Virginia and the Carolinas Branch

Contact:
Jim Van Blarcom
jimvan11@comporium.net

Save the date - Virginia Carolinas Branch Meeting April 4, 2009
Where: Greenville, South Carolina
Hotel: Westin Poinsett

Come join us and visit the undiscovered jewel that is Greenville, South Carolina. Located just off interstate 85 in the Upcountry of South Carolina, this city is small enough to walk around on lovely paths offering river vistas, a lively downtown and unique shopping opportunities. However, it is large enough to be the home of three universities, art museums and a great symphony.

We have planned a welcoming cocktail party on Friday night at the home of Lisa and "Rip" Van Riper, a branch member and Society Trustee. On Saturday we will have a dinner at the exclusive Poinsett Club and a night at the Greenville Symphony. Depending on your input, we can have plantation or museum tours, a golf outing, walking tours and a visit to the BMW assembly plant. So you have two things to do: let us know what kind of activities you would like to partake in and contact the Hotel Poinsett (see information below) and make a reservation at the special Holland Society rate. There are limited rooms available, so first come first served.

Come and renew friendships, make new friends, celebrate your heritage and have a great time!

The Westin Poinsett Hotel
120 South Main Street, Greenville, SC 29601
864.250.7914
Fax 864.421.9719

For the rate of $149.00 per night, (Traditional King or Traditional Double)

Please call 1-800-WESTIN1 for reservations. You must mention you are calling for Holland Society of New York to receive the special rates. Each guest will be expected to provide a credit card number to guarantee his/her reservation.

Rooms will be held at The Westin Poinsett under this block until 3/13/2009 12:00:00 AM, upon which date any rooms not reserved will be released back in to hotel inventory for general sale. Rooms reserved after 3/13/2009 12:00:00 AMwill be available at the Hotel's best available rate at that time.

In the event you wish an alternate place to stay or if the Westin rooms are unavailable at the time you call, an alternative is:

Hampton Inn and Suites
171 Riverplace
Greenville, SC 29601
864.271.8700
Fax 864.271.8788

What a weekend to be a Dutchman!
2008 Virginia Carolinas Branch Meeting
April 17 - 19, 2008

Or at least of Dutch descent! On the weekend of April 17th through April 19th, 24 members and friends of the Virginia/Carolinas Branch of the Society, gathered in Norfolk, Virginia at the 55th Azalea Festival to celebrate NATO's US home and to honor the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The members were invited to a special cocktail party on board Her Majesty's ship, Amsterdam and later to a special tour of the ship. We attended the World Affairs Council Dinner, where we heard Deputy Chief of Mission, Richard van Rijssen talk about the long relationship of America and Holland, starting with the first salute to the US Flag from a Dutch Colony.

On Friday, we went to see the Azalea Queen's coronation and got to listen to her tales of Afghanistan, as she is a captain in the Dutch Army and a beautiful young lady. The coronation occurred at the beautiful Norfolk Botanical Gardens where we were treated to a display of 250,000 blooming azaleas. The delightful coronation ceremony included the 25 princesses in beautiful blue gowns escorted by members of the Dutch military in full dress uniform. A trip to the fabulous Chrysler Museum in the afternoon to see an art collection which rivals any in New York, and later that evening we attended the Festival's high point, the international Tattoo, with massed military bands. It was quite a show with military bands from around the world highlighted by the Dutch Navy Band.

Saturday brought the Azalea Festival Parade with the members in a special seating area, an international NATOFest, and our branch dinner and meeting. At the meeting, Society President, John VanDerbeek gave a power point presentation on the new headquarters, plans for 2009 and plans for preserving and digitizing some of our books and records. Members commented that he really gave us insight on what the Society is doing and its purpose.

The entire weekend we interacted with Dutch Army and Navy personnel along with Dutch citizens who work for NATO. They were interested in our Society and impressed that we are so proud of our Dutch heritage. We were also provided with a wonderful private tour of the Dutch Navy Ship "Amsterdam" where the crew proudly described their recent trip across the Atlantic using the same navigation tools which Henry Hudson used, just compass and sextant. They were proud to discover that when they turned on their GPS that they were just 10 miles off course as they approached the Atlantic seaboard.

It was a great weekend to be a Dutchman!