Inwoners Hoorn welkom in Lewes, USA

Het plaatsje Lewes in de Amerikaanse staat Delaware viert zijn 375-ste verjaardag en verwacht 26 mensen uit Hoorn te verwelkomen die worden ondergebracht bij gastgezinnen. Op www.Delawareonline.com las Hoorngids: ”So far, 26 people are planning to come and stay with host families.”
Helen Truitt uit Lewes was eerder in Nederland om mensen uit Hoorn uit te nodigen voor de feestelijkheden in Delaware. In Lewes staat een museumgebouw dat gebaseerd is op het oude stadhuis van Hoorn, dat vroeger op de Rode Steen stond. De contouren hiervan zijn in het plein terug te vinden.

Een stukje geschiedenis:
De eerste kolonisten die voet zetten in Delaware waren Nederlanders. Zij sloegen in 1631 hun kampement op vlakbij Lewes, en noemden het Zwaanendael. Hoewel vrijwel alle kolonisten door lokale indianenstammen werden vermoord, kwamen ze in 1651 terug, ditmaal onder leiding van Peter Stuyvesant. Zwaanendael is tegenwoordig een museum, dat in de stijl van het oude stadhuis van Hoorn is gebouwd – de plek waar de eerste avonturiers vertrokken.

Lees hier het bericht dat vandaag in de plaatselijke krant stond:

Happy birthday, Lewes!

For its 375th anniversary, the town is planning a yearlong celebration

By KIM HOEY

Special to The News Journal
 
03/30/2006

Where would Delaware be without the tiny town of Lewes? Why, Maryland of course.
The Dutch colony founded 375 years ago this April in the mosquito-infested swamp of Lewes was the focal point of dispute between William Penn and Lord Baltimore in the late 1600s -- a dispute eventually resolved in Penn’s favor, which made Delaware a part of Penn’s colony and not Maryland.
Organizers of Lewes’ 375th birthday party are hoping all Delawareans will join in the yearlong celebration.

”Of course, it’ll be fun for us history types, but there’ll be lots of stuff for everyone” said C. Russell McCabe, one of the organizers of the celebration.
That other stuff includes a rededication weekend, April 21-22, when a ceremonial session of the legislature will be held along with an open birthday party with plenty of cake.
Other scheduled events include a concert by the Delaware Symphony Orchestra on Aug. 4 and a sail-in by tall ships from around the east coast on Sept. 14.
Among those in town for the celebrations will be the minister plenipotientiary from the Dutch embassy. Apparently a five-year advance notice is necessary to get on the Dutch royals’ calendar -- something organizers learned two years ago when they extended an invitation. Still, enthusiasm is high.
”It’s going to be a real fun year,” said Mike DiPaulo, chair of the celebration. ”The citizens are very excited. People have a sincere desire to be part of it.”
King’s Ice Cream has come up with a special Dutch chocolate ice cream and traditional Dutch cookies for the celebration. Dogfish Head brewery in Milton is making a Zwaanend’ale, an old Dutch-style Rye Bokbier. Then, of course, there are the commemorative jackets, shirts, flags, mugs and blankets.
Helen Truitt, a volunteer on the 375th committee, took it upon herself to travel to Hoorn, the town in the Netherlands where the Lewes (then called Zwaanendael) settlers came from. She met with town officials and invited townsfolk to visit for the party.
So far, 26 people are planning to come and stay with host families.
”They were the ones who founded Lewes, they should have the proper credit,” said Truitt. Her main goal, she said, was to just get people from different countries together.
”It’s good for the whole world. It’s another opportunity to spread friendship.”
The ”Lewes in Bloom” society got so excited they researched the types of tulips the settlers might have brought with them. They then ordered thousands of the bulbs from the Netherlands and planted them around the town. They are still hoping the flowers will wait for the party to begin before they fade away.
The committee even got the youngest members of the community involved. Elementary- school students drew pictures of the history of Lewes that will be turned into placemats for use by dignitaries at the luncheon after the rededication of the monument that stands at the site of the colony on Pilottown Road.
”We’ve been having fun doing it,” said McCabe. ”It’s a chance to bring some attention to Lewes. It’s a perfect time in a perfect place.”