700 crates, that’s how many were needed to build a beer slide at the Jan van den Boschkade in Meppel. Friends association Keet de Loods saved up the Hertog Jan crates in a year, so that they could slide off them for a week. And in the current heat, the slide comes to the water when called upon.
“We have been busy to enter the Guinness Book of Records with stacking beer crates,” says Justin de Wolde of the friends association, which consists of about 70 people in total. However, breaking the record of 1,300 beer crates did not succeed. “We closed with corona to support the catering industry. Then we finally came up with a (belly) slide.” The special slide was built in collaboration with 10 to 15 other members.
Another member of the association is Rick Sallomons. He was not part of the group that actually built the beer crate slide. “I fell off the roof last week, which caused me to have some physical complaints.” Despite his fall, he is part of the group that goes down the slide every time.
He enjoys the group’s initiative with a broad smile on his face. “It’s a great idea. Our group comes up with such ideas every time to do things. And with this weather, beautiful.”
The association of friends spent a total of two days building the slide. This started last Saturday and on Sunday the first could already slide over the side. According to De Wolde, the association is a group that knows each other well. “Everyone accepts each other as he or she is.” The age of the group varies widely, with ages ranging from 18 years to 50 years.
Although the group was initially a ‘shack group’, it was eventually decided to start an association. Because it is an association, the slide is not accessible to everyone. Where yesterday there was still a lot of sliding, all crates are brought back to the store today. “The money is used to buy a pinball machine for the association building,” says De Wolde.
The question is whether the record would actually have been broken if corona had not been. The association member is convinced: “Yes, really. Then we would all have been drinking a lot,” De Wolde concludes.