29th November 2008, the 1st Advent weekend, a cold & chilly Saturday was the day selected for the X‘Mas Party celebrated by the Goan Association Germany e.V.

It was in fact a day to remember. The hall was over packed. There was no more place let in the hall. With this unexpected crowd, the organizers had a very trying time getting everything in place. After the President of the GAG, Mr. Vito Oliveira, welcomed the guests there were various programmes that followed. There was the Goa Queen competition. 3 judges got about with the competitors doing their rounds, by introducing themselves, doing the cat-walks and answering to the various questions. This time around the queen was not selected by the 3 judges but voted by the public. Jade Martins was selected as the 2nd runner-up, Kathleen Cabral was the 1st runner-up. And the winner is ..... Maxiana Cardoso who was elected the Goa Queen Germany 2008-2009. Kimberley Nunes, the Goa Queen 2007 officially crowned Maxiana. The President of GAG put the sash around the queen. There were blushing faces everywhere and everyone congratulating the other.

There was a lovely buffet, well managed & displayed by the buffet-master, Michael Mascarenhas. Fr. John Marsh said a short prayer and officially blessed the buffet. With such wide variety of dishes everybody ate to their stomach‘s content. There was a full-fledged bar, ably managed by Jerome Simoes. There was lovely music managed by the DJ of the evening Reggie DeSousa and also a one-man-band performed by the one and only Joe ‘King’ Furtado. There were many novelty prizes. The dance floor was packed and the people really enjoyed themselves.

Of course no Christmas party goes by without Santa making his appearance. The children screamed in glee seeing him. He had lots of goodies for the kiddies. There was tombola with lots & lots of prizes. With so much of winning & dinning, so many prizes to be won, the mood had to be good. A great place to meet old acquaintances and to make new friends.

Special thanks to the 3 judges of the queen contest Sylvia Klafki, Theresa DeSousa & Belinda D‘Mello, Zelia for the roses & bouquets and the co-ordinator of the programme Joanita Bach. To Reggie DeSousa n Joe Furtado for the lovely music. To Sylvia, Shanta, Esther, Mrs. Williams for donating prizes for the tombola & John Cabral for sponsoring the prizes for the kids. To Salvino & Margaret for donating the wonderful cake for dessert. A big thanks to Vito, Renate, Jerome, Zelia, Michael, Anita, Gordon, Margaret, Joanita, Fermino, Joe, Trevor, Marina, Kimberley for all your help and to those that we might have forgotten to mention.

The organizing committee wishes all members & their families and the rest of you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2009

DEV Borem KORUM

Well, well, well the weather forecast was not supposed to be bright & sunny. It was not very conducive to have this party on this day. But surprise, surprise - we‘d an almost perfect weather albeit for a short passing thunder shower. But that did not spoil the mood of all those present. In fact we had more crowd that beat all our expectations. But they all brought either a salad or a sweet-dish which did supplement for the the grill meats.

The President opened the day by welcoming all and wishing bon-appetite, whereby the food was opened. All ate to their stomach‘s full. Later we had a game of Hausie which was followed by various party games for kids & adults. There were lots of prizes for all these games. Highlight of the day was everybody taking part in a Mando singing session.

Special thanks to Michael, Joanita, Jerome, Gordon, Vito & Avelar and their families for all that they did for this grand success. Thanks also to Johnny, Savio, Thereza, Shanta, Sylvia, Esther and all those who helped.

Again another very well organized event from the Goan Association Germany e.V (GAG). There were lots of people inspite of the summer holidays and the European Cup. After the M.C. opened the evening, the President of GAG Vito Oliveira welcomed all the people and wished them an enjoyable evening. The weather was perfect. The guests were treated to some lovely live music from the one and only Joe ‘King’ Furtado. He was backed-up by some scintillating music from the DJ of the evening - Reggie. With so much of dancing around, there was definetely lots of novelty prizes to be given out.

We had a full-fledged buffet with various items which was very well managed by the buffet- master Michael. A well-stocked bar did help in keeping the spirits high. Jerome did a perfect job at the entrance and Joanita managed with the hall deco and all the prizes. Gordon set-up the sound system and the lighting.

There was the tambola with lots of prizes. Play Station with a large screen and Poker was also provided for the youth.

Our special thanks to our sponsors for the various prizes: Shanta, Fely Saptel, Michael Mascarenhas, Joanita, Gordon, Vito. To Savio Mendonca for those Maritim Hotel Vouchers, Thelma Noronha for the Sash & Zelia for those lovely roses.