Fersommling
A Fersommling (plural: Fersommlinge, also spelled Versammling, Versammling, or Fersammling) is a Pennsylvania Dutch social event in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel, which are plays or skits, are performed for entertainment. William W. Donner describes that "A high degree of theatricality and ceremony is involved, especially in the groundhog lodges: pledging loyalty to the lodge and the groundhog, listening to a weather report, singing patriotic songs in Deitsch, and ending every meeting by asking God to allow them to keep their way of life and their merriment." Among these traditions is the singing of the German folk song "Schnitzelbank" and the patriotic "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", in Pennsylvania German as translated by John Birmelin.