Hof-Reunion -
Greetings from America - coast to coast
"Peak Season in Signpost Forest" Was the heading of an article in the Hof Newspaper "Hofer Anzeiger" describing the visit to Hof of around 150 Americans and their families. The occasion was a reunion of former sevicemen stationed at the former American military base in Hof. The base was an intelligence gathering installation at the time of the Iron Curtain.
They came from states such as oklahoma,Texas, Arizona, Virginia, California and Florida to name a few. Literally from coast to coast and thex didn't come with empty hands.
Almost all brought signs with exotic names such as "Cocoa Beach", "Port Orange", Vegas Strip" or "Black Cowboy Hat". Big and small, many with bright colors, individually designed town signs, street signs and license plates. There was event the sign in German which read "Alles Gute wünschen Wir Unseren Freunden in Hof". Someone had even brought a flag with the words. "Village of Germantown - Willkommen".
They were called GI's and were stationed here from 1948 to 1975. They are celebrating the fourth reunion. Many made friends then with the local people in Hof and some still maintain contact today with them as well as friendships. They will again return to the many different places spread out all over the States.
The last "Hof Reunion" Took place in 2000 at Colorado Springs. It has been two years since the last reunion and there is much to tell in particular the memories of being in Hof as they walked again through the streets of the city. A woman from Arizona said, "I wanted so much to see the Saale River again". There was a double pleasure that Fernweh-Park is directly on the Saale River.
Chuck Wilson is the one who brought the reunion into being and of course is there with his wife Monika. They were recently in New York City for the NYC Memorial Day and were deeply impressed. There was a memorial service for the victims of the terroist attack at Fernweh-Park on Sepember 11. Chuck said, "Hof will always live in our hearts". They brought a street sign with the words "Sacramento Way" as a memento of their home city.
Klaus Beer: "Sacremento is a beautiful city that is also a historic town. There is also a statue of the Pony Express. Your mall is a fantastic place to shop". Chuck: "When were you there?" Klaus: "Four years ago as we made our film ‚Highway 50' and the picture book of the same name. We went from Ocean City, Maryland straight through 12 States to San Francisco. When we reached Sacramento we were almost at our goal, shortly before the Gates of San Francisco after a long journey crossing the whole continent". Again there was more small talk about America ...
There was then a group picture with signs as each displayed there individual signs, which caused the traffic on the Michaelis Bridge to almost come to a standstill. This photo was made for the local newspapers back home.
Here are the persons who contributed their very personal greeting signs.
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Streetsign "Pueblo" by Tom Nickerson |
City of "Rocky Mount" by Irmgard and |
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City of "Yorktown", Virginia by |
Sign of "Jacksonville" Alabama by |
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Greetsign from "Monroe" by Ursula |
Streetsign "Vegas Strip" by Ilse Root, |
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Citysign "Brecknock Township", |
Signs "Palm Coast - Welcomes you" by Edna |
More USA sign greetings of the Hof reunion guests can be found on the next page.