PAST EVENTS

53rd Annual General Meeting 2021

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On Sunday, 20 June 2021, we organised our 53rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) at The Royal Leichhardt. We had 13 Swiss Club of NSW (SCNSW) members who attended on the day, and received 23 proxies and 1 apology, which enabled the quorum. The Consul-General of Switzerland in Sydney, Mrs Bernadette Hunkeler-Brown, was unable to attend the AGM this time due to a business trip to Darwin, NT. Our Deputy Consul-General, Mr Didier Boschung, happily accepted our invitation and we were greatly thankful for his presence.

We were lucky enough to hold our AGM at a physical location, as COVID-19 restrictions regarding social distancing and travel in Sydney were reinforced only a few days after. The event began with a friendly reception over coffee and tea before the commencement of the meeting at 11:00 am. Several topics were discussed including reports from our President, Membership Secretary and Treasurer. During the meeting, we acknowledged the amazing financial contribution by the Swiss Community Care Society (SCCS) to the Swiss Australian Alliance. We sincerely thank the SCCS for their wonderful contribution to an important cause for all Swiss living in Australia, and look forward to working more closely with the SCCS and other Swiss interest groups in NSW.

Our Vice President, Gabi Muff, was formally inaugurated to the Board of Directors and we look forward to her valuable acumen. Every Board Director was re-elected for 2022, as well as the President, Daniel Frutiger. The Board of Directors then opened the floor for Q&A. After the meeting, our members were treated to a delicious lunch at The Royal Leichhardt.

We would like to thank Lindt Australia for their generous donation of chocolate to the SCNSW. Lastly, we thank all who attended, your support and contributions are sincerely appreciated.

10th Australian Jass Tournament | Sydney 2021

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On Sunday, 13 June 2021, the Swiss Jassers of Sydney hosted the 10th Australian Jass Tournament (AJT) at Pennant Hills Bowling Club. The 46 participants had a great day playing Jass and catching up with friends from QLD, ACT and NSW. Unfortunately, the players from Victoria had to cancel their trip due to the imposed travel restrictions, but we hope they will be free to travel again soon.

Congratulations to Sonja Wyss (QLD) who is the 2021 AJT Champion with 6,843 points! Sonja was closely followed by Felix Schilter (NSW) in 2nd with 6,818 points, and Astrid Perry (NSW) in 3rd place with 6,731 points. The winners of the highest round were Elizabeth Isele (NSW) and Walter Krattli (NSW) with 897 points. Thank you to Ruth Milwright from Brisbane, who arranged the elegant Jass trophies on our behalf.
A special mention to our new Jasser’s, which only started to play Schieber just under a year ago at our regular Monday Jass: Fabian Sonderegger was in 3rd place when he finished playing the morning session and ended up in 10th place with Fred Oertli playing the afternoon session. Astrid Poelman and Adrian Buddle joined as a last-minute emergency team and were placed 11th overall – congratulations and I will make sure you all will be in the main draw from now on!

The AJT would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors. A big thank you to our major sponsor Grace, Dennis, and Andy Kunz from Total Hoardings. We would also like to thank Doris Conrad and Hans Keller from Swissmech in Melbourne for their donated prizes, which they shipped to us instead of hand delivering them. Thank you to Ruth Will for making the AJT 2021 Jass set memento, which each player took home. Ruth had to modify the memento due to the cancellation of last year’s AJT, so we thank her for the amazing embroidery efforts. Thank you to Spiess Australia, Lindt Australia, the Jass Club Victoria, Gusti Roetlin, Zurich Insurance Australia, the Swiss Club of NSW, Huber+Suhner and Trend Vend for their support of the AJT 2021.

A special thank you to Gabriel Dubler from QLD, who let us use his scoring system and supported us remotely throughout the day – what a champion!

We also enjoyed a great lunch and a delicious dinner at Abby’s Bistro, which was very much appreciated by all. Kenny and his staff made us feel very welcome.

Thank you to Maria Frutiger for looking after the registrations and together with Monika Sonderegger who organised the decorations and prize arrangements in conjunction with the AJT 2021 organising committee comprising of Daniel Frutiger, Bruno Frischknecht, Bepo Pop and Alois Simath. The beautiful photos on the day were compiled and posted by Martin Frutiger with an artistic touch.

by Lorenz Sonderegger

NSW Jass Coordinator

Buure Zmorge at Ku-Ring-Gai Town Hall

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On Sunday, 30th May, we organised a Buure Zmorge (Swiss Farmers' Breakfast) at Ku-Ring-Gai Town Hall in Pymble. After a whole year of no events in 2020, it was wonderful to have such a big turn out.

Around 110 patriotic Swiss braved the cold, autumn weather and were treated to Swiss cheeses from F Mayer Imports and FROMART cheese, fleischkäse, bresola, double-smoked ham and chicken chipolatas from German Butchery Deli & Café (German Butchery) and Spiess Australia, homemade quiche and birchermuesli, a fruit platter, hard-boiled eggs, farmed honey from Bruno Frischknecht's Farm, and jam, and a wide selection of delicious, crusty Swiss bread from Organic Bread Bar! We also offered teas, percolated coffee and Ovaltine. 

Our guests were also treated to Lindt chocolates at the tables, kindly donated by Lindt Australia. After the buffet, our guests had the opportunity to purchase some cheeses, cured meats, birchermuesli and bread to take home with them and enjoy.

Special thanks go to the SCNSW directors, their families and friends who volunteered on the day! We would also like to thank the guests who helped clear tables after the event - we always appreciate the help. Lastly, we would like to thank everyone who attended; we hope you enjoyed the food and atmosphere and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Wild Mushroom Foraging in the Blue Mountains

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On Sunday, 18 April, we went foraging for wild Saffron Milk Caps & Slippery Jacks in Hampton State Forest.

We first met for brekkie at the Victory Theatre Antique Centre & Cafe in Blackheath. An unexpected road closure made our convoy towards the forest that more exciting. We took a fire trail from the back end of the forest and after a few interesting turns, we finally made it to our destination. From here, we foraged for about 2 hours in the forest.

Unfortunately, our forage was not as plentiful as in previous years, but we found enough mushrooms for everyone to take home their bounty, and also serve a delicious lunch. Thank you to everyone who brought yummy desserts and chocolates for the group! A few of us finished off the day with a well deserved coffee or tea at The Gingerbread House Katoomba.

Thank you to everyone who braved the journey with us today. We hope you had a wonderful day and look forward to seeing you all again soon!