For forty years, Willy Boelens from Nieuw-Buinen (1956-2023) was the man of the playground. Every day he opened and closed the gate. And not only that. He also kept the site safe and clean.
Things had to be strange if Willy Boelens wanted to skip a day. That actually only happened when he was on vacation or really couldn’t come for some other reason.
For the rest, he was literally ready every day at the Kindervreugde playground on Sportlaan in Nieuw-Buinen. He opened the gates in the morning, only to close them again in the evening. He enjoyed watching the children play there, as he used to romp there himself.
He especially loved the large family swing as a child. With about twenty people on it and then swinging so high that they almost fell over!
That was still possible then. The safety requirements were not as strict as they are today.
Father set up the playground
Willy (officially Willem) grew up in the house next door, as the youngest of four children. It was a warm nest.
Both parents were at home; mother as a housewife and father because he walked with a limp after an accident. This did not stop him from dedicating himself to the neighborhood. He thought that the Sportlaan could use a playground and put his shoulders to the wheel.
Willy, still a toddler, was allowed to open the playground together with then mayor Gerrit Grolleman.
Willy was a real outdoorsy child. Football was my favorite: first with friends on the street and later at VV Nieuw Buinen. He was very proud when brother Jan became a professional footballer at BV Veendam. He went to De Langelegte as often as he could.
Carpenter
He went to the Craft School in Musselkanaal to become a carpenter. Mineke Meems, who would become his great love, also lived in that village. They first saw each other at café Daleman in Stadskanaal. “Look,” he said to his friends. “I’m going to marry her.”
Mineke didn’t like that tipsy guy who announced with far too much bravado that he would pick her up from home the following Saturday. “Just look at it!” she snapped at him.
She looked strange that Saturday when her mother said that someone was at the door for her. She let him in, they started talking and something really blossomed. “And I have never regretted that.”
They married and lived in Jipsingboermussel for two years when Willy’s father asked if he could move closer. His health deteriorated and he needed help.
Caring
Willy, caring as he was, could not refuse that. With Mineke he moved back to the street where he grew up. He took more and more tasks off his father’s hands. Even though he had to leave at 6 a.m. for his construction job, he always stopped by the playground to open it.
Willy also made sure the playground was safe and clean. If a device was broken, he would repair it or ensure that it was done in some other way.
He also maintained contacts with the municipality and completed the logbook with all maintenance services. When it was time for a major cleaning, he arranged for a group of volunteers to be ready.
He held various positions on the board. He never thought about quitting. After all, he did it in honor of his father.
French foster children
Willy was a family man and embraced Mineke’s idea to care for French foster children. She had received that from home. This is how it happened that Parisian children came to celebrate ‘holiday’ in Nieuw-Buinen. Children who never went outside at home because they lived in an unsafe neighborhood.
Children who were sometimes so poor that they arrived with an empty suitcase, which Mineke and Willy filled with clothes and food for the return journey.
One of their young guests was a black boy. They were anxious to know whether things would go well. “He was the first black child in Nieuw-Buinen,” says Mineke. But everyone embraced the kid and wanted to play with him.
They took one girl to the doctor. She did not want to eat and appeared to be malnourished because she was only given sweets at home.
Football
They had four children themselves: first Erik and Jeroen and then the twins Ilonka and Ingrid. Once again a lot revolved around football. While Mineke completely envisioned dressing her daughters in leotards, they turned out to have more interest and talent for football.
The couple went to all matches and Willy became a youth board member, referee, leader, linesman and rapporteur, where he judged other referees.
Yes was yes and no was no
As a father he could be strict. Yes was yes and no was no. If the kids had to be home at 2 a.m., they shouldn’t start pooping at 1 minute. He waited for them sitting in his chair and said nothing.
Ingrid: “That silence was our punishment. And we thought that was bad enough. He always did so much for us. He was happy to pick me up at half past two in the morning if I had to cycle alone. Alone on the bike, he didn’t find that familiar.”
When Willy lost his job due to a reorganization, he said goodbye to construction. He became a taxi driver for school and patient transport and enjoyed the many contacts and conversations along the way.
Asbestos cancer
Two and a half years ago he became ill. He suffered from shortness of breath and turned out to have asbestos cancer. He was convinced that he had contracted it at one of his previous workplaces, where he had had to saw asbestos sheets.
He filed a lawsuit. When it was his turn to speak there was silence. He was too angry to say anything. Felt powerless because of the injustice that the company did to him in his eyes.
According to the judge, there was no evidence for Willy’s story and the case was time-barred. He lost the lawsuit.
Frustration
Mineke and he decided not to litigate further. It took too much energy and caused too much frustration. They could use their time better. They chose to do the things they still wanted to do. For example, they went on holiday more often with the family, now including grandchildren.
On April 26 last year, Mineke had laid out nice clothes for Willy. He had no idea what it was for. When all the children arrived and the mayor stood at the door, a light went on. He received a ribbon, on this day before King’s Day!
Three generations of a playground family
Less than four months later he died, in the presence of his family – and in the knowledge that daughter Ilonka will from now on open and close ‘his’ playground, with the help of others.
She and brother Jeroen are now both on the board. The Boelens name remains linked to the playground for three generations now. That’s how Willy liked it.
Time of Life
Dagblad van het Noorden portrays in Time of Life residents of Drenthe and Groningen who have recently died. Suggestions? Email to:[email protected]