For the first time on the trip it was raining heavily throughout the day, but the liquid sunshine did nothing to dampen our spirits. Grateful for a good night’s rest we headed out on the next leg of our trip, pulling away from Leeuwarden Corps around 8:30. By mid-morning we entered Germany, grateful not to have to dig out our Canadian passports as both countries are now part of the European Union.

 

Arriving at our destination around noon, we met our enthusiastic and jovial host, Johann Luschen, director of the Friesland Brass. Brass bands are big in this northern part of the country and his group was sponsoring our evening concert. "Johnny," as he became known to us, welcomed the band to Germany and then escorted us to the lovely  Neuenburger Hof hotel and restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious roast beef dinner. After getting changed into our uniforms at a nearby youth hostel, our accommodation for the night, it was back to the Hanken Hof, a huge barn in the middle of Zetel that had been converted into an auditorium – the site of our evening concert. The weather was cold and wet, but we set up the stage and had a brief rehearsal, then were treated to coffee and desserts at the local firehall near the auditorium.

 

By 6:00 the rain had stopped just in time for us to form up and march from the town hall to the auditorium. People lined the streets to see the band, including Salvationists from the local area, there being no corps in Zetel. The concert was a huge success, with the place full of enthusiastic members of the audience who loudly applauded each and every item. New items added to the program included Len Ballantine’s arrangement of the German melody Ein Feste Burg, the march Dovercourt Citadel, Morley Calvert’s Canadian Folk Song Suite and Marcus Venables’ Deep Harmony. It was a special delight to have Major Alfred Preuss, executive officer of the German Staff Band, with us for the night, who introduced each item. We were also happy to meet up with Major David Bowles, a Canadian officer who has served in Germany for 14 years.

 

After a late supper following the concert, we arrived back at the hostel, located in a secluded spot off the main highway in a corner of the woods, around midnight. Though the accommodations were sparse, the tiredness of the day meant we were all soon asleep following a busy day.