Tulip Time!

Tulips!

Holland Michigan takes great pride in its Dutch heritage. They have dance groups that perform several times a day on street corners in full Dutch-style outfits. It seems to be taught in schools; they have dance clubs as you would a Chess Club or Drama Club. Very fun and entertaining and the music is bouncy, too. The Holland High School Band even marches in Dutch Clogs (the famous wooden shoes) with choreographed steps that add extra ‘oomph’ to the show.

The parade

They do two parades. Thursday afternoon was a kids’ parade and the local school kids get to walk in the parade, from first grade up. Everyone in Dutch outfits and with their handmade Dutch decorations. They had all the regular parade-type entries and floats plus two large wooden shoes being driven down the road. They even had the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile! Love things large.

The parade on Saturday started with the town crier in official regal garb declaring the city streets need cleaning. Along came anyone wanting to participate to wash the streets. You had to be in Dutch outfits and have your own broom or bucket. One person would splash a bit of water on the street and the next people would brush the street clean. The street cleaners on foot were followed by people with modern floor cleaning machines like we use at Publix but even larger, some they drove. The parade with all the bands, floats, and cool cars followed them on the now clean streets.

I love a good parade! I always try to get to the Christmas parade but loved the festive feel of a spring parade also. We were lucky to have great weather when we were in Holland and the tulips stood tall for me. And yes, I bought some tulips for the camper.