Barendrecht Ribbon Rain 2024, eight Barendrecht residents receive Royal Decoration – BarendrechtNU.nl

BARENDRECHT – [Foto’s] It rained this morning Ribbons in Theater Het Kruispunt in Barendrecht. For the first time in his office, Mayor Ronald Schneider has awarded eight Barendrecht residents a Royal decoration.

Ad Rietdijk, Cees van der Meer, John van Neuren, Norman Poulina, Maritza Poulina and Hennie Van de Steeg-van Eijs have been appointed Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau. Hans Onderwater has been promoted from Member to Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. André Smits has been appointed Knight with Swords in the Order of Orange-Nassau. These residents received the Royal distinction because they have committed themselves completely voluntarily and for a long time to the service of society.

The decorated became this morning (Friday April 26, 2024) Lured to Theater Het Kruispunt with excuses from family members: From a theater performance by the grandchildren to an urgent meeting about the financial affairs of the sports club, everything was done to surprise these residents with an award.

Decorated people

Decorated persons (or family members) can send an email to [email protected] stating the name of the decorated person to receive the original photos (including unpublished photos). All photos are made available free of charge by BarendrechtNU and will be sent digitally to the specified e-mail address in approximately 2 weeks.

Ad Rietdijk

Ad Rietdijk has been a member and volunteer at Smitshoek football club since 1968, 45 years. First as a youth player and later as a volunteer for the toto-lotto committee. This allowed the club to generate additional welcome income. Ad Rietdijk has been taking care of membership administration and contributions since 1976. That started with 300 members and manual work. But the club grew to around 1700 members. That process therefore had to be automated & passed on to the KNVB. For the contribution, Ad had almost daily contact with members or parents of youth members. Especially during corona times, this caused extra work. He also had to help find solutions for parents who were in less financial shape. He also collected the volunteer contribution. Ad Rietdijk stopped volunteering last year, but he still faithfully and happily goes to football every Saturday afternoon to watch his grandchildren play.

Cees van der Meer

Mr van der Meer is an avid Feyenoord supporter and a unique clubman for the Smitshoek Football Club. He has been a volunteer for 60 years, since the foundation of the Football Association. Initially, Cees Vermeer did canteen work for 20 years together with his wife Toos. He then did various maintenance work for the sports complex every day for another 40 years, 20 hours a week. It was thanks to Mr Van der Meer that the sports park was clean and the sports equipment repaired. Lately he has mainly repaired goal nets and goals and has been able to deftly handle the welding work involved. Cees is known at the football club as a silent force: ‘every morning when the work was done, Cees drank a bottle of AA-Drink alone and then went home. He did not participate in the conversations of the other volunteers.’ Cees van der Meer is a modest man and prefers to stay in the background.

John van Neuren

John van Neuren has been a board member of the Smitshoek football club in Barendrecht since 2003. He has been treasurer since 2003. The healthy financial position of the club, after the growth and the corona period, is not least due to his managerial and financial insight. In 2010, John Vermeer was also acting chairman, when the association existed for 50 years. He is responsible for the club shop with its own clothing line of the association for which he does the purchasing. John is involved with the canteen committee and managing the cash registers. John also referees a match almost every week. He has many talents, because he is also the association’s regular photographer. Every week he takes photos of the 1st team matches for the website. The club can count on him for at least 15 hours a week. He has also gotten his family enthusiastic about helping the club: his wife Jeanne helps count the money and his son Jurrian is now head of the youth academy.

Norman Paulina and Maritza Poulina-Faneyte

The Poulina couple have both been volunteering for the Antillean community in the Netherlands since 1987, and therefore for more than 35 years. Mrs. Poulina founded the Aid to Antilleans and Arubans Foundation. An organization that offers help, support and guidance to our fellow citizens from the former Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. Maritza is in the foreground with Norman as a silent force at her side. They are both committed to this foundation with heart and soul. Norman and Paulina build bridges between different communities and backgrounds. They connect people and help the vulnerable. For example in the area of ​​faith. They have both played a major role in preparing young people for important sacraments. Such as communion and marriage. They also offer comfort and prayer for people who are ill and need spiritual support. Their door is also open to everyone twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They offered shelter to many young people. By offering these young people a warm home, they have made a difference in the lives of those who otherwise might not have had a stable basis on which to build a future. Those young people also enjoyed Norman’s cooking skills. Whatever dish from the Antillean kitchen, he will prepare it for his (adopted) children and grandchildren. Maritza bakes something delicious for everyone, but if she doesn’t know how to do it, she learns how to do it to please someone else. When a young person eventually managed to have a cutting, Maritza helped furnish their house to make it a home. She also makes clothing for the choir Mensaheronan di Pasfoor. The efforts of Norman and Maritza created a close-knit community. Over time, the group that was sheltered became the group that helped shelter others. This also gave rise to various prayer groups, gospel choirs, spiritual retreats and other events.

Hennie van de Steeg-Van Eijs

When her daughter was 1.5 years old in 1983, Hennie van de Steeg started working voluntarily at the Piggelmee playgroup in Rotterdam. She cared for 15 children between the ages of 0 and 4. She did this for no less than 15 years! She also arranged the administration, was a coordinator and provided parental guidance, among other things. After a short break, she then voluntarily started managing the remainder of the Prisma Group at CBS De Catamaran in 2001. A group where newcomers to the Netherlands learn the Dutch language and learn to function in the school system. In addition to the lunchtime, she took care of many other tasks: administration, counter work, taking care of children of parents who went to the parents’ room. Hennie was involved in various events, but also supervised activities and took swimming lessons. She also did the everyday shopping for school supplies for the staff and provided catering for school functions. When her daughters left for secondary education, she remained involved with the school. She was there 5 days a week until her grandchildren were born.

Hans Underwater

Hans Onderwater was appointed Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2005 and was promoted to Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Mr Onderwater has made extensive efforts for society on a voluntary basis over the past 50 years. In such a way that he is recognized and praised not only locally, but also nationally and even internationally. He has conducted national and international activities in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Dozens of historical books and articles specializing in the Second World War are to his name. Many of these have been released internationally. Mr Onderwater is the driving force behind the permanent commemoration of a number of international soldiers who died during the war. Such as Australian pilot Jack Dawson Green and New Zealand pilot Keith Malcolmson. Jack Dawson Green is commemorated annually with the Australian ambassador and children from the Rehobôth school where Hans Onderwater voluntarily teaches every week. Students from the same school also maintain the grave. Hans has successfully worked to identify seven British fallen soldiers, so that they now have an official war grave. The late Mayesty the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth, recognized him. Hans Onderwater was chairman of the commemoration committee for Operation MANNA: the food drop in 1945, the beginning of the end of the famine. In addition, Mr Onderwater is involved as an informal caregiver, a volunteer at the church, a member and secretary of the Barendrecht Social Advisory Council, and many other social activities. Hans Onderwater is currently writing the book 100 years of Bethel Church with three friends, which will be published in May 2025.

André Smits

At the age of 20, Andre Smits became a volunteer with the Red Cross. At that time he was also active as a (youth) volunteer in the fire brigade, a volunteer in his church community and a reserve soldier in the Army. As a social care volunteer and first aid worker, Andre Smits organized activities for residents of Borgstede. During some of these activities he raised proceeds for the Red Cross. The togetherness of these elderly and young people was always very much appreciated. During major events in Barendrecht, the Red Cross could also count on Mr Smits as a first aider. For example during the Santa Run and King’s Day. He also provided services for surrounding municipalities. The Red Cross could also count on him for collections and fundraising. At the age of 25, he took on several board positions to use his organizational skills and leadership for the greater general interest of various Red Cross departments. He was also a communications volunteer and web editor for 4 municipalities for 10 years. In 2010 he formally became a board member for communications and fundraising for ultimately three different Red Cross departments. When various mergers took place, Andre Smits managed this, sometimes with the help of others. During the corona period, he also became a web editor and communications volunteer for the head office in The Hague. He also helped with Ready To Help. He checked the AED machines. He is also voluntarily active at the Rehobôth School. The board asked him to stand as a candidate in 2018. After 4 years, he was re-elected for another term in 2022. He fulfills the position of treasurer for the school.