Photos left to right : Former Mayor Jim Mueller ( far left ), Sinterklaas , the Pella High School Band and the 2020 Tulip Time Queen and her Court on the Tulip Toren in December 2019 . / Sinterklaas waves to the community as he rides his boat to the Tulip Toren . CNHI file photo
light-hearted gifts and poems . Christmas Day itself in the Netherlands is a very somber day . Those who are religious go to church , but it ’ s not a big gift-giving day like in the U . S .”
Klaas , derived from the baptismal name Clausen , is a form of the name Nicholas , which is where Santa Claus got his name .
“ The earliest settlers in the U . S . were Dutch , and Sinterklaas is where Santa Claus came from , so the Dutch essentially gave the world Santa Claus ,” says Van Kooten .
Since the late 1970s and early 1980s , Pella has held an annual Sinterklaas parade the weekend after Thanksgiving . Children of all ages are invited to dress up as their favorite holiday characters to walk in the parade with Sinterklaas . The Pella High School Band leads
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Sinterklaas then joins the mayor of Pella , the Burgemeister ( Pella ’ s honorary Tulip Time mayor ), and the Tulip Time Queen and her Court for their first appearance of the season on the Tulip Toren . Afterward , children are invited to meet Sinterklaas and receive goodie bags .
For the past six years , Arlyn Stuart has served as Pella ’ s very own Sinterklaas . Stuart ’ s first year as Sinterklaas was a special one , as three of his four grandchildren were invited to participate in the parade and hand out presents as his Piets .
“ My grandchildren just so happened to be back in Pella visiting for Thanksgiving , and they got to dress up in Piet costumes and ride with me in the boat in the parade ,” says Stuart . “ It was really neat that they were there to experience it with me , and they really got a charge out of that … we had a lot of fun together .”
Van Kooten has seen the parade change over the past 40 years , including the dissemination of Sinterklaas ’ s Piets . Depending on who you ask , Van Kooten says some believe Sinterklaas to be from Turkey rather than Spain . In the Netherlands , Piets were traditionally dressed in Moorish attire and blackface .
“ Traditionally , way back in legend , they [ Piets ] were Moorish slaves who came along with Sinterklaas ,” says Van Kooten . “ They carried sticks , switches and coal for the bad children to put in their shoes and to give them a switching .”
Over the years , the legend has been modified in the Netherlands . Today , some children are told Piets ’ faces are blackened with soot from climbing through chimneys to deliver gifts for Sinterklaas .
“ They ’ ve tried to justify blackface in the Netherlands , and there ’ s a huge issue raging about it now on whether or not it should be allowed ,” says Van Kooten . “ A few years ago , Pella Historical made the decision to do away with the Piets totally , even though we always traditionally used fourth- through sixth-grade kids as Sinterklas ’ helpers … I ’ m proud that we have proactively made that decision .”
Van Kooten has also seen the parade grow to new heights .
“ We have a lot more kids and families participating than we did even five or 10 years ago , and I think part of that is because we ’ ve just done a better job of promoting it ,” says Van Kooten . “ There are also a few other things that go on the same morning , so we typically have some competition , but last year we had about 125 people in the parade .”