Taking a trip down memory lane highlighting an illustrated potpourri of Holland happenings from the past 165 plus years called “Antique Anecdotes” will be presented by Randy Vande Water Tuesday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hope College Maas Auditorium, 264 Columbia Ave.
Featured at the monthly meeting of the Holland Area Historical Society, the free event includes more than 100 pictures and commentary covering the community‘s offbeat triumphs and trials as told by Vande Water, local author, historian and retired Holland Sentinel editor.
Vignettes showing “gang buster” invasions by 1930s Great Depression desperadoes are stories of trials gleaned from city newspapers.
Anniversary celebrations are triumph tales, beginning in 1872 when the city reached 25, and a half century in 1897 and a century in 1947.
From “Love Finds a Way,” recalling the Holland National Guard unit during sitdown strike duty in Flint, to the “goingson” of hoboes who camped for more than a halfcentury near Windmill Island relate items of interest during the 1920s and 1930s.
Several ship tragedies have taken place in stormy Lake Michigan during the years since Dr. A.C. Van Raalte founded this place in 1847. Van Raalte’s escapade as told in this program should bring a smile.
Automobiles have been around for more than a century and cities like Holland had difficulty with drivers and passengers nine decades ago.
Aldermen established an unheard of before ordinance to handle seating for young women and men. Individuals are named for their local fame while others register as infamous. There are a few new twists on longtime topics and several vignettes that seldom have been heard.