It was Karl Kopriva, a pre-World War 2 immigrant from Slovenia and the “Eminence Gris” of the Club who took on the formidable change of finding an appropriate “Picknick Platz” and to find a way to finance it!
He started by placing an ad in the Hamilton Spectator: “seeking a picnic property within a 20-mile radius of downtown Hamilton, ideally containing a wooded lot and a small creek suitable for fishing”. To Karl Kopriva’s surprise, dozens of offers rolled in from places such as Smithville, Waterdown, Stoney Creek, Campbellville and Copetown. But Karl convinced the Board of Directors and the membership to acquire a 55-acre farm property on the Binbrook/Glanford Townline. The purchase was executed a 1960 and the facility was immediately named “Germania Park”. After a fair bit of clean-up and road, access work was done, the first Club Picnic was held there in 1965.
It was also in 1965 when the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) notified the Club that it was planning the construction of a major dam in the vicinity of the park. The dam was designed to create a 3.5 mile long, 430-acre lake. Besides its major function of storing water to augment summer water flow into the Welland River, the lake was to have recreational uses ranging from fishing and swimming to camping and hunting.
For the Germania Park, this project was to have a major impact. The quiet little creek which meandered through the middle of the park was to become part of this large lake, cutting off road access to the southern section of the property. The NPCA assured the Club that it would be willing to negotiate a settlement to compensate the Club for this loss of access and the loss of the land which would be put under water.
In 1967 an agreement was reached. The NPCA purchased a 16-acre parcel of land from the Club. A few years later in 1971, the NPCA bought another 2 acres of Park property. As compensation for that sale, the Club received cash plus 8 acres of land. This land was located on the west side of the park, adjacent to the lake. These transactions provided the Park with a lake-frontage of more than 2,000 feet.
In 1976 the Club bought the farmhouse and the associated land of approximately 1 acre located next to the entrance gate of the Park.
After all of these properties, transactions were completed, the Park area amounted to 48 acres.
But now let’s return to 1972: after the dam had been completed and the lake had filled up with water, an awful lot of work was done by a large number of member-volunteers. First off the mark was Karl Kopriva who arranged for the planting of close to 7,000 tree seedlings. Next came the Fishers and Hunters who constructed a state-of-the-art rifle range as well as a large hall with a kitchen, bar and washroom facilities.
Other individuals and groups built wooden picnic service sheds, planted more trees, created a swimmable beach, built parking areas and did general maintenance work. Karl Kopriva in 1979 arranged and paid for the planting of an oak tree, “Eine Deutsche Eiche”, in memory of the founding members of the “Verein Deutsches Heim 1929”, a club of German-speaking immigrants who amalgamated with the Germania Club in 1935.
A few years later in 1982, a plaque inscribed with the names of 34 members of the “Deutsches Heim” was placed near the oak tree in a moving and memorable service. This service was the actual beginning of the annual November memorial service during which we remember and pray for those Club members who have passed away in the previous year.
Also, in 1982 a major milestone was reached as far as the park is concerned. Eddie Keller proposed the creation of a campground for the park.
Today the park features the fisher and hunters clubhouse and a second smaller hall both with individual kitchen and washroom facilities, large grass picnic and sports areas, as well as an outdoor dance floor with a sound booth.
The property provides great opportunities for picnics and camping.
From 50 YEARS GERMANIA PARK by Hans Bastel