New DGS Website

We finally got around to creating a new website for the Danville German Society.

Go ahead, check it out...

www.danvillegerman.com

We're still working on updating some old links from our former website. Most of the site should be functional already other than a few bad links.

Updated Charity List

We've added another charity recipient to the list below. This probably will be the final list, unless something comes up before the Elk Toss.

Gatehouse Shelter, Danville
Daily Item Needy Family Fund, Sunbury, Northumberland, Danville area
Montour County Summer Concert Series, Danville
Deb's House, Lancaster
Mount Nittany Conservancy, Centre County
Centre Grounds, Centre County

We will be again collecting non-perishable food to donate to the Danville-Riverside Food Bank, so make sure you bring cans and boxes of food. They will also be happy to receive grocery store gift cards (Weis and Giant have stores in the Danville area).

Charity Auction Information

The largest percentage of money raised each year comes from our Charity Auction, but it needs your help to maintain that success. If you have not attended the Elk Toss before, you should know that the auction works by having you bring items to donate to be auctioned. The problem in previous years is that some people bring stuff to auction which nobody else would actually want to buy. If we can get more quality items and less junk, we can raise more money with a shorter auction. If you have a particularly good item, email us, and maybe we will add it to the silent auction items.

Some of the items that have worked well in previous auctions include:

1. Adult Beverages - particularly homemade, homebrewed, or rare beverages
2. Gift Certificates and Merchandise from businesses in Danville, State College, or Lancaster
3. Quality Artwork
4. Clothing
5. Musical Recordings - particularly bootlegs or other rare collections
6. Memorabilia - sports, music, etc

Bring along any Christmas gifts that you know you will never use or wear, or the item cannot be returned to the store. If you think that someone else might like it, bring it along.

Also, do not bring any illegal or dangerous items to the auction. If you are not sure whether something is illegal, feel free to email us.

We just want to remind you to begin gathering auction items early, so that you have time to collect the good stuff.

Things Not to Bring to the Elk Toss

Don't bring these things:

1. Weapons of Mass Destruction.
2. Investigative Journalists.
3. Dogs*.

*We do have a Sled Dog race (time and weather permitting), but it is a human pulling human race. No dogs are actually involved. The Wagners have lost several of their chickens to dogs, and they don't want to lose any more. So, please leave your dogs at home.

Memories of Past Elk Tosses

This video shows how not to toss the Elk.

Tips for Elk Toss Virgins

For many people, this will be their first time attending the Elk Toss, Charity Auction, and Winter Festival. To make your experience as enjoyable as possible, we have compiled the following tips, reminders, and suggestions on what to bring with you:

1. The event benefits charities and your generosity is greatly appreciated. Please bring cash and/or checks to pay for events and the auction.
   
2. The charity auction is only as good as the items that you donate to the auction. We appreciate your donations but also like donations solicited from restaurants, artists, businesses, family, etc.
   
3. We will once again be collecting non-perishable food items to donate to the Danville-Riverside Food Bank. Please bring canned goods and other non-perishable items to donate.
4. Wear Lederhosen or a Dirndl.
5. Bring pot luck food to share at the Wagner Farm. Also, bring your own drinking vessel to cut down on the number of cups required.
6. Plan to carpool as much as possible. We will travel from Danville to Jerseytown to the Wagner Farm and then back to Danville. The only place with a lot of parking is at the Pine Barn Inn in Danville.
7. Speaking of the Pine Barn Inn, we recommend reserving a room there if you plan to stay the night in Danville. It is the only hotel within walking distance of downtown Danville.
8. Prepare for the competitions. Understand the rules. Grow a beard (see photo below).
9. Initiation only hurts temporarily. Do not be scared.

Post Elk Toss Entertainment

We will once again be holding our traditional Tour of Danville following completion of the 75th Annual Elk Toss, Charity Auction, and Winter Festival. In recent years, we have arranged, with the help of our Musical Coordinator, Joey McMonagle, a musical performance by Slimfit at the Pub II.

Due to circumstances beyond our control (although not entirely beyond Sean's control), Slimfit will be unable to perform this year. However, we are working on arranging a performance by Kris Kehr and the Stone Poets coming all the way from State College.

We are also hoping to once again have Danville magician Fred Iobst find us somewhere that evening to amaze us with magical magic tricks.

Would this post be complete without another classic photo?

More Classic Photos

To celebrate our 75th year, we will continue to post photographs from our storied history. Here are a few more. Hopefully, this will get you excited for the Elk Toss (February 20 in case you haven't been paying attention).

We are not mathematicians.

Preliminary Charity List

The preliminary list of charities for the 75th Annual Elk Toss, Winter Festival, and Charity Auction...

Daily Item Needy Family Fund, Sunbury, Northumberland, Danville area
Montour County Summer Concert Series , Danville
Deb's House, Lancaster
Mount Nittany Conservancy, Centre County
Centre Grounds, Centre County

We may add another one or two before the event.

Website Update

We still have not had any luck with finding another free web hosting service which still allows .html upload and doesn't have all sorts of advertisements. We probably won't have a new website until we break down and pay for one. Still looking at that. Until then, keep checking the blog. Luckily, we still have all the files and photos from the website, and we'll occasionally bust out some classic photos.

Like this one...