In many places in Drenthe, the Easter bumps could finally be set on fire again. After two years of corona break, the age-old tradition was continued on Monday.
The fact that corona is no longer restrictive is apparent from the crowds during Easter in the theme parks in Drenthe and at the Wildlands animal park in Emmen. On Tuesday, the parks look back on a very successful, busy Easter weekend. “In terms of visitors, we were at the same numbers as at Easter 2019. Fortunately, people really seem to want to go out again,” says the satisfied Wildlands director Erik van Engelen.
It is also busy at the swimming lessons in Hoogeveen. Due to the closure of two swimming locations in the area, a waiting list has arisen at the swimming pool De Dolfijn. And so children and parents must be patient. “We have 250 children on the waiting list. We had a one-year waiting list. We had reduced that to ten months, but then corona threw a spanner in the works. And now we see the waiting lists growing again,” says Gert van Eck, manager of Swimming pool The Dolphin.
Abderrehim B. was sentenced to 15 years in prison for shooting a resident of camping De Horrebieter in Hoogersmilde in 2020. The resident of Leiden said he had shot in self-defense, but the judge in Assen did not believe that. The sentence is two years longer than demanded. This is because the court takes the man’s criminal record seriously. In 2011, he was also convicted of manslaughter, which he stabbed to death. That is why the court now finds only the highest penalty that applies for manslaughter in the Netherlands: fifteen years in prison.
The week started with an age-old tradition and ended with a fairly young one: the King’s Games. Since 2013, the sports day for children has been on the program on the Friday before King’s Day. Also at OBS Gieten there was fanatical sports. Children could register for a sports activity of a sport they normally do not participate in. “That way they also discover new things,” says gym teacher Suzan Wüstefeld.