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.