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Gaaikema’s whirlwind tour of Canada a success

Excerpts from the June 1969 issue of Goed Nieuws / The Windmill Herald


Tags: Excerpts from the Windmill Immigration History

NEW YORK – Dutch entertainer Seth Gaaikema ended his whirlwind tour across Canada with a stopover in New York where he also gave several appearances of his show “Kom-kom, tut-tut, ho-ho.”

Gaaikema observed two main segments in his Dutch audiences abroad, those who work there temporarily and follow trends in the Netherlands very intensely and those who settled abroad but want to stay in touch. Gaaikema also entertained audiences in the Dutch Antilles and Surinam. He called the tour successful.

In the Netherlands, the Flowering Bulb auction West-Friesland celebrated its 50th anniversary in Bovenkarspel with an ecumenical service, led by the town’s Roman Catholic priest J.A. De Groot and Andijk’s Reformed minister J. Wolven. The auction cooperative netted sales of 40 million guilders in 1968, a record. The auction’s first session took place at De Roode Hert (the Red Deer), a café, in 1919.

A personnel advertisement by Van Construction, a subsidiary of Van Vliet Construction, operated by the ten Van Vliet brothers, offered an estimator’s position to an experienced project manager. The company built various landmarks around Vancouver, notably the Queen Elizabeth Park’s Bloedel Conservatory, which had just recently opened for visitors. The ten brothers were raised on a farm in Voorschoten. Neil arrived first in Canada in 1952, Jack completed the Van Vliet exodus in 1969.

In other area coverage, a business profile paid attention to long-time advertiser B and Y Agencies Ltd. and its office personnel. At that time, its office at the Brentwood Shopping Centre was staffed by company co-founder Tony Bakker and insurance agents Bert Vissers and Al Meyer, ably assisted by receptionist Ms. Marilyn Pazdzierski.

Two families shared their joys with the readership: Langley/Surrey hay dealer Hielke VanderVeen and his wife Theresa (Tseerdje Annema) for their 25th wedding anniversary and Langley’s Arie and Mary Van Vugt for the birth of Arie Jr.

In an article, The Vancouver Sun turned its attention to another news source for many people: BC’s Ethnic Press, noting that it may not get delivered daily, but it does arrive. Also the source for Dutch Canadians basked in The Sun’s limelight.