Celebrating German-American tradition

Nearly 3,000 celebrated German-American tradition last weekend at the 128th annual Volksfest German-American Festival, held at the Plattduetsche Park Restaurant in Franklin Square.

Originally held in Brooklyn, the festival has been held at the Plattduetsche since 1918, and includes activities for children, imported specialties, German food and beer, game stands, rifle range shooting, dancing performances, and queen and princess contests.

This year, the festival was held on July 9 and 10. Several raffle prizes were awarded — $1,500 for first prize, $750 for second and $250 for third. A parade was held in the park on Saturday, which included several local German organizations, including the Bremervoerder Chorus, the Brooklyn Schuetzen Corps, the Foehrer Musik Freunde and the New Generation German-American Club.

Kristina Rulli, 24, was named the 2011 German-American Festival Queen; Maeve Gutmann, 17, was named First Princess of the festival; and Sheena Simonini, 17, was named Second Princess of the festival. The 2011 Junior Princesses of the festival are Annalisa Andre, 11, Ava Wuchte, 8, Nadya Resnick, 11, and Alexandra Schuler, 10.

The seven girls will go on to participate in the 54th annual German-American Steuben Parade, which will be held on 5th Avenue in Manhattan on Sept. 17.

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