A special trip for jack-of-all-trades fanatic Arjan Kolkman from Schoonebeek. He traveled to Indonesia to pick up an original yes-man from Schoonebeek.
These are pump jacks from the Thomassen company, which were used to extract oil in the second half of the last century. That extraction stopped in the 1990s, after which many of these oil pumps disappeared. “In the Netherlands and also in Western and Eastern Europe, there are actually no large yes-men left.”
Some of the Schoonebeker yes-men ended up in Venezuela. “But because of the political situation we cannot go there. Then Indonesia is the next step,” says Kolkman. Many yes-men ended up there too.
He therefore visits the island of Kalamantan. “There are a number of large Schoonebeker yes-men.” He wants to bring one of them back to Drenthe.
The fascination with the yes-man started early. “We used to have the bakery in the center and there was a large yes-man in front of it. As a child I found that so fascinating,” says Kolkman. “Just like all those other 350 yes-men in and around our village, and especially the very big ones that are no longer there. That actually runs like a common thread through my life.”
He does everything he can to bring as many yes-men as possible back to Schoonebeek. On site in Indonesia, Kolkman made another interesting discovery. “To our great surprise, we also found the predecessor of a jack-o-jack. It was very special to see it. It was the first jack-o-jack delivered in Indonesia.” He also hopes to be able to bring them back to Schoonebeek. “So we’re going to make the plan a little bigger.”
For Kolkman it is important that Schoonebeek’s history stays alive. “I would like to show the history, the industrial heritage and the people of that time. If you show that time well, you can also go into the future with that history. Then you understand the things that happened during that period much better.”
The plan is to ship the yes-men to Rotterdam, disassembled and packed in a sea container. It is still unclear exactly where they should be located. “We do have a number of serious locations in mind, but we have to decide that together. We have to work it all out first.”
It is also not yet clear when the yes-men will arrive in Drenthe. This requires discussions with, among others, the Indonesian State, which owns the yes-men.
