Dutch King's Day Silver Lake Country Club April 29, 2016
King's Day is the biggest national event in Holland. Everything and everyone turns orange and celebrates on King's Day.
Photo opp with the Dutch King and Queen
The 17th annual State of Ohio celebration of King's Day, or Koningsdag, took place on April 29, 2016 in Silver Lake.
Roy McKinney welcomed the crowd to the 17th annual State of Ohio celebration of King's Day.
Roy McKinney
Roy then introduced committee member Martin van den Berg, Treasurer of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce.
Martin van den Berg
Martin called up and introduced the event sponsor VMI and their CEO Harm Voortman. Mr. Voortman told of the tradition of King's Day including the Flea Market.
Harm Voortman of VMI
Martin van den Berg introduced several committee members and then called upon Marian Brumbaugh to lead the singing of the Dutch National Anthem.
Allie Mooney and Marian Brumbaugh (Allie will be an intern at The Hague this summer)
Next Martin van den Berg introduced Paul Berget from the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, Cincinnati Chapter who led the toast to the King at the 17th annual State of Ohio celebration of King's Day.
Paul Berget - Toast to the King
The grounds were decorated with information about the Netherlands and, of course, lots of orange.
Sumptuous food and drink were served and a band played for dancing.
The 2016 Committee members and volunteers included Ashok Bisoen, Hans Bloom, Marian Brumbaugh, Barbara Fetter, Arie Kroeze, Lisa Logan, Roy McKinney, Toby Oothoudt, Martin & Suzi van den Berg, Karine van Djick, Bernardine van Kessel-Matava and William Rosner.
One of the traditions of King's Day is the eating of fresh Herring served with onions. Marian Brumbaugh, originally from The Hague in South Holland, said the herring is pickled, not cooked, and available on street corners and all over when in season in May. People eat the herring whole from head to tail as Allie Mooney demonstrates.
The Dutch like to drink a glass of Oranjebitter on King's Day, but also during other festivities relating to the royal family. Oranjebitter is a special beverage that stems from an Orange liqueur that was created in 1620 to celebrate several battles in which Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, was victorious.
Enjoy these other images from the 2016 King's Day celebration.
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