It was a very special day last year when the mayor and dozens of relatives ran her as in a fragment from ‘All You Need Is Love’. But secretly Ria Martens-Smekens (70) from Rijen already understood the conspiracy of her family. “On an empty page in the back of a notebook I wrote that I suspected that I would get a ribbon coming King’s Day,” she says laughing.
Ria also added a date and her suspicion turned out to be correct. With a laundry list of volunteer work that goes back until 1972 at carnival association De Leuttappers and many other foundations and associations, her family thought she could receive a royal award for that.
Because nothing is too crazy for Ria. Whether it is about training young dance maries, making a schedule for bringing the carnival magazine, standing behind the bar at the Mollebosfist or organizing a ride for the old -timers club together with others, she does it all.
“At a certain point you just roll in,” she says soberly. “You will be asked once to help and then you roll from one to the other.” She thinks it is important for society, because certainly nowadays it is increasingly difficult for organizations to find volunteers. “People want something to be in return everywhere. But that’s not how it works, you help each other.”
In the spotlights
She prefers to do her work behind the scenes, because Ria herself is not happy to be in the spotlight. Yet she really likes the appreciation that comes with the ribbon and the surprise was no less. Just as on Friday will apply to the many volunteers who are then put in the spotlight during the traditional ribbon rain. Last year four civilians were decorated in the municipality of Gilze en Rijen. It was, quite special, only women, Ria was one of them.
“I was lured with the excuse that someone else from an association would get a ribbon. And we had to be there with the board,” Ria looks back. But Ria sees and hears a lot and says he can ‘combine well’. Because of those puzzle pieces, she had the idea that the ribbon might be for her. When she saw her family and she was called forward, she immediately knew what time it was.
A party every year
Once a year she can now wear the ribbon, on King’s Day during the official meeting with the mayor and other residents with a royal award. There she and her husband Peter, who already got a ribbon years ago, are looking forward to herself.
The harmony then plays the Wilhelmus, a photo is taken with the mayor and toast on the king. Although the latter is a little less appreciated by Peter: “Orange bitter is not such a success,” he says laughing. “But you are not short of anything. There is a drink and a drink and it is very nice, because you all come across acquaintances from the club life.”
The couple is ‘a bit proud’ that they belong to those people who have always worked for everything. And that confirms daughter Mariëlle: “If you are next to your parents with both a ribbon, who are always ready for everyone, then you think: yes, they did well.” A ribbon is therefore not a one -off appreciation, but a party every year.
Gilze en Rijen example of how it should be
The municipality of Gilze en Rijen experienced something that is quite unique in 2024. It rarely happens that a royal award is awarded to women during the annual ribbon rain. Yet that was the case in Gilze and Rijen. Four inhabitants were decorated, not a single man.
The Chancellery of the Dutch Orders in The Hague, which tests all decorative proposals in our country, would like women to be nominated more often. From the start of this tradition, however, men get a ribbon (much) more often than women, although this is getting a little less. Last year, nationally, 36 percent of the decorated woman was. In Brabant, the ratio in recent years is 67 (men) and 33 percent (women) and that will probably not be different on Friday.
Figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics show that women do at least as much volunteer work as men. A spokesperson for the Chancellery: “So there are certainly many women who are eligible for this royal tribute, but are not nominated for this. People with a migration background are also under -represented. This is a challenge we are happy to commit.”
The municipality of Gilze en Rijen says in a response that it has not had any influence on the distribution of the ribbons. When asked, a spokesperson reports that there is ‘pure coincidence’: “We don’t have another explanation. We give everyone who deserves that royal appreciation. We call on people who can qualify every year. And that can be men and women.” It was already the third time in the last seven years that more women than men were surprised in Gilze and Rijen.