The Cleveland Dutch community demonstrated their heritage at One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. One World Day has been the official event of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation since 1946. Over 40,000 people visited the gardens on One World Day 2022.
The Dutch community participated in the Parade of Flags.
Dutch Community in Parade of Flags at One World Day
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2021
Dutch Community at One World Day
Members of the Dutch community participated for the first time in the Parade of Flags at One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens on August 29, 2021.
Dutch community in Parade of Flags at One World Day
Here is a video of the entire Parade of Flags at One World Day 2021.
We asked community leaders of various ethnic heritages to share some holiday traditions of their culture. Bernardine van Kessel said "In the Netherlands, Christmas is actually a two-day religious family holiday celebrating the birth of Christ on Dec. 25 & 26. Although it is becoming more of a tradition to give presents on First Christmas Day (Dec. 25), traditionally, presents are only given on Dec. 5 during the separate and unrelated fest of Sinterklaas or St. Nicolaas.
Dutch Strooigoed - a mixture of confectionery that is often strewn around rooms during Sinterklaas celebrations, for children to pick up. The main ingredient is typically kruidnoten.
Arnie de la Porte inducted into Cleveland International Hall of Fame
Charles A. Andre de la Porte, or Arnie de la Porte as he is known, was born and raised in the Netherlands. He is a graduate of de Kweekschool voor de Zeevaart, the oldest Nautical Academy in Europe, and a retired officer in the Royal Dutch Navy. After his nautical career he became very active in international business first in Shell and later as Sales Director for a B. Elliot and Co., a large European machine tool company, followed by General Manager of McCulloch of Europe and In 1981, he became Vice President International of Ridge Tool and located to Elyria, Ohio. Here he Co-founded Hexon inc. where he specialized in export and turn-arounds.
In 1996 Her Majesty the Queen of The Netherlands appointed Arnie as Her Honorary Consul for the State of Ohio.
Arnie de la Porte
Arnie was inducted posthumously into the 2016 class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame. His son Peter de la Porte accepted the honor. Arnie was inducted by he Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania Ingrida Bublys.
King's Day is the biggest national event in Holland. Everything and everyone turns orange and celebrates on King's Day.
In Cleveland, the Dutch community just celebrated The 17th Annual State of Ohio Birthday Celebration of the Netherlands' Monarch sponsored by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, The Netherlands American Chamber of Commerce - Great Lakes (NACC), and VMI Group.
Martin van den Berg Treasurer of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce
King's Day is the biggest national event in Holland. Everything and everyone turns orange and celebrates on King's Day.
In Cleveland, the Dutch community just celebrated The 16th Annual State of Ohio Birthday Celebration of the Netherlands' Monarch sponsored by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, The Netherlands American Chamber of Commerce - Great Lakes (NACC), and VMI Group.
The Dutch community celebrates King’s Day (Koningsdag) for the first time in 2014, after the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander on 30 April 2013 (what was then still Queen’s Day).
The royal celebrations were first held on 31 August 1885 in honor of the birth of Queen Wilhelmina, and the Queen’s Day (Koninginnedag) tradition was born. After Wilhelmina’s daughter (Juliana) succeeded to the throne in 1949, the day was changed to 30 April in accordance with the new Queen's birthday
The 15th annual State of Ohio Birthday Celebration of the Netherlands' Monarch will take place May 2nd starting at 6PM at Silver Lake Country Club. Contact Bernardine van Kessel at the Netherlands American Chamber of Commerce at 330-208-5866 or the Netherlands American Chamber of Commerce website.
Port of Cleveland honors Arnie de la Porte
The Port of Cleveland honored the late Arnie de la Porte, Honorary Consul of the Netherlands, on April 22, 2014 by naming a street after the beloved Arnie.
New Honorary Consul of the Netherlands
Peter C. André de la Porte has been officially named Honorary Consul, Consulate of the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Peter follows in the footsteps of his father Arnie.
Congratulations Peter!
Peter de la Porte
Ambassador Rudolf Bekink of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United States of America Rudolf Bekink visited Cleveland on February 28, 2014 and hosted a lunch reception at the Union Club of Cleveland with the Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Chicago Klaas van der Tempel.
Leaders of the local Dutch community, businesses with Dutch connections and members of the Cleveland Consular Corps were on hand to meet and greet the Ambassador and Consul General.
Ambassador Rudolf Bekink and Consul van der Tempel
Organizations and Resources for Dutch in Cleveland
The Netherlands American Society of Ohio The Netherlands American Society of Ohio is a non-profit organization founded in 1964 by a group of people interested in promoting and preserving the Dutch culture and language. The society's main purposes are:
To promote a better understanding between the Netherlands and the United States of America.
To preserve the customs, culture and language of the Netherlands.
To contribute to the cosmopolitan characters of the American community.
We also hope to be a bridge between both countries for our members and friends to make adapting to life in the United States easier.
Netherlands Honorary Consulate - Cleveland, OH Arnie De la Porte
440-324-4164 (phone) 440-365-8326 (fax) arniedlp@aol.com (email) Please call or e-mail us for an appointment. Submit your Cleveland Dutch organizations and resources.
Business, Education and Employment Information
The Dutch School Cleveland - 'De Taaltuin' (Language Garden) The Dutch School Cleveland provides education in the Dutch Language and Culture. Our goal is to follow as much as possible the curriculum for language education in the Netherlands. This way our students can keep the special emotional and cultural bond with the Netherlands and, if needed, be able to continue their schooling at a Dutch school upon returning to the Netherlands. In addition we provide lessons to children that want to learn Dutch as a foreign language.
Netherlands Ohio Chamber of Commerce More information coming soon
Tell us about the music, food, holidays, traditions, costumes, language and other qualities that make the Dutch so special.
The Netherlands
The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815.
In 1830 Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered invasion and occupation by Germany in World War II.
A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU), and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999.
In October 2010, the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands - Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba - became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Sint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Read more about the Dutch and other Ambassadors. If you are interested in being considered to be an official ClevelandPeople.com Ambassador to the Cleveland Dutch community, please contact us.
