Press Release: For immediate release

Release date: February 7, 2008

Event date: Thursday, February 21, 2008

Contacts: Pat Arnold, 610-820-0989, Dennis Lutterschmidt, 610-285-6326, Shirley Conner, 610-264-2979

Rev. Smith Speaks about Memories of Pennsylvania German Farm

Rev. Gene Smith, Chaplain of Cedarbrook Nursing Home, will speak at the Pennsylvania German Friends meeting on Thursday, February 21. His topic will be “My Willow Tree Experience,” about his memories of growing up on a farm in Mertztown. He will address the group in the Pennsylvania German, or “Dutch” dialect, with some English translations. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at St Peter’s Lutheran Church, 1933 Hanover Avenue, Allentown.

Rev. Smith, of Laurys Station, graduated from Trinity Theological Seminary in Illinois, and recently retired as pastor of Bethany Bible Fellowship Church in Whitehall. He has taught classes in the dialect, and finds that he is able to comfort Cedarbrook Nursing Home residents by reading passages from his Pennsylvania Dutch Bible. The dialect also comes in handy on his trips to Germany and Austria, because it is similar to dialects spoken there.

Pennsylvania German Friends meetings, which are free and open to the public, are held the third Thursday of the month. Both English and the dialect are used to discuss topics related to the history of the “Pennsylvania Dutch” people, who came to the Lehigh Valley in the 1700s. Refreshments, conversation and a meeting take place after the program. Parking is available in the church lot across the street; enter by ground floor “Office” door. For further information, call 610-264-2979.