SCOTTSDALE REPUBLIC

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2002
   

Swiss dignitaries join Oktoberfest

Scottsdale Councilwoman Cynthia Lukas (left) is joined by Arizona Swiss Foundation scholarship recipients (from left) Peter Zinsli, Corinne Piombi and Kurt Ritter, along with Max Haechler (right), Swiss consul for Arizona
   

By Lois McFarland
Special for the Scottsdale Republic

    Deputy Consul Urs Strausak, consulate general of Switzerland in Los Angeles, and his wife, Teresa were among the dignitaries on hand in Scottsdale last weekend for an Oktoberfest promoting tourism in Switzerland, especially in Interlaken, one of Scottsdale’s Sister Cities.
    About 200 attended the event at Eldorado Park that netted $16,000 to benefit the Arizona Swiss Foundation’s scholarship fund.
    They devoured 50 pounds of sauerkraut, 100 pounds of bratwurst and schublig, and 30 pounds of Raclette cheese from Switzerland.
    Paradise Valley resident Max Haechler, consul of Switzerland for Arizona, and his son, Anthony Haechler, president of the sponsoring Arizona Swiss Society, were pleased with the turnout and the generous travel packages the Swiss hotels and airlines donated.
    Other special guests included Martin Konzett and Hans Graf, who are in the tourism industry in Grindelwald and former resident, Chris Steuri, now general manager of the five-star Stanford Court in San Francisco.

 

 

   The grand prize of two round-trip business class tickets via SWISS International Air Lines to Zurich, seven nights in Interlaken’s Chalet Oberland and seven additional nights in Wengen, St. Moritz and Zurich went to Ingeborg Senuta, who incidentally won the trip two years ago.
    Auctioneer Gill Gifford proclaimed former City Councilman Jim Bruner high bidder on “A Royal Journey to St. Moritz-Zermatt & Interlaken.” He purchased the trip for son David and daughter-in-law Kathleen Bruner’s 10th anniversary. The young couple, parents of triplets, Ashley, Brian and Lauren, 2, developed a fondness for Switzerland when David worked there for 18 months and Kathleen visited periodically.
    City Councilwoman Cynthia Lukas assisted Max Haechler in presenting scholarships to Peter Zinsli, who attends the University of Arizona; Corinne Piombi, Gateway Community College; Kurt Ritter, Arizona State University, and Andrea Erhart, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.
    For Arizona Swiss Society membership information, call Anthony Haechler at (480) 945-0000.
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Lois McFarland is a correspondent for the Scottsdale Republic