Learned young is done old. That is not only the saying, but also the theme behind the Harvest Day in Lhee this year. The organization of this traditional harvest festival (good for around 6,000 visitors) is a bit more on children this year. Because for the older visitor it is a nostalgic celebration of recognition, for children a playful introduction to their roots. That is in any case what is being used. But how do you get them towards Lhee?
On this 43rd harvest day it is in Lhee as if you are leaving a time machine. The neighborhood near Dwingeloo is already breathing the atmosphere of yesteryear with its many jewels of Saxon farms in appearance: on the harvest day a little extra goes on.
Absolute eye -catcher is, as always, harvesting the rye that grows in a field in the middle of the village. The mowed bumps grain end up on a huge stack, which are swapped in an old threshing machine by tough farm boys with smells. And it is driven again by a locomotive from 1900.
This attraction has traditionally been the center of the party and photographing visitors. On other fields in the village you can admire the practice of old crafts or let you tell you about the imposing collection of classical tractors set up.
Ilse Duiven, dressed in traditional costumes, sees it all with pretentious. “Yes, entirely in style,” she laughs. “This clothing has still belonged to my grandmother. And soon it might also be transferred to one of my children.” As long as she is already walking around this globe, she is already involved in the Harvest Day, she says. For three years she has taken over the chairman’s hammer. “We have added many things to the program in recent years, such as the cattle inspection. But we also want more and more children’s activities.”
For the older visitor, a visit is reminded a lot. But for many children, all those old customs are totally or partly strange. “We think it is important that they too get about how things went earlier. A pack of milk is not just in the supermarket. That precedes something.” On the harvest day they therefore try to unite the fun with the educational. “Children can thresh grain here and bake their own pancakes with the grain seeds. But they can also participate in lessons in a school from 1900.”
And there, the school bell further down on the site. Master Thijs Torreman opens the lesson in an improvised classroom in the atmosphere of 100 years ago. And the lesson also puts together ‘classic’. The AAP-Noot-Mies is neatly canceled, then a number of calculation tables pass by and the children can name the cities and villages of Drenthe on an old map.
A somewhat rebellious student is literally put in the corner, hanging out with a sign with the word ‘donkey’ on it. Of course she is also just as classified. But with a big wink, says Master Torreman. “I strictly? I thought it was better than expected,” he laughs afterwards. “In 1900, education stood up differently than today, so it can happen a bit stricter.”
For children it is not all limited to the school desks. There is a real children’s square on the site, where there is everything to experience. There is a cable car, you can climb and clambered. And of course the old crafts are not missing either.
In a corner of the site you can hit grain with a threshing flail. The enthusiastic Sanne Jonker is therefore happy and knows how to turn the grain to away. A jury watches and the result can be there. For Sanne: Rhythm and handling the Vlegel: both a seven. For clothing and cleaning up the things: an eight. She is shining of pride with her diploma.
Just like her father Peter, by the way. The harvest day offers a nice introduction to the Drentse Folklore and the old customs, he thinks. “That they themselves find out how things were used. It is also their origins. Moreover, she is enthusiastic, so I only encourage this.”