Ode to Joy,  is a Celebration of  German Village's Cultural Roots.  Fredrich Schiller  born in 1759 was a German philospher, historian, and dramatist who helped spread the therories  of the Age of Enlightenment.  His contemporaries were Gothe, Beethoven and Mozart and, infact, it was Schiller's  poem written in 1785 that  inspired Beethoven's Ode to Joy sung in his Ninth Symphony.  The center piece of Columbus Ohio's historic neighborhood is Schiller Park.  In the beginning this neighborhood was a struggling immigrant communty which decided not to choose a general, or patron saint to represnt their inspirations, but  a philosopher; as they had a belief that the world could be peaceably transformed through poetry, iiterature, music and mndfulness.  The Puffin Fundation West's grant to the German Village Societ, in a small way, will help rededicate the ideas that creative expression and innovation can move society towards a more progressive democracy.  The community festival begins on Sept. 8 with the Harmony Project, a community choir performing in the park and the fetivities continue on Sept. 9th with family fun picnics, and activites for park lovers of all ages.