good morning and i want to welcome all of you here today it is such a delight and a true pleasure to have each and every one of you join us on this very special occasion fifty years and a week ago today this wonderful park and when mill was dedicated for the prince band heart of the netherlands and we're here fifty years later to celebrate that i honor those of you who are among us who were here fifty years we've had a wonderful start to our day of celebrating our fifteenth anniversary this morning we had our pick up with a run of the mill and for those of you who ran our science we appreciate everyone who participated and we're excited to move now into our second phase of celebration so we have some special guests with us today that i'm honored to be able to introduce and the first of which is larry wearing an  and he is the executive director of the historical society of michigan which is the state's all this cultural organization that was founded eight hundred twenty eight by the territorial governor louis cast and the explorer henry schoolcraft he's held this position for over thirteen years and overseas and spying mission here is with focus on publications educational programming history conferences awards and recognition programs and support for local history organizations he serves as the publisher of the w winning magazine michigan history and i just have to build commercial there are some coverage of the michigan history magazine available today at the back table because the cover story and cover photo of this issue i ellen brooms larry was appointed by governor rick snyder to serve a vision and historical commission which oversees the state's work in history including placing all of the green state historical markers that all of us recognize they see across who led the effort to bring this one to holland michigan served for many years on the michigan historical commission and that's a wonderful connection that we have prior to this time with the historical site of michigan he c and andy we're delighted to have him with us here today and he's going to share a few words as as well as a special tri represent the storable society of michigan which is the state's oldest cultural organization as well as the michigan storable commission the two are a very different service site in michigan as allies of mention is a non governmental nonprofit and we do a variety of publishing conferences and educational activities from national history day which is like odyssey of the mind to things like mission history magazine and she's right the cover came out yesterday this is hot off the present still warm in my you graduations on on what's happening here today and then as you mentioned i also served as an appointee of the governor to the michigan historical commission the commission was hundred seventeen and up to that point you start a site in michigan was the collecting entity we collected all of michigan history and when state government made the wise decision to stop funding the historical society of michigan they created the michigan historical commission to take over what is now the state museum and the state archives we have different functions but as was mentioned by the biggest function of overseeing the state history program are those green markers we approved five more of them just on thursday at the commission meeting  and that's an exciting thing that we do in celebrating state history and i believe there is a marker in the works potentially for the site right here which is very exciting as we celebrate two hundred years of the women as well as fifty years that windmill island but another reason that i'm here because of course this is my home town i grew up out on the north side i went to holland christian i graduated from hope and then of course was on the faculty there for nearly thirteen years but it's my connection to willard c wicker's that i value you know there are people in this room that knew bill workers much much longer than i did i met him first in the one nine hundred seventy s and then much more in the one nine hundred eighty s when i became director of the joint archives in one nine hundred eighty eight we had to go into the old netherlands museum storage facility which was an old hospital behind the netherlands museum at that time and it was an old dusty place with lots of boxes and the other part of the collection was in the safe at city hall and i remember consulting with bill and his successor reed bents loose to move those materials into what was then the new joint archives the holland so i got to know bill very well at that time i remember sitting in his kitchen with his wife mel and i learned so much about what he had done and he really was in a tradition of people that helped preserve this communities  history was of course under all to you found this community there was another and a gentleman named garrett vance kelvin who helped preserve the history of this community in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century and bill wicker is in many ways took that baton in the one nine hundred thirty s and kept preserving in advancing hollins history he of course did so many different things he was head of the netherlands information service and i got to know him even better as i worked with his papers that he donated to the museum collection which was housed at the join that time but one of his most is capstone event things he did so many wonderful things for this community working with a group that helped bring this windmill was one of his capstone and his connections with dutch government you going over there negotiating getting a wind mill which was the last out of the country and the owner a decided they weren't going to send any more women else now in the article that valerie van if you stand in michigan history magazine hi valerie back there she also discovered that the history of this women is somewhat different than is his bosses had i been there at that time but of course i was a little too tiny was one of my predecessors but he served for even much longer on the michigan historical commission the commission that oversees state government historical activities oversees the state archives in the state museum and does all of those markers so bill workers was involved not only in preserving dutch american history history and home and history but he was also very involved in preserving michigan history which is very valuable to us as well when i was appointed to the commission member making an announcement and talking to the commissioners and those in attendance at that time that i felt that i was occupying bill's seat as bill served for several decades on the commission and given my dutch american background the son  immigrants who emigrated from the netherlands in the one nine hundred fifty s you know my long history lived in this community i really felt an affinity for that seat that bill had held on the michigan historical commission i hope i do justice to the work that he died did in preserving state heritage in the history of this community congratulations work from his eighteen years and of his perm politics the one year i was really excited about focusing on was the education and i just want to mention that his commitment to our public schools can be seen as frequent visits to classrooms throughout the state distributing refurbished computers to provide students more access to technology for encouraging our children to enjoy the wonder and importance of reading in their daily lives and because of the efforts of lieutenant governor postman's today thousands of michigan families are rolling in the michigan education savings program including mine making it possible for their children to attend college or technical school and an innovative scholarship program created by lieutenant governor is helping more low income students get the money they need to earn a dollar you going to sociate degree anywhere in michigan we're very honored to have him here with us today and he's got a very special tribute to share with us so presidents thank you and good morning i guess it's almost not morning anymore but it's great to be here in this beautiful day i it's a great pleasure for me to be here to represent governor snyder in the state of michigan up just so you want to make it clear because there is another lieutenant governor brian kelly and i don't want him to think that i've taken his job it's just that once you begin you've been elected governor lieutenant governor you never lose that title so that's that's why she called the lieutenant governor but i have been lieutenant governor for ten this area of the country to settle here to work hard and they had dreams for their families my great grandparents were two of those dreamers and my how our ancestors were right look at just what's happened in holland and west michigan over for these last hundred one hundred fifty years it michigan is a great place to live and work and play and there is no better example than right here in holland and in and in west michigan because i think we here combine the all of the right things the ethics of working hard of having  values about family and about remembering our past but not being stuck in it and being prepared to move forward and that's exactly what holland has done and it's impossible to think of michigan without thinking of what the dutch heritage community has brought to our history even during the last decade ten years ago when when this state was just going downhill very rapidly we in holland and west michigan were continuing to flourish much more so then than another is and i think it's because of the special people that that we have here michigan is is home to about sixty companies that are harlem and it represents our community i remember actually being here right after it was built coming here with my parents and grandparents and that vision for those of you that were here then it's got to be embraced and in your minds it certainly isn't mine but to me what's beautiful about the windmill is what it represents it rim's represents this community represents the people and i believe that is why turse from all over michigan from all over the region come here it's not only to see the beauty that we have here but to be with the people and what you all represent this is a community that's built around shared goals and shared vision  and it is about remembering our pass but not being stuck there it's about remembering who we are but also accepting and being diverse in our in our approach to life and that is really what our it's all about so today i just want to say thank you for all that you've done the governor sends his praise and he looks forward to being here at the time i don't know that he'll be able to walk in the parade as many of you know he had this bad killie's tendon and he's been on crutches he's got his boots off but i'm not quite sure he's ready to walk yet but but he will be here to share in that festivity with you so today on behalf of governor snyder  governor thank you so much for being with us today it is a true pleasure as you mentioned fifty years ago michigan governor george romney was here to join the prince of the netherlands and the dedication will be using being some pictures of the nation a little three are actually here thank you i'm sorry yes wonderful oh my gosh you know it is a wonderful day mayor is that not this is really remarkable so i believe that we have a wonderful tribute that's well it's a pleasure to be here with you today and as specially exciting for myself as a first first term house member and a lifelong born and raised here in holland president and so we would like to present a tribute to him from the state of michigan celebrating in commemorating the fiftieth that golden anniversary of this one man when mel said thank you for having us here you know i've joked with the senate majority leader earl and me cough that you better watch out because otherwise the entire delegation in lansing for the holland area all women which is a remarkable thing and i don't know that many other places in the state of michigan can make that sort of claim so it's really wonderful mr the tenor governor it's wonderful to have you here today i am also very pleased that we have mayors in the in attendance today we have mayor lou hallett see with us as well as as there is a hope that among many others perhaps the same rule applies mr lieutenant governor and that once a mayor always a mayor this has had special resonance for me in the past a few dates so in any event also i'm very pleased that we're we have a most if not all of the city council members here today we have the mayor pro tem bob and of us state council members jay peters nancy de boer and david cook's trip here so if you would all wave and welcome have and then just a couple we have a trio a trio of city managers as well the people who day to day make this place operate make the city operate and we're pleased to have former city managers they don't get the city manager feel like their former city manager as well as our current city manager ryan cotton here with us today  well i'd like to make just a few comments on this great day for our community and really i think we're beyond our community it's hard to believe fifty years ago a group of people much like us were gathered in this particular place in fact some of you have made the trek the entire fifty years then to now but it's even more hard for me to imagine this community without this machine behind us because really at its heart it is a machine and now perhaps more than any other time in its history and certainly its history in the holland area it is designed and built and functional in a way as it was designed to be it is an operational thing of beauty but it has a very significant function and we are in a place today where not only can we observe it watch it move but we can also harvest the the wonderful products it produces in the grain and flour that it's the flour that it grinds from the grain that it receives but i think even more than that this mill has become part of and really a symbol of this community and if if you're not sure on that if you're not sure that i'm accurate in that statement i would encourage you to go to the internet grab one of the search browsers and do an image search for holland michigan my hunch is you will find prominently displayed two things one is the magnificent big red light house and the other is are making a percent this one when and when we had this experience a few years ago does want showing its age and needing a you know the equivalent of a hip replacement it was both a challenging time for us but also i think a tremendous opportunity for this community to come together not only to fix our mill but also to think about what does it mean to have it here with us and what does this space overall mean for this community and through that effort we are largely through an upgrade and updates to this particular park and in the next twelve to eighteen months they'll be some additional activities that will happen here to really enhance this entire space so now not only will this be a spot where you see the mill that represents our community not only will this be a space that when you have friends and guests and relatives from out of town you want to show them the sights this is one of the places you go to now this will also be a place where families in our community choose to recreate choose to spend time and where events in our community take place with significant regularity and it really is both geographically but also metaphysically located in the heart of our greater community so it is a wonderful wonderful day and i will say one more thing about the day and that is that i have a running dispute with jane clark who is the head of the local church member of commerce she would claim this is a chamber of commerce day i think it's really a mayor's day so one of the special things that has happened as part of the fiftieth anniversary is that alisa has written this really spectacular book and it is worth your read and to only get a commercial for a second there are copies of it in the in the entrance to the pavillion today and much of the proceeds will go toward the continued maintenance of this particular park so it's for a good cause but it really is a very fine read there's an outstanding forward to this particular book some guy wrote it and i just like to quote a couple statements from it before i make a presentation of my own and i think that it bookends with what lieutenant governor was saying about certainly we celebrate the past of this community today fifty years of this mill here and the history that it represents from a particular place in europe and the particular people who settled much of this community back then but also it i think represents us as we move forward as a place where people from all places backgrounds can find a place to call home a couple of things in this forward and i'll just read the final paragraph which i think puts a an exclamation point on that point elisa holland michigan transplant who is not of dutch ancestry has taken it upon herself to become the caretaker of this most visible symbol of the communities dutch roots in this i cannot help but think of the holland school teacher leiter rogers another holland transplant not of dutch ancestry who founded tulip time that these two women are at the center of our two most important cultural institutions it's a commentary about them of course however it also is an unmistakable statement that this community so closely identified in history with the netherlands has been is and will continue to be home for all kinds of people from all sorts of places and it seems to me that is a fitting way to think about this day as we celebrate fifty years of the  l you have heard the name willard workers mentioned today and many of you are intimately familiar with that name and probably a good number of you knew mr workers and we are pleased today that we have a descendant of mr workers in our midst today tim de may and tim i would invite you forward we have we want to give you a couple copies of this book to give to your mother and aunt who could not be here today but it's an especially nice touch that we have actual physical descendants workers who was so instrumental in bringing this windmill to holland michigan and in addition to mr workers carter brown was also incredibly instrumental in having the windmill here and again many of you i am sure know knew of him remembered him well and were friends with him and were pleased to have a descendant of his here as well galen stevens and i'd like to present galen you with a copy of this book as well in appreciation for your family's part in today and your substantial role in the events of fifty years ago thank you the we have a full day's worth of activities here we started with the run this morning and some of you i know participated in that some of you we can tell who you are by the way participate in that there will be some food that is specially prepared for us  of a dutch flavor from local restaurants and in catering companies who are appreciative for that and then we next i believe have a special dance opportunity for us and we won't make us do the dance and probably it's a good thing the governor isn't here because i know he'd want to jump up and do this dance as well and it might not be good for his achilles tendon but we have the tkinter dutch dancers here to do a bit of a dutch dance for us to celebrate this this seven mentors occasion in the life of our community so the kids can come