrick@yahoo.com. I consider this a group project, and a work in progress, so we can add and subtract until we get it all exactly correct. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please do.

1965

In the February 1965 Green White newsletter, a prize of $5 ($5!) was offered to whoever came up with the best name for the newsletter. No word on whether or not that prize money was ever claimed.

On the field, Green White had another successful season. After a dramatic final game loss to end the 1964 season in 2nd place, Green White once again ended the season in second place of the First Division in 1965, behind only the Norwegian Americans. Finishing one point out of first place was a dramatic disappointment.

The highlight of the indoor season was undoubtedly the 2-0 loss to Hansa. Even though Green White lost the game, Hansa fielded a lineup that included the striker of the U.S. National Team, Willi Roy. In this game, according to the completely unbiased on-the-scene report from Green White’s Willi Franz, Stefan Laxgang completely shut down Roy, and was easily the player of the game.

This was really a David vs. Goliath effort. FC Hansa finished in second place in the US Open Cup (Pokal) in 1965, a great accomplishment for a local team.

Hansa won the Major Division championship in 1965 too.

Green White also welcomed another great new player to their team. He eventually became one of the most decorated players in club history, but his arrival was pure happenstance.

Adam Harjung remembers: “Johnny Woolfe read in the paper that our team could use some help, so he called George Kaempf, and said ‘I’m looking for a club.’ George invited him to practice, and wow, were we lucky to get that phone call.”

The club recognized his abilities, but his beginning was a little rough.

“In his third game Johnny Woolfe broke his elbow," Klaus Kilian remembers, "and he didn’t have any insurance, so we held a fund raiser for him. Everybody was contributing, and everybody was drinking too. Johnny Woolfe woke up in the bathroom with his head in the toilet, but we did raise a lot of money for him to take care of his elbow. He turned out to be a super club member.”



The Sepp Herberger Committee

The first annual Sport, Funk, und Presse Ball (Sport, Radio & Press ball) was held on September 28, 1965. It was put together by a committee of local German soccer officials from the various different German clubs. They named their committee after the beloved former coach of the German national team, Sepp Herberger. Herberger had been the coach of the 1954 team that won the World Cup.

The aging Herberger even sent a message to his fans in Chicago, and that was published in the official program book. He wished the best of luck to the player and team of the year, each of which would be given the trophy bearing his name.

The player was Adolf Bachmeier of the Kickers, and the team was FC Hansa.

Green White Off the Field

The Masquerade Ball was held on January 23, 1965 in the home of the Donauschwaben on Elston Avenue. The first prize went to an intruder from the Elmhurst Men’s Choir, who dressed up as a robot. Second prize went to the bunnies (Walter Melcher and Ms. Zimmer), and third prize went to the couple that dressed up as the Addam’s Family—Horst and Herta Melcher.

From this point on, Green White's social calendar was always full because the Green White Ladies Club was officially formed in February 1965, and a board was named to run it. The first president was Herta Melcher, the VP was Helen Hertl, Hilde Kilian was the secretary, the treasurers were Anna Bittenbinder and Maria Zimmer, and the recording secretary was Annemarie Harjung.

In the newsletter Willi Franz noted that it took the men more than two hours to elect a board, and the women accomplished it in about five minutes. Lore Willer, Hilde Kaempfer, Hedy Klaus, and Trudy Stadler were the other members.


Green White Babies

*The Hertl's welcomed another girl, Debbie.

*Another year, another Richard. This time it was Richard Stadler.

*The Kirschner family welcomed a son; Harold.

*He wasn't part of the club at the time, and he wasn't even in Illinois, but a California boy named Anthony Todd Schneider was also born in 1965.


In Pop Culture

~The #1 pop hit of the year was “Yesterday” by the Beatles

~The #1 TV show of the year was “Bonanza”

~The Academy Award for Best Picture went to “The Sound of Music”


Elsewhere in Chicago

~The Daley Center was built.

~The University of Illinois opened it's circle campus on the west side.

~The Beatles returned in 1965 to play at Sox Park, their only outdoor gig in Chicago.





Coming next month, 1966: Green White celebrates it's 10th anniversary, Martin Luther King comes to Chicago, and the World Cup comes to England.

As always, if you have any thing to add or correct in this month’s installment, please drop me a line at amishrick@yahoo.com. I consider this a group project, and a work in progress, so we can add and subtract until we get it all exactly correct. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please do.

1964

As 1964 came to end, a new Green White tradition was born. Wilhelm Franz wrote the very first Green White Newsletter. It wasn't anything fancy--just a few pages of information about Green White written in German on Green White stationery. It was called "Gruen Weiss Vor..."

Here is the translation of Franz's introductory paragraph:

“As most of you realize, back in our homeland nearly every sport club of every shape and size has their own newsletter or newspaper. Why shouldn’t we have one too? Starting something up like this is difficult, so it may appear a bit primitive at first, but with a little work and effort we just might be able to create something that hasn’t yet existed for our club. If our project is well received, and all of our financial questions are answered, hopefully we can even transform this into something nobler. We’ve been thinking about the cost of doing something like this. If we sent it out monthly in the mail to each of our members, that would cost about sixty cents in postage. Once we factor in the cost of paper and various other expenses, we’ve been thinking of charging one extra dollar to your membership fees for those of you interested in receiving this newsletter. How does that sound to you?”

Sounds like a deal.

The highlight of the newsletter had to be Willi's acerbic take on the team's performance on the field. This is the way he described the "Game of the Month"...

The weather was terrible on November 22, 1964, when the Green White 11 went up against the Red-White-Greens. On the field for Green White that day; Strumberger, Wambach, Wirs, Laxgang, Kovacs, Rosmanitz, Zimmer, G. Kaempf (photo), A. Kaempf, Winter, and Hrbacek. About fifty frozen spectators were on hand to witness this game at Kilbourn Park. The Hungarians overwhelmed our boys in the first minute with their lightning fast attack. But even though they showed clear superiority in their attack, they were unable to overcome our defense. They went to the locker rooms at half time with only a 1-0 edge.

During halftime our goalie Strumberger asked to play in front—“I guarantee I’ll score a goal,” he said. To which our Maria Zimmer quickly replied: “You already scored one.” Our good Stefan decided to spend the second half freezing in our own goal after all. In the second half Adi Kaempf took advantage of a major defensive mistake by the Hungarians, and broke the ice with our first goal of the game. After another unfortunate handball in the box, Joe Laxgang put us in the lead, by easily scoring the penalty kick. The third goal was probably the nicest one of the day for us. From about twenty meters out, Gottfried Winter took a free kick and beautifully placed it in the corner past the goaltender. Green White was victorious 3-1.

In 1964 Green White came closer to winning the championship of the first division than ever before. Green White actually ended the season in first place because of goal difference, but because that wasn’t recognized by league rules, they had to play a deciding game against the Lions. Green White lost the game 2-1. Once again we were saying “wait ‘til next year.”

Green White Off the Field

The president of Green White for 1964 was Fritz Becker, back to his original position with the club. The rest of the board were as follows...

Vice President—Adam Wambach (photo)
Protocol Secretary—Hans Bittenbinder
Secretary—Wilhelm Franz
Treasurer—Eckhard Kaempfer
Manager of the First Team—Horst Melcher
Manager of the Reserves—Klaus Killian
Manager of the Juniors—Alex Jordan
Manager of the Boys & First Festival President—Alex Gyurko
Delegates to the League—Adam Harjung and Walter Klaus
Midwest Delegates—Anton Koeppinger and Nick Willer
Karteifuehrer & League Committee Chairman—Franz Stadler
League Committee Assessors—Robert Schurz and Adam Kaempf

At the board elections in December, a new division of Green White was also formed; the Green White Ladies club. The ladies would be very active over the next few years organizing events for the adults and the ever growing brood of Green White children. The following women were all part of it on that first very first night: Lore Willer, Maria Zimmer, Herta Melcher, Hedy Klaus, Hilde Kaempfer, Hilde Kilian, Helen Zimeer, and Herta Franz.


Green White Poetry

At the Green White Christmas party Eckhard Kaempfer (shown here on the left in his final player pass in 1964) and Horst Melcher recited a poem they had written about the year 1964. (The entire poem in it's original German will be published in our forthcoming commemorative book).

Here's a little taste of it...

The year is once again gone,
So we look at what has gone wrong,
In indoor we were in fourth place,
In outdoor we lost that last race,

The season ended a sensational way,
We all remember what happened that day,
You can still hear the noise in the hall,
Caused by full-throated screams from us all,

But when the game ended, and our time had run out,
Many club members left, and went home to their house,
But the core of our team couldn't wait,
We knew there was reason to celebrate.

The poem goes on to mention by name: Georg Kaempf, Nick Willer, Joe Laxgang, Adam Wambach, Stefan Strumberger, Manfred Kovacs, Stefan Laxgang, Gottfried Winter, Adam Kaempf, Stefan Zimmer, Jack Rosmanitz, the first ladies team (especially Lore, who shot all the Tore), Walter Klaus, and Joe Hertl. Each of them get their own playful paragraphs.

And it closes with the following verse...

Our work is now to prepare,
A wide audience will certainly be there
Greatness is for what we will strive,
In our wonderful soccer-rich lives

Green White Babies Born in 1964

*Linda Blaas

*Linda Hertl

*Heidi Bittenbinder

*Heidi Kilian

*Cindy Kaempfer (photo)

*Toni Harjung

*Diana Kraemer


1964 In Pop Culture


~The #1 pop hit of the year was “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles

~The #1 TV show of the year was “Bonanza”

~The Academy Award for Best Picture went to “My Fair Lady”


1964 Chicago

~When the Beatles arrived at Midway airport on September 5, 1964 for their first ever visit to Chicago, they were greeted by a mob of 5000 screaming teenagers. Chicago Tribune sportswriter Dave Condon chose to cover the Beatles instead of the Cubs. His review of their concert: "No, we wouldn't have missed it. Not because the Beatle noise beats anything that can't be stirred up around the piano bar at the Singapore, but because the show gave us a chance to be proud of the juveniles, who are pretty much maligned in this turbulent age."

~In June of 1964, during their first US tour, the Rolling Stones came to Chicago to record a record at Chess Records. Chess Records was located at 2120 S. Michigan Avenue, an address immortalized by the name of their record. The tour was going badly. Bill Wyman called it "a disaster." They had made an appearance on Dean Martin's variety show, and good ol' Deano mocked their hair and their performance.

~The abandoned Illinois & Michigan Canal provided a convenient right-of-way through the city for the Stevenson Expressway (I-55), which opened in 1964.



Coming next month: 1965. The First Sport, Radio & Press Ball, and Green White goes up against the U.S. National team striker, Willi Roy.

As always, if you have any thing to add or correct in this month’s installment, please drop me a line at amishrick@yahoo.com. I consider this a group project, and a work in progress, so we can add and subtract until we get it all exactly correct. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please do.

1963

Green White was always strong indoors, but all the stars seemed to align for Green White during the 1963 season. The Kaempf brothers returned to the club, and along with the Laxgang brothers (Joe and Stefan, photo), they led the team to the indoor title.

This is the way Willi Franz remembered it when he wrote about it the following year: "Sunday after Sunday Green White played in the Major Division indoor game of the week at the Chicago Armory in front of 3000 fans. Finally, in the last game of the 1963 season, the team scratched and clawed their way to a 0-0 tie against a very strong Schwaben AC team (the eventual outdoor Major Division champs), and with that point, clinched their very first championship of the Major Divison."

He listed the starting lineup for that indoor team as: Sam Berleth, Dietmar Dittrich, Stefan Laxgang, Joe Laxgang, Georg Kaempf, Gottfried Winter, and Adi Kaempf.

After the big game, the club threw a big "Hallen Siegesfeier" (or indoor soccer victory party). And judging by the money they pulled in at the bar that night, the players and fans were in a very celebratory mood.


Green White off the field

With Michael Melcher still at the helm as the president, the club membership continued to grow. Original members married and had children (see the growing list below), and others joined as well. Helmut Filian was one of them. “I joined Green White in 1963. I was 19 years old at the time, and had just moved into the country. I lived a half block away from the clubhouse, and the next day I was there. I played for awhile when we practiced at the Forest Preserve over on Foster, but I was more of a supporter, and a club member, then a player. And then later, I helped out with the kids program.”

By now, the club was not only drawing fans at their games, they were drawing crowds for their social events. The Fasching Ball, a full-dress costume ball, was a big hit (photo), as was the "Weinachtsfeier" (or Christmas party). They were also staging an annual "Stiftungsfest" or anniversary party. The 7th anniversary party was held on July 27th in 1963. Green White was still hampered by their insufficient facilities, but that was in the process of being rectified. More on that in the coming years.

1963 also marks the first year that the club named a Miss Green White. Her duties included representing the club at the various different German functions in Chicagoland (and there were many). The first girl lucky enough to wear that Miss Green White crown was Helga Peltzer. (Spoiler alert: She'll also wear the crown in 1964 and 1965)


GW Weddings in 1963

Horst & Herta Melcher

Joe & Helen Hertl





*Also married in 1963, Adam and Anne-Marie Harjung, and Klaus and Hilde Kilian.


GW Babies Born in 1963

See any trend with the boy names?

Richard Kaempfer (photo)
Richard Schneider
Richard Meschbach
Michael Blaas
Michael Schmaltz
Michael Kraemer
Albin Schwarz Jr.

Karin Bischof (photo)

Tina Zimmer (photo)











In Pop Culture

~The #1 pop hit of the year was “Sugar Shack” by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs

~The #1 TV show of the year was “The Beverly Hillbillies”

~The Academy Award for Best Picture went to “Tom Jones”


Elsewhere in Chicago

~The Loyola Ramblers shocked the college basketball world by winning the NCAA championship.

~On December 29, 1963, the Bears intercepted New York Giants quarterback Y.A. Title five times and won the NFL championship. 45,801 fans came out to witness the 14-10 victory on an incredibly chilly afternoon at Wrigley Field. (And some say that Wrigley hasn't seen a championship!) Bill Wade scored both touchdowns.