German Club Shares Gummy Bears, Flags, and Motivational Messages at Montclair’s World’s Fair Day

For the second year in a row, Montclair’s lively German Club hosted a table at Montclair’s annual World’s Fair Day, a festival celebrating the cultural diversity that defines Montclair’s campus population. Among a table offering water tastings from around the world, tables representing particular cultural organizations, a Coca Cola – FIFA booth offering soccer challenges, the German Club hosted a table with a photo booth, trivia questions, and a prize wheel.

Every guest was a winner, receiving a German-themed temporary tattoo, stickers, gummy bears, an inspirational German-language message, or a flag from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, or Liechtenstein as a souvenir. The club not only handed out hundreds of prizes to interested visitors, but also enjoyed special connections with the many guests who had visited a German-speaking country before, who plan to visit, and/or who are taking German classes at Montclair.

The club members themselves represent some of the diversity typical at Montclair, with members of the executive board also sharing connections to Dominican, Mexican, Peruvian, Polish, Italian, Ukrainian, Kazak and other cultures, and to majors such as Language, Business & Culture; Math; Data Science; Chemistry; Linguistics and more.

As can be seen in this video snapshot and in the recent feature of staff member Casey Coleman, who organizes the day, World’s Fair Day brings together many kinds of campus organizations and connects with hundreds of attendees from the campus and local communities, including everyone from the University President Jonathan Koppell to the University mascots to children visiting campus for Take Your Child to Work Day. Held on the final day of campus events before finals, the day also served as a culmination of an action-packed year in which German Club enjoyed outings to the NJ Devil’s and the Jewish History Center in New York City, karaoke auf Deutsch, and much more. The executive board has already begun shaping plans for next fall’s events, no doubt informed by the study abroad many club members will undertake in Germany this summer.