Orange City Mayor Gary Blair visits Orange City, Iowa

People looked at me a bit perplexed when I told them that I was taking a little vacation to Orange City… You see, I was heading to Orange City, Iowa, for the 83rd annual Tulip Festival. I have long yearned to see the tulip blossoms in Holland. But, since it is so far away I thought it would be nice to visit “the other Orange City” and enjoy the flowers there. 

Dutch settlers in pursuit of cheaper and more fertile land (some of the most fertile in Iowa) trekked to this beautiful northeast location and founded the city in 1870. 

It is a quaint yet very progressive town of around 7,000 lovely people. There are many churches, and the folks are very faith-based. Before I left Florida, several people asked me to find out why they named their town Orange City (more on that later).

I was met by Earl Woudstra, city administrator, at 10 a.m. at The Prairie Winds Event Center on a beautiful May morning. We promptly jumped into Earl’s pickup for a tour of the city. He showed me what makes his town tick. I was impressed to learn about the economic drivers of this place, not only the existing businesses but the innovative policies that attract business and retain them also. 

Orange City is the home of a state-of-the-art hospital, a paint manufacturer, corporate home to a major pizza restaurant chain popular in the Midwest, and meat processing facilities, among other businesses. The city also houses Northwestern College (who, by the way lost their division football national championship to Kaiser College, a Florida school, last year).

Earl also explained the initiatives for housing and businesses that the city provides… thus my statement on it being progressive. That is the outskirts of the town. 

The downtown is quaint and has a Dutch architectural flair with the older and newer buildings sharing that style. I was also impressed with how the residents keep their homes, yards and businesses meticulously clean.

When we concluded our tour, the next stop was City Hall, where there is an auditorium inside, to see the Dutch Dozen perform. The group, made up of high-school students, perform traditional Dutch dances and short skits. Who knew, I thought, that wooden shoes could be used as a percussion instrument? One of the performers said that his wooden shoes were so uncomfortable that he threw them away by flushing them down the toilet. It resulted in one of the worst clogs he ever had!

After the performance I changed into my silly looking orange suit.

Earl got called out on a family emergency, and I walked down Main Street where lawn chairs and people were already lining the street three to four deep in anticipation of the day’s activities. Many people were dressed in traditional Dutch costumes. Word got out quickly that the mayor of the “other Orange City” was in town. People were stopping me on the street talking to me with questions and taking photos… I felt like a rock star!!!

The OC Fire Department was parked at the end of Mainstreet. I introduced myself, and we took selfies, and the chief insisted that I sit up in one of the trucks for a picture. Their Fire Department is made up completely of volunteers, and later they gave me a tour of their state-of-the-art building.

Soon thereafter, Mayor Deb De Haan came up and introduced herself. After another photo, she told me to meet in front of the City Hall so I could be included in the “Street Scrubbing” ceremony where I joined the mayor, council members and a state representative to inspect the street. Of course, we proclaimed the street in need of cleaning. 

It was funny, when I arrived in town, I saw they had these large tubs filled with water on every block, and I thought it was nice that they provided a place for the parade horses to get a drink. I was quickly corrected that the water was for the young men to fill their buckets and splash on the street (and each other), followed by the girls and women to “scrub” the street clean. Now, keep in mind that all the participants are dressed in their traditional Dutch costumes. It was a scene that I’ll never forget, and somehow I stayed dry even though some of the young participants tried to douse me with the water. 

The procession of people adorned in the traditional dress of regions of Holland was very interesting. My late mother, who had extraordinary seamstress skills, would have been impressed with the intricacy and skill required to make these outfits. The number of volunteers from the very young to the very old was uncountable. 

Earl, the city administrator, had explained to me that the demographics there were like an hourglass: Lots of young people at the bottom who may leave to pursue careers, then return at an older age. The graphic is similar to the shape of an hourglass. Many people I spoke with had grown up there, live elsewhere, and return every year to dress up and participate in the traditional activities. 

Later in the day, I was invited to ride in the parade. On each block were announcer stands that read off a short script I had prepared telling a bit about myself, my city, and of course I had to put out an invitation for all to come visit our Manatee Festival that takes place during the fourth full weekend of January. This was well-received as Iowa winters can be very snowy and cold, I was told. Again, the cheers and applause of the crowd made me feel like I really belonged there.

Two places named “Orange City” very different and yet alike in many ways. These wonderful people made me feel so welcome. They involved me in their ceremonies and parade, which made this one of the most special vacations I have ever taken. 

Oh… and by the way… how did Orange City, Iowa get its name? You see, they wanted to honor royalty, Prince William of Orange from the old country of Holland, thus the name Orange City … and one last thing, these fantastic people treated me as if I was “royalty” myself.

— Mayor Gary Blair has been mayor of Orange City, Florida, for eight years.