KONINGINNEDAG 2 MEI JL.

On Sunday, May 2, 2010, the South Florida Dutch community celebrated ‘Koninginnedag’ with another grand family event at Markham Park in Sunrise. Amidst the Florida sunshine and cooling easterly breezes, the children enjoyed a variety of games while the adults mingled and enjoyed some Dutch snacks and libations.
Board members and volunteers were hard at work long before the 1:30 start time, organizing the games for children, and setting up the bar, music station, poffertjes pan, bitterballen fryer, and the rijst tafel buffet.
Under the watchful eye of the volunteers and parents, the younger crowd participated in sjoelen, zaklopen and other games, while others were more drawn to the bounce house or a quick game of soccer. Thanks to the Raaijmakers face painting team, many of the children got their faces transformed into colorful little pieces of art, from simple red-white-blue flags to gorgeous butterflies.  For more close-ups of these, please see the pictures.
A quick speech by the NASF President, Paul Tol, introduced the board members, and then a word by Arend Gouw from the Dutch Consulate was followed by the singing of the Wilhelmus. Then it was time for the DJ to turn up the music, and while the beer flowed, we all waited for the hour when the adults could enjoy a scrumptious Indonesian buffet, prepared by volunteers. As a big fan of this particular portion of the event, I want to commend the cooks, as the rijsttafel was “enak sekali” and truly “asli”. In the meantime, the younger crowd couldn’t be happier with their hot dogs and ‘frietjes’.
This annual event is always a success, and this year was no different. It is a wonderful opportunity for all of us from the Northern and Southern areas of the South Florida Dutch community to get together and meet new members or re-acquaint ourselves with those we don’t see regularly. For those who took pictures and would like to share them online, please feel free to email them to editor@dutchclub.com.
A big event like this one would not be possible without the helpful hands of all the volunteers who took the time to help organize, set up, cook, or clean. Monique, and the rest of the board, would like to say ‘THANK YOU’ to the volunteers:  Marleen Tessel, Esther Rosenberg, Corinne and Vincent Raaijmakers, Ellen Letschert, Jeroen Logtenberg, Raymond De Wilde, Maria Lucassen, Carlos Ortiz, Truus de Zwart, Alice Poelstra, Yoli Wheeler, Renée Gray, Mariet vd Starre, Jan Paans, Carlina Malestein, Rachel Gahler, Petra Mersch.
A special THANK YOU goes out to the CHEFS of the INDONESIAN BUFFET: Jawayne Keijser, Hetty vd Kreeke, Janneke de Voogt, Vincent Raaijmakers, Kees Meijaard, Maud and Ruby, and to the POFFERTJES team of Bob Vugt, daughter Christine and son-in-law Tim.