Sandy Gauntlett sent an update of plans for the May 6-8, 2011, Great Lakers’ Tulip Festival rally in Holland, Michigan. Wow, are we ahead of the game this year, or what! Click here to download a Word document with all the details, or check 2011 Events page above for summary of updated information. But for those who want to read about it right now, here goes:
MAY 6-8, 2011 Holland, Michigan, Great Lakers’ Tulip Festival Rally at the Dutch Treat Campground.
Join us for a weekend of fun and beautiful blooms during Holland’s famous Tulip Festival. Activities will start Friday with a caravan to Windmill Island and Gardens. The cost is $7.50 each. If over 20 people participate, the cost goes down to $6.75. For those interested, we will eat out at a local area restaurant Friday evening.
Saturday morning we will head into Holland for the traditional street-cleaning (1:15 p.m.) and Volksparade (2 p.m). Click here to view Tulip Festival schedule of events.
Satur
day evening will be our famous Great Lakers potluck so bring something yummy.
Sunday will start with coffee and doughnuts. For bikers, Sandy will lead a bike ride. Golf and Saugatuck shopping are other options.
Campground details: Dutch Treat Campground located on 10300 Gordon; Zealand, Mi 49464, 616-772-4303. The campground requires a three-night minimum during Tulip Festival. The cost is $32.50 for full hook-up. They are saving 20 sites for us until March 1st for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights May 5th to May 8th. If you call them, let the phone continue to ring. They have a heated swimming pool, large pull-thru sites, and recreation room. Nancy, Pat, and Sandy are the hosts and will be at the campground starting Thursday afternoon May 5th.
After making reservations e-mail at least one know that you are coming. Sandy Gauntlett: sandyg3061 at sbcglobal.net or Pat Bubel: pbubella at aol.com or Nancy Wurm: ncwurmlh at aol.com.
From Wikipedia:
In May, the week-long Tulip Time Festival [5] celebrates the region’s Dutch heritage with a community street-cleaning parade, a children’s traditional-costume parade, a music parade, over 1,500 teenagers dancing in wooden shoes, and lots of activities for the entire family.
Windmill Island, 7th Street at Lincoln Avenue, by the Macatawa River. Features an antique carousel, an Amsterdam street organ, acres of gardens (with, of course, tulips) and the 240-year-old working De Zwaan windmill, the last to be dismantled and moved out of the Netherlands.
Downtown Holland, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, includes eight blocks of more than 100 shops and restaurants housed in Victorian buildings. The sidewalks are heated by underground hot-water pipes, making shopping a pleasant experience even in winter. Most shops are open until 9PM during the week.
Two characteristically Dutch handicrafts can be purchased at the DeKlomp Wooden Shoe and Delft Factory, 12755 Quincy Avenue, the only factory of its kind in the United States. You can watch the artists producing both delftware, a traditional blue-and-white pottery originally produced around the town of Delft in the Netherlands, and wooden shoes, on machines that were imported from the Netherlands.
Veldheer Tulip Gardens, 12755 Quincy Avenue, [2]. Adjacent to the DeKlomp Factory. Open from April to mid-October. Along with over four million tulips, the gardens also feature daffodils, hyacinths and other spring flowers. Bulbs and perennials are offered for sale. Admission to the gardens is $6.
