the shops will be open from 13:00 to 18:00 the 11th Young & Oldtimer Meeting will take place in front of the town hall The town of Ransbach-Baumbach will once again be transformed into an Eldorado for fans of petticoats The young and oldtimer meeting will not only delight you with cars tractors and motorbikes dating back to the 1930s but also musically: ‘Pippi and the 50’s boy’ will take you back to the 50s and 60s with groovy music and lots of fun An exhibition on model making and technology awaits you in the foyer There will also be plenty of refreshments on offer The Friends of the Ransbach-Baumbach Volunteer Fire Brigade will provide you with cold drinks and tasty treats from the barbecue For the ‘sweet tooth’: A small café awaits you in the winter garden of the Ransbach-Baumbach town hall There you can watch the hustle and bustle in the car park while enjoying coffee and cake most recently as a Best Practices Officer for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for a year Nicole was raised in the small German town of Ransbach- Baumbach She studied law at the Rheinische Friedrich- Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and as a legal trainee at the High Court of Berlin for two years enrolling at Golden Gate University in San Francisco and graduating with a Master’s in International Legal Studies Her experience and credentials then earned her a post as legal advisor at the German Italian and Swiss Consulates in San Francisco and then at the German Embassy in Argentina Working for the UN remained a long-term ambition for Nicole and she applied for an internship at the UN in New York which she undertook in the spring of 1999 within the Division for the Advancement of Women in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Colleagues there fondly remembered her as a conscientious worker Nicole accepted a position as an Associate Programme Officer with the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in Geneva she transferred to the New York office in 2002 where she was responsible for trainings related to international affairs and diplomacy Always eager to challenge herself further Nicole took courses at New York University and began studying for the New York Bar Exam Her colleagues greatly admired her discipline and commitment towards advancing her studies while maintaining a demanding full-time job Nicole then applied for UN field positions and consequently was first stationed in Kinshasa and later in Beni in Ituri in 2006 as a Human Rights Officer with the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) It was in the DRC that she met her life partner and fiancé George Scheibner Mesas Nicole moved to Haiti as a Conduct and Discipline Officer In February 2009 she became Chief of the Best Practices Unit for MINUSTAH Colleagues were quick to share their impressions of Nicole as “inspirational,” “generous with her time,” “intensely present,” “dedicated” and “a remarkable person,” who had a heartfelt impact on everyone whose path she crossed “Nicole had an amazing way to talk and listen to people and find a common language,” said a colleague Nicole always found a way to surprise people with gifts “Her kindness and creativity went to extraordinary lengths,” said a colleague With anecdotes of trips overseas to attend weddings organizing personalized tours for friends visiting New York and German-themed celebrations where everyone was invited colleagues have endless tales of Nicole’s kindness Other colleagues mentioned the gifts Nicole showered on them even when she was serving in hardship duty stations “Her memory will continue to inspire those fortunate enough to have known her,” said a colleague from Afghanistan “It feels as if our friendship was like an unfinished conversation,” said another colleague from Lebanon A memorial service was held on 6 February 2010 in Ransbach-Baumbach who had last seen her at Christmas a few weeks before the earthquake spoke at the service of their daughter’s joy and passion Members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang wear gear with the club’s logo and read “Latvia” (front) as they arrive for a funeral in Ransbach-Baumbach (AP) — Police are preparing for hundreds of Hells Angels to descend on a South Carolina college town next week for their national gathering The Greenville News reports that an estimated 600 to 700 members of the motorcycle club are expected to ride into Clemson between Monday and Friday Clemson Police Chief Jimmy Dixon says residents will notice more law officers downtown and throughout the city beginning Monday Department of Justice classifies the Hells Angels as an “outlaw motorcycle gang” and said the group is involved in drug dealing and other criminal activity tourism director for the Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce says the gathering “is almost like a family reunion for them.” Herrick says he does not have concerns about the bikers coming to Clemson Professional potters and imaginative artists are very much at home in the Kannenbäckerland The three jugs on the coat of arms of the town of Höhr-Grenzhausen are a clue that pottery has played an important role in this area the Kannenbäckerland has developed its own ceramic culture from the craft to the artistic scene to high-tech ceramics which still forms the backbone of this little Westerwald town’s global reputation as a centre for ceramics potters from the Rhineland region and Lothringen settled in the Westerwald to get to know the source of the material better: The clay from the Westerwald has properties that are excellent for the production of stoneware Today, not only are there lots of little potteries in and around Höhr-Grenzhausen, there is also a ceramic training and research centre and the largest ceramics museum in Europe you can find out lots about the long history of the bluey-grey stoneware traces of which can be found almost everywhere in the world an archaeologist who also works at the ceramics museum in Höhr-Grenzhausen explains the travels of Pastor Leonhard Meurer who visited many West African countries in the late sixties and onwards and kept coming across Westerwald stoneware He asked the owners in remote villages on the Ivory Coast in Ghana and Burkina Faso and found out that only tribal elders kings and those in privileged positions were allowed to drink from these vessels They were gifts from European traders or given in exchange for gold The jugs have been passed down from generation to generation and can never be sold as they believe this would bring bad luck on the family Their ancestors would be more likely to forgive them for exchanging them Forming ceramics at ceramics museum Höhr-Grenzhausen When William of Orange was crowned king of Great Britain it became the custom to decorate the jugs with the initials of the ruler They can be seen in the display cabinets in the ceramic museum exhibition As well as the initials ‘WR’ for William Rex and ‘AR; for his successor Queen Anne as of 1714 there are lots of jugs bearing the monogram ‘GR’ who was crowned George I of Great Britain that year With the introduction of fine white porcelain the stoneware disappeared from noble tables but it was still indispensable in grand kitchens The containers are perfect for the pantry: they keep bread fresh and stop onions and garlic going off too quickly The salt-glazed stoneware is fired at a temperature of 1220 degrees in cooking salt Thousands of salt crystals are arranged around the stoneware to create the indestructible glaze The result is a sintered ceramic that does not absorb smells and is resistant to acids View of the exhibition pieces in the ceramics museum Exhibition in the ceramics museum in Höhr-Grenzhausen Once just the supplier of these famous cans and jugs the Kannenbäckerland has now developed into a centre for ceramic crafts and training ceramics are indispensable in the modern automotive industry and in medical technology The Ceramics Training and Research Centre (BFZK) and Europe’s largest ceramics museum can be found in Höhr-Grenzhausen With its ceramics and salt-glazed stoneware the Kannenbäckerland around Höhr-Grenzhausen is a real artists’ landscape in which potters are not only constantly producing new ideas from the famous Westerwald clay but also presenting their handiwork to visitors where exhibitors from all over Europe show off their range of ceramic wares Business remains tough for independent players and five regional wholesalers are now joining forces to take advantage of synergies and maximise their chances of survival With Frankfurt am Main-based entity TA Tyre Alliance GmbH the five partners aim to create an “association of independent owner-operated companies” that “wish to remain economically independent.” Tyre Alliance operates as an equal partnership between Reifen Burkhardt GmbH + Co Semex Reifengroßhandels GmbH (Furth im Wald) Reifen Specht Handels GmbH (Ransbach-Baumbach) Reifen Straub GmbH (Kirchberg an der Iller) and Reifen Tanski Manfred Tanski e and is led by managing director Reimund Wolfmüller who together with former Pirelli man Michael Borchert and 26-year Continental veteran Norbert Busch played a key role in establishing the association Speaking with our sister magazine Neue Reifenzeitung Wolfmüller stated that integrating the five regional companies would give rise to “an efficient cooperation whose focus is upon nationwide service and close customer contact.” In particular the Tyre Alliance is expected to provide support and increase its members’ competitiveness at the height of the summer/winter seasonal tyre changeover periods The Tyre Alliance represents a marketing potential of around three million tyres and its members have a combined warehouse capacity of 65,000 square metres the five members are active in all segments of the tyre market They also operate a total of 41 retail outlets a long-term Tyre Alliance goal is the “combining and further development of each member’s current core competencies.” The managing directors adds: “These synergy effects will in future guarantee exceptional marketing performance that in the first instance will benefit customers commercial partners and suppliers.” He is keen to explore potential synergies that will better interlink the five wholesalers’ warehouses and other areas of interest include joint IT projects and collaboration in the areas of logistics and marketing If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com Fun Easter activities are offered in the region again this year The Easter egg hunt on the castle grounds of Schloss Drachenburg is a popular event The staff hide several hundred colorful Easter eggs in the castle park which lie on the flowerbeds or on the park lawn but they provide sweet surprises when they are exchanged for sweets by the Easter Bunny's helpers For those who don't want to search for eggs Those who guess how many eggs are hanging from it can enter a raffle "Professionals" who are really keen should go in search of the golden egg The castle staff report that it has been hidden many times Drachenburg Castle also lends out play wagons to families a visit to the animal park becomes a real nature experience especially at Easter: children's laughter can be heard everywhere in the Affen & Vogel Park (Monkey and Bird Park) when children can search for real Easter eggs which has been taking place for more than 35 years now more than 4,000 colorful eggs are hidden in the park's outdoor areas on each of the Easter holidays No child goes home without a colorful find Admission to the park for adults 15.70 euros children up to 90 centimeters in height have free admission children and their adult companions can dye Easter eggs on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday at the LVR Open-Air Museum Kommern Only simple natural dyes made from onion skins and red cabbage or nettle leaves are used To ensure that the eggs survive the journey home in one piece participants can make small containers under the guidance of helpers Price: Admission to the open-air museum: adults 9.50 euros children and young people up to 18 years get in free There is no participant fee for egg dyeing many millions of wild daffodils transform the valley between Hellenthal and Monschau in the northern Eifel into a sea of beautiful blossoms the plants reach full bloom between the beginning of April and the beginning of May hikers can experience the splendor of the blossoms on a nine-kilometer-long signposted daffodil circular trail Where: The ideal starting point for your own and for the many guided hikes to the daffodil meadows is the "Hollerather Knie" parking lot in Hellenthal-Hollerath Apr 18 daily at 10 am and at 2 pm at the "Hollerather Knie" for the guided tours families pay 13 euros The Easter market in Ransbach-Baumbach in the Westerwald is all about art and creativity a market in the town hall is all about herbs and related products Short lectures and demonstrations on sewing and fabrics complement the market events Information on the history of each craft and healthy food will be presented to families