Tulip Planting Ceremony

City of Terrace Awarded a 70^th Anniversary Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden

Celebrating the first Dutch Gift of tulips to Canadians

The City of Terrace is the lucky recipient of one of 140, 70^th Anniversary Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Gardens being distributed across Canada in celebration of the first gift of 100,000 Dutch tulip bulbs sent to Canadians in 1945 as a symbol of appreciation for the role Canadian soldiers played in the liberation of the Netherlands and the hospitality Canada provided to the Dutch Royal Family in Ottawa during WWII.

Public planting ceremony to take place at Heritage Park Museum

“We feel very fortunate,” said Eric Lennert, the City Gardener for Terrace, “to have received one of these gardens as we understand that the Canadian Garden Council, the organization behind the Friendship Tulip Garden program, received more than 400 applications.”  The garden, consisting of 700 red and white tulip bulbs, generously donated by Vesey’s Bulbs of PEI, will be planted on Friday, October 16^th at 1:00 p.m. at Heritage Park Museum (4702 Kerby Ave.). The garden will be located just outside of the front gate of the museum, and will serve as a beautiful garden for museum visitors as well as for the residents of Terraceview Lodge and McConnell Estates to enjoy. In order to ensure the garden’s longevity, Cathy Jackson, of Spotted Horse Nursery, has donated seaweed compost to serve as top dressing for the tulips. The Greater Terrace Beautification Society has donated plants and will help with planning the garden to ensure that it is a perennial garden that can be enjoyed all summer.

Veterans, school children, and the public are invited to attend the planting ceremony where the story of the Dutch princess born in Ottawa during WWII and the history of the enduring friendship bond between Canada and the Netherlands will be retold so that it may live on for future generations. Guests will be invited to plant the red and white tulip bulbs. There will be baked goods, coffee, and hot chocolate to keep everyone’s hands warm.

Contest for Children and Youth

In celebration of the tulip garden, Heritage Park Museum is running a contest for local children and youth to explore the relationship between Holland and Canada, especially as it relates to World War II, Terrace, and Dutch immigrants. Children and youth in pre-kindergarten to grade twelve are invited to draw, paint, or write a story, poem, or essay depicting the relationship between Holland and Canada. They are welcome to submit art or writing depicting how Dutch immigrants have mattered to Canada, or to Terrace, specifically. The role of Canadian soldiers in liberating the Netherlands during the Second World War would also be a good topic. Entries should be dropped off at the Sportsplex or Heritage Park Museum by 7 October. Prizes include history books, gift cards, swim passes, a huge teddy bear, Casey Braam’s Historic Terrace colouring books, and a free birthday party at Heritage Park Museum. All entries will be put on display in the Dance Hall at the planting ceremony, where prizes will also be awarded.

Symbolic link to a Friendship Tulip Garden in Ottawa

Our garden, and the other 139 gardens planted across the country, will be symbolically linked to a 70^th Anniversary Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden to be planted this fall in our nation’s capital by the National Capital Commission and showcased during the 2016 Canadian Tulip Festival.

Our garden will also be featured on the 2016 edition of Canada’s Garden Route, www.canadasgardenroute.ca.

It takes a village . . .

Thank you to Eric Lennert for submitting the winning Friendship Tulip Garden application as well as all those that made this heartwarming program possible:  Canadian Garden Council, Vesey’s Bulbs, Canada Post, National Capital Commission, Canadian Tulip Festival, Canadian Nursery Landscape Association, Garden Making magazine, Chimpanzee, Baxter Travel Media, Enterprise Canada, Gardens BC, Québec Gardens’ Association and the Ontario Garden Tourism Coalition.