More than a year after the death of the famous Zaanse singer Margriet Eshuijs, the De Bovenkruier community center – where she was a child – is paying tribute: she will have a room named after her. After a successful singing career, Eshuijs started a pop choir that still rehearses in the community center. “The fact that they want to pay tribute to her in this way is very nice,” says choir chairman Roos Blaak.
Eshuijs was part of the group Lucifer for a while and achieved fame with the song ‘House for Sale’, but also with many other songs. After her career she set up the choir. She lived a stone’s throw from De Bovenkruier, where she could go for rehearsals with the choir from 2017.
“We then had our own space, which Margriet decorated herself with rugs, lights and posters,” says Roos. “Every time before a new season started, she went to the community center with a bucket, chamois and a vacuum cleaner.”
She had everything under her own control, Lonneke van der Meijden of the Bovenkruier also confirms. Laughing: “Phew, she was very precise! She arranged everything down to the last detail. I once filmed a piece, I thought ‘nice, let’s share it on Facebook’. But that wasn’t allowed, because that was still part of it. from the rehearsal. She didn’t think it was good enough yet, she was a very perfectionist.”
‘Nice ordinary woman’
The idea for our own hall came up and everyone at the community center was immediately enthusiastic, says Lonneke. She talks as if Eshuijs is still there: “Margriet is also an ordinary Kalver, a nice ordinary woman. She simply deserves it.” A moment later: “She was a beautiful person.”
Margriet Eshuijs dominated last year in the Zaanse Top500: the top three songs were all hers. Text continues below.
The community center was on the verge of collapse in 2022 because no new board members could be found. Eshuijs was very happy that Lonneke eventually stepped in, says Roos. “Margriet was already ill at the time, but she kept a close eye on it. She thought De Bovenkruier should stay. She was very proud of how Lonneke and her team had done that. ‘The Calf is alive again,’ she said.”
Eshuijs’ choir continued after her death and later performed a special memorial concert. NH was at the last rehearsal. Text continues under the report.
The choir now has 33 members and has a membership freeze. Roos: “We don’t want more than 35, six new members were hired last year. It obviously takes a long time before those people know the repertoire and are included in our seven years of rehearsing. It just runs smoothly, we are active and have fun. .”
Saturday, March 2 is the opening of the Margriet Eshuijszaal, followed by a performance by her own choir. “A special moment for De Bovenkruier, but certainly also for the choir,” said Roos. “We try to keep her vision alive. The fact that we can do this is great.”