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.

1962

1962 marked the first season that Green White uniforms sported the new logo, a slightly modified version of which (left), is still used today. Current club President Cindy Kaempfer explains how that came to be. "The club wanted to give themselves an identity separate from the Danube Swabian Society as a whole," she says. "Up until that point we had just been using a variation of their logo. This crest was redesigned by Eckhard Kaempfer, and featured the club's name written in German, along with something resembling the Chicago skyline."

In the early 60s, Chicago's skyline wasn't quite as recognizable (photo) as it is today, but the logo was later updated to include the Hancock and the Sears Tower, and that's the logo that Green White continues to use today.

On the field in 1962, Green White once again waged a strong campaign to return to the Major Division , but they had a few pitfalls along the way. The injury bug hit again, and one player, Toni Zimmer (photo) was hit especially hard. He broke his arm and hurt his knee that season. Sandor Gyurko also suffered an injury.

But Green White was in the hunt until the final week of the season. For the second straight year they fell just short, finishing in 2nd place.

The Maroons were the champions of the Major Division that year, and featured a pesky little attacking winger named Steve Pastorelli, who would later become a thirty-year member of Green White.

Off the Field

“Michael Melcher (father of Horst and Walter) was our president that year," Hans Bittenbinder remembers. He anchored a Green White board that featured a few of the old guard in key positions. Andreas Laxgang, a key member of the club since it's inception, served as the First Vice President, and Anton Wagner was the Second Vice President.

The rest of the board included Eckhard Kaempfer—Secretary, Horst Melcher—Treasurer, Wilhelm Franz—Protocol Secretary, Adam Harjung—First Festival President, Joe Hertl—Second Festival President, Anton Kirschner—Festival President (Kitchen), Matz Kraemer—General Manager, Martin Schneider—First Team Manager, Walter Klaus—Reserves Manager, Paul Wenson—Kids Manager, Georg Kovac & Sandor Gyurko—Cashiers, Heinrich Schaefer—Judiciary Committee Chairman, Fritz Herbstler—Assessor, Peter Erhardt & Hans Bittenbinder—Midwest League delegates, Hans Schmidt & Eduard Speth—Equipment Managers, Alfred Langenfelder—Trainer/Paramedic, and Fritz Becker—Membership chairman.


Green White Wedding Bells

There were several Green White weddings in 1962.

Maria Laxgang married Wolfgang Blaas, Helen and Toni Zimmer were also wed, and Eckhard and Hildegard Kaempfer (photo) were married in St. Alphonsus Church on September 8th.

According to the official Green White books, the married couples received flowers (Blumen) from the club.




GW Babies

(Photo) Susan Zimmer (now Duffy, daughter of Steve & Maria Zimmer)

Walter Stadler (son of original member Franz and Trude)

Marcus Laxgang (son of Stefan and Christel Laxgang)

Anita Strumberger (daughter of Steve and Anni Strumberger)





Elsewhere in Soccer

*The 7th World Cup was staged in Chile in 1962. Naturally, with a South American location, Brazil was the heavy favorite. Not only were they the defending champions, they had the best player in the world, Pele. But after scoring in the opening match, he was injured and did not play the rest of the tournament. Even without him, Brazil met Czechoslovakia in the final and won easily. Sadly this World Cup is not remembered so much for the great soccer as it is for the fighting on the field. Argentina, Italy and Uruguay were all part of ugly incidents.

In Pop Culture

~The #1 pop hit of the year was “I Can’t Stop Loving You” by Ray Charles

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

~The Academy Award for Best Picture went to “Lawrence of Arabia”


Elsewhere in Chicagoland

~The Robert Taylor Homes were built.

~Randhurst Shopping Center opened in Mt. Prospect. It was considered a marvel. Carved from a farm at Rand and Elmhurst Roads, it announced to the world that the Northwest suburbs had arrived. “Randhurst didn’t open the floodgates,” Greg Perbolte, executive director of the Mount Prospect Historical Society said, “Randhurst was the floodgate.” It was the largest air conditioned mall in America at the time it was built.

Coming next month: 1963. Green White flexes their muscles in the indoor season, the Bears win a championship, and one first name dominates the Green White babies.

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.

1961

Green White returned to play in the First Division in 1961, a step down from the highs of 1960. The season was a bit of a struggle.

Thanks to a few defections (the Kaempf brothers), a few injuries (Albin Schwarz, John Benedek, and Toni Zimmer), a few semi-retirements (many of the original members were no longer playing), and a very full roster of indoor, outdoor, and tournament games on the schedule, no fewer than forty five different players wore the Green White uniform in 1961. It was probably the largest number of players for Green White in any individual season.

A few of those players are featured in this photo taken at Lane Stadium that year, including the Laxgang brothers (Stefan, Joe & Heinrich), Nick Willer, Adam Wambach, Alex Gyurko, Stefan and Toni Zimmer, Albin Schwarz and more. But there were many others that contributed in 1961.

Horst Melcher kept a list of all the players who played for Green White that season in the "Kasse Handbuch", and in addition to the players listed above, the following players were all listed as "active players" for at least a portion of the 1961 schedule: Han Bittenbinder, Samuel Berleth, Adolf Burger, Johnny & Willi Becker, John Benedek, Dietrich Ditmar, Joe Hertl, Anton Hohn, Adolf Hrabowy, Rudi Hrbacek, Eckhard Kaempfer, Klaus Kilian, Jacki Lorenz, Horst Melcher, Josef Mellert, Walter Mimler, Martin Mayer, George Polaretzky, Joe Schlenhardt, Hans Schmidt, Cartsten Schnepel, Gottfried Schwarzinger, Eduard Speth, Michael Weiss, Gottfried Winter, Josef Fessel, Goetz Nickel, John Vassiles, Gus Lampies, Erwin Mark, Soltan Stojkovic, Fred Ott, John & Michael Lepprich, Toni Rauscher, John Gebhardt, and Alfred Leufelder.

Despite their struggles, Green White put up a strong fight. Willi Franz remembered it this way: "All of the members hoped for a turn around, and a return to the Major Division, but Green White could only attain second place, and that wasn’t quite good enough to move back up. But we can say with pride that Green White played with the fighting spirit of one of the best, and the spectators often referred to our games as the game of the day."

1961 was a year of highs and lows. The team traveled together to play in places like Peoria, St. Joseph, Michigan, and Hamilton, Ontario, and those trips were among the highlights of the year.

"Those trips were so much fun," Adam Harjung remembers. "We all had a great time."

But in August, tragedy also touched the Green White family.

“My little brother died of leukemia died in 1961," Klaus Kilian remembers. "He was only 14 at the time, and had only been in this country for five years. He played for the Green White kids team, and it was a very sad time for all of us.”


Green White Off the Field

A new president took the helm of Green White in 1961. Matz Kraemer (shown here with his wife Joann) had been one of Green White's founders in 1956, and had served in several capacities in previous years before agreeing to become the president.

He presided over a Green White board that included some of the players listed above, in addition to Peter Erhardt, Anton Wagner, Martin Rutterschmidt, Walter Klaus, Adam Harjung, Fritz Herbstlek, Josef Hrbacek, George Kovasc, Henirich Wittje, Hans Bauer and Fritz Becker.







Wedding Bells are ringing

The Kraemers (shown above) were married in 1961, but they weren't the only ones.

Franz and Gertrude Stadler (left) also walked down the aisle that year.

Many more Green White couples would follow in the coming years.






Green White Babies born in 1961

*Future player Frank Speth (photo)

*Future player John Dunkas

*Gretchen Bittenbinder (daughter of long-time member Hans)

*Michael Hrbacek (son of star player Rudi)






In Pop Culture

~The Academy Award for Best Picture went to “West Side Story”

~The #1 pop hit of the year was “Tossin’ and Turnin’” by Bobby Lewis

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





Elsewhere in Chicago

~McDonald's first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name McDonald's on May 4, 1961, with the description "Drive-In Restaurant Services". In the same year, they retired their mascot, "Speedy".

~The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup (April 16, 1961). Among the star players on that team; Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Pierre Pilote and goalie Glenn Hall.

~The Dan Ryan Expressway opened to 95th Street.

~A Chicago television institution, Bozo’s Circus, debuted on Channel 9, WGN.


Coming next month: 1962. Green White tries again to return to the Major Division, the World Cup is held in Chile, and two institutions are built in Chicago.

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.