This week, the wildfire risk in Drenthe was scaled up after several fires raged in nature reserves. De Leemdobben outdoor pool also celebrated its fiftieth anniversary during the spring weather.
This and more news kept Drenthe busy this week.
Throughout Drenthe, the city or village center turned orange during King’s Day. Our king’s birthday was celebrated in style on Monday, with red, white and blue flags on the cheeks. At the Brink in Rolde, students from OBS Jan Thiesschool even presented a real King’s Day flag.
“All groups made their own flag, then we sewed all the flags together and tried to make the largest flag in the Netherlands,” says 10-year-old Liv from group seven.
In addition to the raising of the flag, there were other activities in Rolde and elsewhere in Drenthe throughout the day, such as a flea market, sidewalk chalk and a musical chairs.
State Secretary Jo-Annes de Bat (CDA) for Climate and Green Growth wants to generously compensate residents who suffered damage to their homes after the earthquake near Eleveld. De Bat announced this on Tuesday in a letter to Drenthe administrators.
A special protocol should ensure that investigations by damage agencies are no longer necessary to demonstrate a link with the earthquake. Although drawing up this scheme will take time, according to De Bat it will ultimately ensure faster settlement and a better balance between compensation and investigation costs.
The province and municipalities of Aa and Hunze, Midden-Drenthe and Assen stated in a joint response that they understand that more time is needed to ensure proper claims settlement. “At the same time, we and the damage reporters would like clarity quickly,” say the directors.
The Drenthe Safety Region (VRD) has increased the wildfire risk from Phase 1 to Phase 2. This was necessary because our province was plagued by increased dry winds from the east.
“Until now we have been able to fight the wild fires well, but the wind will increase considerably in the coming days and much precipitation is not expected,” says Theo de Jong of the VRD. “We respond to every report with increased potential.”
This week there were already wildfires in Wateren, Zuidwolde, Huis ter Heide, the Baggelhuizerplas near Assen and in Kerkenveld.
In a few days we will celebrate 81 years of freedom in Drenthe. In Assen they are busy building the liberation festival at the Baggelhuizerplas. This year we also focus on the many trouble spots in the world, such as the wars in the Middle East, Ukraine and South Sudan.
“It is too much to mention where everything is going wrong in the world at the moment. But even in everyday life it is not self-evident that you can feel free,” says organizer Sander Ten Bosch. “That is why we must continue to do this together. To this end, we have set up a wonderful program together.”
The weather was nice on Friday and many outdoor pools in Drenthe opened their doors again to swimming enthusiasts. This also applies to De Leemdobben outdoor pool in Vries, which has also been around for fifty years. This resulted in a full swimming pool, because around noon there were already seven hundred visitors who had taken a dip.
“I think that’s a lot, yes,” says Trea Ruthers from the swimming pool. “I said: if we reach five hundred we can be happy, but there are already seven hundred enthusiasts.”
The pool also presented a new logo that day and honored one of its past mainstays. “Johannes Venema really did a lot for the swimming pool and without him we would no longer have this pool,” says Ruthers.
