Hup! Hup! Orange City!

On this score, my judgement can be trusted. Here's why. First, like it or not, I am 100% Dutch-American, fourth and fifth generation perhaps, but I know a Wilhelmina peppermint when I see one. I own a pair of wooden shoes in fact, a gift from the Dutch in Holland, MI (they wouldn't fit me, but why destroy a forest?).

What's more, I don't live in Orange City, never have. My wife claims it as her hometown, but she was a farm girl who went off to Hull for high school. Her mother was vintage Orange City, even Tulip Queen, but today my wife and I live on the northern edge of Alton, where, it is rumored, the people are either Catholic or Hollanders who can't live with Hollanders. 

What's more, I've lived most of my life in Sioux Center, a rival burg which has slugged it out with Orange City for most of its existence, a place where most people I knew think of Tulip Festival as a theme park, great for kids but primarily brainless--"did my ancestors dance in the streets. Verdrommel, no," I used to say. "So you pull on nutty costumes no sane Dutch man or woman would wear today, you slavishly scrub streets and pay unholy prices to put your kids on silly rides, and you call that 'heritage'? Gimme a break."

Ten years ago we moved to Alton. I've spent time on two Orange City committees. One of them, the Arts Council, brought musical talent from around the world to town. It was wonderful. These days, I spend time on the Museum Board. In fact, this year I'll be riding at the head of the Tulip Festival parade because the Board has been chosen at this year's Parade Marshall. I've seen Orange City in action. It seems to me that my judgment in such things is objective. 

"What things?" you say.

If you haven't already heard, AARP has ranked Orange City, Iowa, as the fourth best small town in the entire U. S. of A., right there behind Aspen, Colorado; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Great Neck Plaza, NY. Yes, such generalized rankings can be arbitrary. Yes, Orange City is hundreds of miles from any major metropolis. Yes, we can be painfully provincial. No matter. Here's the article, read it for yourself.

My judgment? That kind of ranking is earned and, well, lovely. Good for Orange City. Great for Orange City.

Here's my analysis. Sioux Center wants to be another Sioux Falls. They want to go big. Landing Wal-Mart changed everything, made the whole place jump with business. Sioux Center wants muscle, motion, and money. 

Orange City is quite happy to be a fine European village, where a cup of coffee downtown is but a satisfying pause in a celebration of life. You've been to Europe. You know what I'm talking about. Orange City wants to be charming.

And it works at that vision by way of its Tulip Festival. Say what you want about pofferjes and saucijsjes, but TF requires a standing army willing to spend weeks of their time planning for and pulling off a three-day carnival that almost always suffers some awful weather.

What's more, in preparation, scores of Orange Citians look closely at their own past, at what they call "heritage." I'll grant you that such research is at times a mile wide and a foot deep, but it's a task that's taken on every year. In Orange City, people care about their town and its history that's produced a level of extraordinary civic pride.

Just a few years ago, the museum decided to try to get people in the doors by putting on a series of programs about local history. Honestly, I would have been pleased had a couple dozen shown up for the first presentation--100 people did. Every year since, our "Nights at the Museum" productions gather that kind of crowd. We had to get rid of a fine Native American tipi just to accommodate the crowds. 

Last week, it was a visiting poet. Almost 70 people showed up, and a great time was had by all, including the poet, because Orange City nurtures a thoughtful tradition of civic pride. 

So this Altonite who hails from Sioux Center, says, "Hup, hup, hup, Orange City," fourth best small town in the USA. Good for you.