Werner

A brief history ... how I became a full time volunteer ... Sailing Lake Calhoun

I was born in East Prussia, Germany ... my first 5 years were made in heaven ... with grandpa ... on our farm ... with all the animals ... with my sister ... with my mom...

In January 1945 ... I was 5 years old ... it was the coldest winter people remembered ... and ... all hell broke loose ... East Prussia was overrun by the red army ... just like Russia was overrun a few years before by the German army ...

We fled ... lost grandpa ... lost the animals...

My mom was put into a forced labor camp ... under Russian occupation ...

I got sick with typhoid fever ... was traumatically separated from my mom ... for 6 months ... My typhoid was treated ... but my emotional pain ... the pain of separation from my mom ... was left untreated ...

We escaped to Berlin ... and then to a small village ... Wohltorf ... near Hamburg ... in West Germany ... my dad came back from POW camp in US ... we lived for 10 years in one room ... in a refugee camp ...

I went to school ... reached the 7th grade ... went to work at 14 for the railroad ... and ... worked in an office near the Hamburg harbor ...

In 1957 ... my friend and I were sitting along the Aussenalster lake in Hamburg ... like Lake Calhoun ...We observed the sailboats ...

We mustered up our courage to ask if we could go for a sail ...

With only one hour of instructions ... we were on our own ...

We learned a lot ... and ... in time ... the sun, the wind, the mast, the sails, the lines, the rudder, the boat, the water ... all that ... and much more ... became part of us ... became our passion ...

In 1959 ... I was 19 years old ... I came ... in a small freighter ... the MAGDALENA OLDENDORF ... from IJmuiden near Amsterdam in Holland ... to Norfolk, Virginia ... as a visitor ...

It took 2 weeks ... most of the time, the Atlantic was as calm ... we were about 12 passengers ... I spend most of the time in the wheelhouse ... observing and talking to the crew ... other times we observed fish swimming and jumping out of the water just in front of the ship ...

the last night we did not go to sleep ... we stayed up to see the first lights of the new world ...

I had 100 dollars in my pocket and two addresses ... I stayed with a family in Lawrenceville, nj ... learned English from TV ...

Three months later ... I had only 50 dollars left ... I went to nyc ...
I went to the emigration office ... wanted to stay here ... the officer asked my ... why ... i said ... i like it here ... he said ... that is good enough for me ...i paid 25 dollars ... he stamped my passport ... I filled out some papers ...

The same day ... I got my ss card ...I got a job with a German company at 10 broadway in nyc ... the pay was 1.10 an hour ...

I went to the Riverside Church in nyc... joined the youth group ... met a girl ... fell in love ...

In december 1960 ... I took the UNITED STATES ... with over 1000 Passengers ... from nyc to Bremerhaven in germany ... again calm seas ... it took one week ... i visited my parents ...

In January 1961 ... I came back on the German HANSEATIC to nyc ... ... ... we got into a violent storm ... I remember standing at the back of the ship ... having to look up to see the top of the waves ... years later I leaned, that it was not the bad weather, that the ship came to a standstill ... it was because the temperature in the water was falling rapidly ... and the crew feared an iceberg was near ...In December 1961 ... we got married at the Riverside Church... and lived in Great Neck on Long Island near nyc

In December 1962 ... we left on our delayed honeymoon ... on the BREMEN ... again calm seas ... we picked up a brand new vw at the Wolfsburg factory in Germany
In august 1963 ... we came back ... with again on a freighter ... from Hamburg to Norfolk Virginia ... the fare was 100 per passenger ... 100 for the car ... ... ... again calm seas ... this time we observed whales ...In the fall 1963 ... we came to Minneapolis, mn ... I was 24 years old ... I continued my education where I left the 7th grade ... going to the university of Minnesota ... leaning English math physics engineering ...

In 1967 I had a hard time learning ... passing classes got more difficult ...
I started to build a decked wooden sailing canoe ... got a used sawing machine at sears on Lake Street ... made the main sail ... got a buoy for 30 dollars at Lake Calhoun ...

I sailed ... I sailed ... I sailed ...

my learning improved ...

In 1968 ... 5 years later ... I finished school with a 2.45 gpa ...

I was delighted to get a job with IBM in Rochester, Mn designing computers ... as a volunteer ... I started to teach German ... and I helped teenagers in the IBM explorer scout program

I helped out raising two children ...

I studied morse code for my FCC Amateur Radio License ... WB0GSX ... I build my own radio and antennas ... I talked to people around the world on short-wave radio ...

In 1973 we came back to Minneapolis ... I helped CPT Corp improve the quality of their word processor ... designed new produtcts ... and ... I continued my volunteering ... teaching german math physics engineering ... personal-growth ... sometimes 5 days a week ... one hour before work ... one hour after work ...

In 1977 ... I designed our house ... I started digging the basement ... mostly with a shovel and a wheel barrel ... in Plymouth, mn ... it took one month ... ... ... I learned ... how to build footings ... pour concrete ... lay blocks ... do the drain tiling ... put up the walls ... doors ... windows ... sheetrock ... trim ... flooring ... and roof ... ... ... do all the electrical ... and fished the plumbing ... ... ... a year later we moved in with still a lot to do ...

In 1982 I learned and volunteered teaching the art of nature photography ...In 1983 ... I went to the La Jolla Program ... in 17 days I learned the art and joy of listening ... improving my own life ... helping people ...

In 1990 ... my wife and I separated ... and three years later we got divorced ... in that time ... I found the root cause of my pain ... beeing traumatically separated from my mom ... at the age of 5 ...

I learned to live on 300 dollars a month ... on oat meal ... raisins ... nuts ... fruits ... vergetables ... olive oil ... salmon out of a can, with the bones ... cottage cheese ... apple sauce ... driving old cars ... wearing old rags ...
I bicycled a lot ...

In 2006 ... I remembered my joy of sailing ... converted a 17 foot aluminum canoe into a decked sailboat ... with a sideboard and a rudder and a sail from a sunfish sailboat ... with an old jib ... I put all of it on top of my car and went to lake Calhoun ... and ... sailed ... and sailed ... and sailed ...

I met Alberto Larry Mike Bill ... I got a present ... a real sailboat ... an xboat ... I met  Marcel Shannon Brian Brad ... ...  ... and many many many others ... ... ... my life has never been the same ...

Now I could invite people to sail with me ... ... ... now I could share ... my joy ... my passion ... Sailing Lake Calhoun ...

In 2007 ... I volunteered more ... sailing, coaching, teaching, tutoring ... my grandson and his team playing soccer ... coaching tennis ... tutoring math physics German ...

2008 ... is the year ... set aside ... just for Sailing Lake Calhoun ... from sunrise ... to sunset ...

I am greatful ... to all ... that sailed with me ... that brought meaning into my life ...

Thank you.

Werner