HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – Spring is in the air and that means Windmill Island Gardens is getting ready for their opening day with a celebration.
Last year Holland celebrated the 50th anniversary of the arrival of its hometown windmill, de Zwann. in 2016, and another full year of activities are planned according to the West Michigan Tourist Association. This year opening day on April 16th will be celebrated with a Run of the Mill 5K. A 9:30 a.m. run is followed by a 10:00 a.m. walk which follows the island’s 1-mile circumference. The run was started by local high school students and raises money for maintenance of the windmill.
The garden theme of the Island will be the Year of the Butterfly. Horticulture staff planted and enhanced monarch butterfly habitat plants resulting in the island’s certification as a Monarch Way Station. The island will also be the mainstay at Tulip Time from May 7-14, 2016 www.tuliptime.com, with a second tulip field planted this year. A community garden nicknamed “de Gezellige Tuin” based on the Dutch practice of allotment gardening will lend itself to community members gathering vegetables while meeting neighbors and learning more about gardening.
Several of the children’s carousel horses were refurbished and the next Koffie Kletz event at the island is on April 9, 2016.
Windmill Gardens re-opens April 16, 2016 and will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., 7 days a week.
