TULIP TIME turns 90
DONALD PROMNITZ Associate Editor
A lot has changed in the 90 years since Beverly Thomassen-Schultz celebrated Pella’ s first Tulip Time in 1935.
Back then, it was a small affair in a town of 3,000 people. And it had little of the pageantry and flair that’ s made it a cultural landmark in Iowa.
“ There wasn’ t much that went on that first year. I don’ t think— and of course, I was very young, too, so I don’ t remember much of anything that first year,” Schultz said.“ But there were several men in the community that thought we ought to have some kind of celebration.”
Schultz still has the black-and-white photos from that celebration of her and her siblings adorned in Dutch costumes. And while it was a modest celebration, it was enough of a success to warrant another. In 1936, Tulip Time gained traction, and Pella crowned Lenora Gaass the first Tulip Queen. And 12 years after that, Schultz,
6 PELLA’ S TULIP TIME 2025