City honours the 70th Anniversary of Dutch gift of tulips to Canadians

Blooming ceremony held for Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden

NEWS RELEASE - Distributed April 4, 2016 2:00 PM

Summary

Last fall, the City of Nanaimo was one of more than 400 applicants to receive one of the 140, 70th Anniversary Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden distributed by the Canadian Garden Council.

As the tulips are now about to burst forth in all their glory, veterans, school children and the public are invited to celebrate the blooming of our Friendship Tulip Garden at 10:30 am on Tuesday, April 12 at the Dallas Square Cenotaph. The ceremony, officiated by Councillor Ian Thorpe, will recount the history of the enduring friendship between Canada and the Netherlands so that it may live on for future generations.

In the spring of 1946, 100,000 tulips bloomed in Ottawa. Planted the previous fall, the Dutch tulip bulbs were sent to Canadians 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, where Princess Margriet was born, during WWII. Now, a gift-in-perpetuity, Canada continues to receive 20,000 tulip bulbs every fall the blooms of which are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people every spring during the Canadian Tulip Festival.

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Key Points

A blooming ceremony for Nanaimo's Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden will take place at 10:30 on Tuesday, April 12 at the Dallas Square Cenotaph.
Nanaimo's Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden is listed on www.canadasgardenroute.ca along with the other successful applicants.

Quotes

"It is indeed an honor to have this Friendship Tulip Garden in our community, and to be part of this heartwarming national program. Thanks to the Canadian Garden Council, Vesey’s Bulbs and Canada Post, the main sponsors of the Friendship Tulip Gardens, our blooming celebration and those of the other 139 recipients of the Friendship Gardens across the country, will be symbolically linked to a similar ceremony taking place in Ottawa during the Canadian Tulip Festival."

Ian Thorpe

Councillor

City of Nanaimo

Images

Nanaimo's Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden

Attachments

70th Anniversary Dutch-Canadian Friendship Tulip Garden Invitation

-30-

Contact:

Gail Pasaluko

Horticulture Supervisor

City of Nanaimo

250-755-7540

Ian Thorpe

Councillor

City of Nanaimo

250-713-9135

Print News Release

Event Information

Start time:	Tue, Apr 12, 10:30 AM
End time:	Tue, Apr 12, 11:30 AM
Location:	Dallas Square Cenotaph, 85 Church Street
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