Tulip City Dispatch

 ...ok, so the official title is "Pet A Pig Or A Pony At Fellinlove Farm," but hear me out:  Shortly after Fellinlove opened, we went to a Live Nativity at Fellinlove!  The flier that I linked was dated 2016, which definitely lines up with my memories of the event.  For some reason, we were brought into the animal area - we might've gotten there toward the end of the actual live nativity happenings or something.  There was a little nudge on my leg, so I looked down and saw a goat staring up at me.  I scratched the lil' guy behind the ears, and he nudged my leg again.  I started walking away and he followed.  Ever so gently, he reached up and nibbled my fingertips.  I can't reiterate how gentle it was. Turns out, the goat was very tame, and had gotten accustomed to getting treats whenever a guest came into the animal area...normally, guests are sequestered from the animal area, and only volunteers are allowed.  The goat, through no faul...

 "Put your fingers in the holes of the exterior wall of The Warm Friend in downtown Holland," Ms. Bareman implores us, "to get the feel of some real-life history." This part of her book is about the Eddie Bentz Bank Robbery, which I covered in 2020 !  I keep threatening to start a bike ride at that intersection and make a time-lapse video of the escape route that the bank robbers used out of Holland and into Drenthe, but I don't actually own a GoPro or anything. Anyway, whenever I'm in the Holland Social District walking around with friends, I always regale them with the tale of the Eddie Bentz bank robbery.  You know, like some folks go on and on about how New Holland Brewing used to be the JC Penney, or maybe it was the Woolworths, or was it Thompson's Hardware or Sears And Roebuck?  Point is, all my friends have heard the story a dozen times thus far, so it's gotten pretty boring.  But it's still a rad as hell story, and would actually be wor...

 I'm taking some creative liberties here - I've never actually ridden an E Bike. BUT Velo City are homies.  Back in their old location on 8th Street, they helped me build up a road bike from scratch.  They're always willing to lend a hand to stuff like that, with an ample parts department, and the know-how to offer any advice on wrenching your bike, or having them do it for you.  They're some of the best bike mechanics in the city. With the exception of the CoVid era (2020, 2021), I've been to at least one of Velo City's Tuesday Night Rides a year since 2017 or so.  In 2024, I intentionally made a point to ride with their groups almost every week! I made a few posts on Instagram this summer, sharing their posts that you can see my big dumb face in.  Their community outreach (in group rides, social media, and community activism) is second to none - they run mentorship programs for young children on bikes, casual ice cream or beer rides, weekly Tuesday Night...

This entry is where the whole inspiration behind "Tulip City Dispatch Does The 100 Things To Do In Holland Before You Die," came from.  Since I started this blog in 2019, I've spent an inordinate amount of time at secondhand stores , bookstores , antique stores, and the library trying to find books on local history and culture. I've got a pretty good pulse on what's out there, and the types of books on the market right now.  There are a few specific authors who have written many books on local history , of which, I own several. 100 Things To Do came across my dashboard sometime in 2023; I don't remember if it was a targeted ad on Instagram or a post or what.  I do remember that I became aware of the book through Instagram, but details aren't important here.  Point is, I was oot and aboot on a Saturday (hitting up the aforementioned thrift stores and antique stores), when I happened to duck into the Barnes & Noble in Holland and walked to the "L...

 I come from a family that's pretty big into hockey.  My dad, uncles, and cousins have been involved in the West Michigan hockey scene for over 50 years.  Hardly anything hockey related in West Michigan hasn't been touched by someone I'm related to. Case in point:  Last time I played hockey was at a drop-in event at Griff's West (gah, that was right as I was starting this blog up in 2019).  As Ms. Bareman notes in 100 Things To Do In Holland Michigan , Griff's West has learn-to-skate programs, learn-to-play-hockey programs, several schools' hockey teams, and a plethora of public ice and skating times - including the aforementioned lunchtime drop-in hockey.  I arrived early, and was in the locker room getting dressed, when one guy walked in and didn't ask, but outright declared that he knew my uncle. How did he arrive at this conclusion?  He saw my name on the sign-up sheet in the lobby, and he saw the normal crew of 10ish guys that played at noontime,...

Born December 28, 1883 in Hengelo, The Netherlands, Hendrik Meijer was the founder of the Meijer grocery store chain.  By 1907, he had immigrated to the United States with his family and settled in the Holland area.  His father worked in a mill for the Stork B.V. machine factory - hot on the heels of the Industrial Revolution, and around age 12, Hendrik joined his father in the factory.  People in Europe were hard followers of the writings of Marx and Engels, and were very pro-union and pro-worker's rights. Contrary to the modern American right-wing understanding of things, "socialism" isn't where we take all of your money and give it to others, taxes aren't punitive, and unions protect the worker and not just the lazy.  Socialism is very pro-labor and, as an economic model, allows workers to thrive as the company does better.  Seize the means of production and all that.  When workers are laid off to improve shareholder profits, they really should get rais...