Land of the Liberators a popular destination for EO members

Annual group tour has 150 participants

HILVERSUM - Visiting the land of the Liberators and of family, friends and neighbours. That was the aim of a group of over 150 Dutch tourists who visited Ontario locations such as Grimsby, Brampton and Ottawa. The entire group is a member of the Evangelische Omroep (EO) broadcasting society in the Netherlands, which is known for its keen interest in North American developments in general, evangelical Christian trends and the welfare of Dutch immigrants in particular.

On its tour of these cities, the group interacted with the local Dutch communities. For example, at the Mountainview CRC in Grimsby the group attended a specially arranged concert with the Hosannah Choir of director Herman den Hollander, followed by an opportunity to meet and intermingle with one another.

Another itinerary highlight was a mid Sunday afternoon church service at Holland Christian Homes in Brampton, again with the opportunity to intermingle afterwards at a coffee social.

The final significant event was a memorial service in Ottawa at St Andrews Presbyterian Church, where the Dutch Royal family attended while in exile in Canada. It is there where Princess Margriet, born in a Ottawa maternity room declared Dutch territory for the occasion, was baptized, a very unique detail in the history of the ties of friendship between Canada and the Netherlands and told with photographs in the book When Canada Was Home, the Story of Dutch Princess Margriet.

The group was organized by Beter-Uit travel organizer, which offers EO-members a different travel destination each year. In Beter-Uit EO travel history Canada shows up as a popular destination, considering the number who participated this year, a 3-bus caravan. A similar trip to the U.S.A. attracted only 100 members although EO’s anniversary year 2007 attracted a participation record of 350, Israel bound.