The Magazine of the Going Dutch American Women’s Club April 2015 of The Hague 5 Officers and Chairwomen 6 Fifty Years of James Bond 8 Message from the President 9 April General Meeting 10 Letter from the Editor 12 Newcomer Activities 14 Ongoing Activities 6, 54 18 One-of-a-Kind Activities We enjoyed the 50 Years of Bond Exhibit and Chili Cook-Off with our men 20 AWC’s 85th Birthday 21 Our Dog, Yankee 22 Helping Handbags Auction 26 Slate of Officers 2015-2016 28 Calendar 31 Dutch-American Friendship Day 32 Announcements 22 34 The Dutch Daily See the winners at our most successful 36 The Environment for Helping Handbags Auction ever (Grand-) Kids 38 House of Bols 42 AWC and the Arts 44 Gateway to the Ardennes 46 Memory Trip to Indonesia 52 Classifieds 53 Index of Advertisers 53 Rates 46 54 Chili Cook-Off Eileen shares a special trip to Indonesia where she learned about her husband’s roots APRIL 2015 3 Editor Melissa White 2014-2015 AWC Officers Committee Chairs Design and Layout Teresa Mahoney President Linda Divon Activities Open [email protected] Assistant Treasurer Open Cover Photo The Plein during World Cup July 2014 by At Home in Holland Becky Failor Vice President Becky Failor Veronica White Caring Committee Naomi Keip Photography [email protected] Greetje Engelsman, Melissa White, Community Service Coordinator Sunita Wikimedia Commons Treasurer Teresa Insalaco Menon AWC Clubhouse Advertising [email protected] FAWCO Emily van Eerten Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan 43 Open Heart Pillow Eileen Baker 2582 NJ Den Haag Proofreaders Secretary Marsha Hagney Tel: 070 350 6007 Holiday Bazaar Jan Essad, Julie Schipper Celeste Brown, Debbie van Hees, Diane [email protected] [email protected] Schaap Library Laurie Martecchini www.awcthehague.org Contributors Community Development and Resource Kid’s Club Open Jane Choy, Trena Cormier, Jan de Vries, Officer Jan de Vries Membership Coordinator Lynn Roberts Johanna Dishongh, Linda Divon, Greetje Going Dutch Magazine Engelsman, Roberta Enschede, Becky [email protected] Newcomers Greetje Engelsman, Sue [email protected] Failor, Eileen Harloff, Sunita Menon, Sue Merrick Merrick, Rebecca Niles-Pourier, Emily van Member and Club Administration Eerten, Susan Yates-Brown Parliamentarian Georgia Regnault Officer Rachel Kuppers Philanthropic Fundraiser Jan de Vries, Clubhouse Hours [email protected] Sunita Menon Tuesday and Thursday Printer www.dwcprint.nl Programs Trena Cormier 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Communications Officer Trena Cormier Monday and Friday Closed Dues (Effective 2014-2015) [email protected] Public Relations Johanna Dishongh € 110 per year (€ 55 after January 1) Tennis Molly Boed € 90 business, professional € 55 valid US military id Front Office The Arts Jane Choy € 35 student Tours Becky Failor Add € 15 new member registration fee Siska Datema Volunteer Coordinator Open AWC Bank Account Number Becky Failor ABN-AMRO Webmaster Julie Otten 43.14.21.757 Rachel Kuppers Website Assistant Open IBAN: NL42ABNA0431421757 Sue Merrick KvK Den Haag Women with Dutch Partners Rebecca 40409274 Melanie Stringfellow Niles-Pourier Deadlines: Submissions are due no later than the last Monday of the month preceding the publication month. For example, for the Sept issue, submissions are due before Monday, July 27. AWC Purpose Statement Please Note: Articles submitted to Going Dutch will be published subject to space limitations and editorial ap- The AWC of The Hague is an association formed to provide social and educational activi- proval. All rights reserved; reprints only by written permission of the Editor. Please email to: goingdutchmag@ ties for American women living in the Netherlands and to promote amicable relations gmail.com among people of all nations as well as acquiring funds for general public interest. The Legal Notice: Articles in Going Dutch express the views and opinions of their authors alone, and not necessar- ily those of the AWC of The Hague, its Members or this publication. association does not endeavor to make a profit. 4 GOING DUTCH APRIL 2015 5 Message from the President April General Meeting by Linda Divon by Trena Cormier y two-year term as President of the American Women’s ather than feature a guest speaker, this month’s General Meeting will cover a variety Club of The Hague will soon be coming to an end. I of topics including an update on the recent FAWCO Conference in Rome and an Mfeel grateful for having had this wonderful opportunity Rupdate on the progress made by the Constitutional Committee in updating the AWC of playing a major role in the Club and for being an integral Constitution, By-Laws and Policies & Procedures. part of the AWC, which is marking its 85th birthday this year. We will also hold an important vote to elect Officers for the 2015-2016 AWC Executive The things that make this Club so special are twofold: reach- Board (go to page 26 to meet the candidates). If you are a Regular Member and are unable ing out to Newcomers to welcome and to support them, but also to attend this meeting, please submit a proxy ballot, available by email from the Front Office being an organization that is aware of the challenges facing our prior to April 7. host country as well as the larger challenges and problems in our world today. We, of course, will not be able to solve all the After the conclusion of the Club business, we invite everyone to join us for a potluck. Please world’s woes, but having this awareness, this caring and then RSVP on GroupSpaces at www.groupspaces.com/AWCTheHague/item/924485 and mention actually doing something to make a difference through our in the comments which dish you plan to bring (please plan on your dish serving around six fundraising projects and philanthropy – this is what makes the to eight people). AWC stand above other clubs and other local women’s groups and organizations. It is this “reaching out” and helping others that makes our Club unique. Free babysitting will be available for children between six months and five years of age. In order to have the correct ratio of babysitters to children, you must book in advance. Call Our Hearts & Minds Gala in 2014, under the gifted, dedicated leadership of Jan de the Front Office at 070 350 6007 or email [email protected] before Tuesday, April Vries and her talented team, successfully brought in almost € 60,000 and the proceeds went 7 to reserve your place. to three Dutch beneficiaries: Lighthouse Special Education, a school located in The Hague for international children with special needs; Laat Ze Maar Lachen (Let Them Laugh), a Thursday, April 9 volunteer organization that provides outings for children who are not able to enjoy their Coffee and Newcomers Meet & Greet: 10 a.m. childhood to the fullest due to poverty; and Hulphond Nederland, an organization that trains Meeting: 10:30 a.m. dogs to work with children with disabilities. Potluck: Noon AWC Clubhouse This year the AWC has continued with its annual fundraising Helping Handbag Auction with the proceeds going to the FAWCO Target Project: Free the Girls. With the generosity of our AWC Members, we raised an all-time high of € 3,000 (see page 22 for further details and photos). Another important fundraising event for the AWC is its annual Holiday Bazaar. In ad- dition to being a successful fundraising two-day event, it is a fun, high-energy event with unique items for sale, our famous AWC bake stall, wonderful raffle items and even our very own Santa Claus who gets us into the holiday spirit! Leading up to the Sinterklaas holiday, there is the annual AWC gift bag workshop. Small toys, sweets and goodies are collected, packaged in holiday bags and delivered to 85 children ranging from babies to teenagers. The Morgenster Food Bank was our beneficiary last year and was also the recipient of our Food Drive Collections the year before. The AWC ladies are again hands-on in making a difference in the lives of those children from extremely poor backgrounds whose families rely heavily on this Food Bank. In 2007, the AWC began the Heart Pillow Project, currently overseen by Eileen Baker. Over 1,000 pillow sets have been distributed to breast cancer patients at local hospitals: Bronovo, Leiden LUMC, MCH Antoniushove and MCH Westeinde. The >> 51 8 GOING DUTCH APRIL 2015 9 Ramblings from the Editor by Melissa White y 17-year-old’s decision on whether her with my pole dancing jokes to go the less to go to university in the US or the expensive route and she would hold it against MUK has been a constant topic of dis- me if she ends up unhappy there. As much as cussion in my house for the past one and half I’ve told myself that this was her decision to years. You might recall reading in November make, I’ve always known that this decision 2014 that my family visited seven US uni- was bigger than just her – it’s actually a deci- versities in four states last April. We’ve also sion that impacts our whole family. made five visits to the UK for university tours. Veronica decided to apply to just one school After nearly constant debate of the Ameri- in the US: Northwestern University, outside can versus British systems, Veronica made of Chicago. Unlike America where there is a decision. Somehow I’d imagined her an- no limit to how many applications you can nouncement would occur over an emotional submit as long as your parents are willing to family dinner. Instead, she sent me a Face- pay the application fees, you can apply to only book Message: “I think I’ve decided to go to five universities in the UK.