With much of today’s society focused on the future, it’s important for people to step back and appreciate where they came from and how they arrived at their current lot.
That sentiment, from Tulip Queen Holly Van Ankum, seemed to sum up the general mood at last weekend’s Tulip Festival in Drayton.
Over 2,700 people attended the May 15 festival to celebrate the rich Dutch culture in the area, and also to recognize the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands during the Second World War.
The day’s events included a garden tour, parade, official ceremony and a crafts and artisan show at the PMD arena that also featured Dutch cuisine.
John Slot, who emceed the ceremony recognizing the liberation of the Netherlands, told the large crowd he visited Holland cemeteries where Canadian soldiers were buried when he was 10 years old.
“When you see the white crosses row on row, you will never forget,” he said.
The role of Canadian soldiers “on the front lines of freedom and democracy” during the liberation of the Netherlands will ensure the Dutch-Canadian bond will remain strong for generations, he said.
Slot asked those who were personally liberated in 1945 to stand up – a large number in the crowd rose and were recognized – and then he did the same for the Legion members in attendance.
“The Dutch people will never forget what you have done for them,” Slot told the veterans.
Perth-Wellington MP Gary Schellenberger offered gratitude on behalf of the federal government for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the liberation as well as to veterans who returned from the war and the Dutch people who were liberated.
Wellington County Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj, whose father was a veteran and relayed to her the story of the liberation, said while the Dutch people are always thanking Canadians, those who fought in the Netherlands are also very grateful for the reception they received and for the continuing gratitude.
“In my dad’s heart, he remembers all of you by the tulips,” Ross-Zuj said of the large Dutch contingent at the ceremony.
Mapleton Mayor John Green welcomed everyone to the “wonderful celebration” and thanked the event’s planning committee for their hard work, as well as Legion members for their participation.
Green also recognized the six Tulip?Queen contestants and thanked Bill Adsett, publisher and founder of the Wellington Advertiser, as well as editor Dave Adsett, for sponsoring the Tulip Queen contest.
The mayor said he hopes everyone had a great day and added organizers are hoping to make the Tulip?Festival an annual event in Drayton.
The real highlight of the ceremony was an address from veteran Gordon Jones, grandfather of town Kim Drinkwater.
Jones said he has been to a number of ceremonies to recognize the liberation, but the Drayton?Tulip Festival “tops them all.”
As a pilot in the air force, Jones dropped paratroopers over the Dutch city of Arnhem during Operation Market Garden, an Allied military operation – at the time, the largest airborne operation ever – that took place from Sept. 17 to 25, 1944.
Jones was part of a large group that travelled to the Netherlands last September to recognize the 65 anniversary of Market Garden, where he received a hero’s welcome.
He relayed the story of a special ceremony there during which 500 Dutch children laid flowers at 1,000 graves belonging to fallen Allied soldiers.
“It was a very moving ceremony,” Jones said.
At another point during his pilgrimage back to Holland, Jones and his son visited a replica of a military field hospital, where emotions got the best of him and he had to leave.
“War is hell; it is not glory, believe me,” he said.
Jones stressed that last year’s ceremony in the Netherlands, much like the Drayton Tulip Festival ceremony, was not about him.
He told the crowd that he simply represents the tens of thousands of young Canadians plucked from their homes to take part in the war.
He also noted wars are fought on two fronts – on the battlefields and at home – and said it is important to never forget the sacrifices of those at home during the war.
But what stands out most for Jones – from taking part in the war to the 2009 ceremony in the Netherlands to last weekend’s Drayton?Tulip Festival – is the unwavering kindness and appreciation of those affected by the liberation.
“The Dutch people have never forgotten,” he said.
