Dirndls full of a mother's love - Dubois County Free Press, Inc.

Laverne Kieffner with her children (from left) Chad, Tara, and Stacy. This photo may have been taken at the end of the Strassenfest Parade, hence the underwhelmed looks of the children, according to Stacy. Photo provided by Tara Popp

Laverne Kieffner loved the Strassenfest.

Her daughters, Stacy (Kieffner) Lindauer and Tara (Kieffner) Popp, remember how she loved to wear a dirndl and dance during the fest. “I loved watching my mom dance in these dresses,” Stacy said. “She lit up. It was awesome.”

Laverne passed away last December, succumbing to cancer. Last week, the daughters decided to wear their mother’s dirndls for the opening ceremony of the Jasper Strassenfest to honor and remember her.

“These dresses are just great memories,” Tara said. “Our mom was an incredible woman. She was someone who always gave to other people. That is just who she was and I feel like that is kind of a part of this dress.”

Opening night, the sisters walked the square in two of their mother’s dresses; dirndls picked up in Germany over 35 years ago. Emma, Tara’s 7-year-old daughter and the Strassenfest Little Miss runner-up, was wearing a dirndl also. One that Tara and Stacy had worn when they were little. “It’s great to have been a part of it then and to now to be a part of it with her,” Tara said.

Stacy Lindauer, Emma Popp, and Tara Popp all wearing the dirndls Laverne Kieffner collected for Strassenfest. — Stacy Lindauer, Emma Popp, and Tara Popp are all wearing the dirndls Laverne Kieffner collected for Strassenfest. Emma is wearing the same dress Stacy is wearing in the photo at the top of this story. Tara is wearing the dress Laverne has on in the photo. Stacy is wearing another of her mother’s dresses; Laverne had three.

“What’s great is these dresses are on the second generation,” Stacy explained. “They are just filled with great memories.”

Through their involvement in the Jasper German Club, Laverne and her husband, Ron, were involved with the Strassenfest, even serving as the Strassenfest Host and Hostess in 1983 and 1984. Ron also booked the performers for the fest. Stacy remembered finding her father listening to the sample music on cassettes the performers would send.

“We were so involved, for us the fest began three months earlier than everyone else,” she said. “It was just a great time.”

Once the fest started, Stacy and her brother Chad were released to run with their friends. Their parents spent time in the bier garten dancing, and the kids would return for money for rides or game booths. “I just always have this picture in my head of pressing my face against the fence and yelling,” Stacy said. “And the German Club was so close-knit someone always knew who to go get.”

The 36th Jasper Strassenfest was no different for the sisters. They spent time walking around the square, running into friends who had returned to the area for the annual event. When asked, the sisters would let them know why they wore the traditional German dresses, and their friends recognized how much the dirndls meant to Laverne and how special it was for her daughters to wear them on the opening night of the fest.

That friendship is the heartbeat of a street fest, and the essence of those relationships is a part of those dirndls that Laverne Kieffner loved to dance in.

“Putting this dress on today just made me smile,” Tara said during opening night. “I just smiled. This was a big part of who she was and so it just means a lot.”