It was a week full of King’s Day news. This is how Emmen prepared itself for the visit of the king and thousands of partygoers. But life also went on outside the king’s birthday. Read the most important news from Drenthe of the past week here.
Copper thieves raid religious heritage sites in Veenhuizen, Anloo and Grolloo. The lower parts of the rain pipes were stolen from the Koepelkerk and Hieronymuskerk in Veenhuizen. The same happened at the Magnus Church in Anloo and the village church in Grolloo. And that means considerable costs for every church.
And Emmen prepared for it moment supreme: the visit of the royal family on King’s Day. On Monday, serious preparations began in the city. For example, the crowd barriers were installed, the outside of the Atlas theater was sprayed clean and the grass on the Raadhuisplein was mowed.
The court in Leeuwarden has demanded a prison sentence of 14 months, of which 6 months is conditional and a probationary period of two years, against Jan Nieboer from Tweede Exloërmond. he sent dozens of threatening letters to companies involved in the construction of two wind farms in Drenthe and Groningen. He himself denies that.
A bomb was detonated on the Holtingerveld near Havelte on Wednesday. The explosive was found by a passerby. It is one of the thousands of bombs dropped there during the Second World War.
The closer King’s Day gets, the more the Orange fever increases in Emmen. Oranjefan Johan Vlemmix follows the Royal House, wherever they are. He had the royal carriage recreated especially for King’s Day, with a built-in toilet. Vlemmix fervently hopes that King Willem-Alexander will make use of it.
On Friday, 91 people from Drenthe were surprised with a royal award. 38 women received a ribbon and 53 men. The number of awards this year is higher than last year. Then 81 people from Drenthe received a ribbon.
And on Saturday the time had finally come: King’s Day in Emmen. “Emmen has shown that it is an incredibly strong city where all kinds of things happen. If something is good, they say here: ‘it could have been done less’. Well, Emmen, it could have been done much less. Thank you!”, said the king, who indicated that Emmen had planted ‘a seed’ in him.
