OC Mag 01-22

SPRING 2022

■ Farmers Market a long-time tradition

■ Meat Market looks to the future

■ Resident directors serve students

ORANGE CITY

MAGAZINE

Living Color

Artist shares her talents

HOME OF THE RAIDERS

| CONTENTS

ORANGE CITY

MAGAZINE

SPRING 2022

FOUNDER AND PUBLISHER

Peter W. Wagner

27 Woudstra’s

eyes future

38

Team effort

at venue

13 Fascination

with Orange

PRESIDENT

Jeff Wagner

EDITORIAL STAFF

Thea Sterrett

Kirsten Elyea

Kate Harlow

Briana Harrell

Tom Lawrence

Eric Sandbulte

Renee Wielenga

ADVERTISING DESIGN

Elizabeth Myers

Kristin Oldenkamp

Krystal Poppema

Mindy Schaefer

Camille Visser

PHOTOGRAPHY

Rylan Howe

Orange City Magazine

is published by

Iowa Information, Inc.,

Sheldon, Iowa.

6

Farmers Market fills many roles in community

It’s a fixture of downtown Orange City, with new opportunities added each season

For advertising rates

and other questions,

please contact us.

Orange City Magazine

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Fax 712-324-2345

Copies of Orange City

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participating Orange City businesses.

We welcome suggestions,

story ideas and letters

to the editor.

©2022 Orange City Magazine

No material from this publication

may be copied or in any way reproduced

without written permission

from the publisher.

ON THE COVER

17 Colorful

vantage

Judy Thompson

continues to perfect

her watercolor work

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

10

34

42

William the Silent

Roots of Orange City trace to the home

country, and a man who was known by

many names, and for many deeds

Residence Hall directors

Mentor, advisor, surrogate sibling - hall

directors find many ways to serve

Faith Journey

Pastor Jeff Whit has served the flock

at New Hope Evangelical Free Church

for more than 25 years, where learning,

growing and shepherding continue

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TEXT BY KATE HARLOW | PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Off to

Market

Orange City Farmers

Market going strong after

more than 40 years

As sure as God makes little

green apples, from the

months of June through

September the Orange City Farmers

Market offers us a wide variety of

produce, most likely including some of

those little green apples.

But the Orange City Farmers Market

is so much more than that.

“That’s one of the things that I really

love about our Farmers Market — we

really have a huge variety of things to

offer. When most people think of farmers

markets they think of produce and

cookies, but we are so much more than

that,” said Miranda Fahrenbruch, the

market manager who co-leads the Orange

City Farmers Market along with

Orange City Chamber of Commerce

executive director Mike Hofman.

Fahrenbruch has been involved

with the Orange City Farmers Market

for six years first as a vendor with her

family’s business Fahrenbruch Gardens

and then she took on the role of helping

manage the market.

She and her family still take part in

the market as vendors and sell a variety

of items including flavored lemonades,

rubs and spices, hot cocoa mixes and a

few baked goods.

The products that Fahrenbruch Gardens

sells at the Orange City Farmers

Market are just the tip of the iceberg

when it comes to the wide variety that

can be seen at the market from 10 a.m.-

1 p.m. on Saturdays during the months

of the market.

On any given Saturday one could

find local honey, baked goods, goat

milk soap, sewn and crocheted items,

jellies, farm fresh flowers, locally grown

popcorn kernels, leather goods, string

art, jewelry, gems and polished rocks,

farm fresh eggs and decorative home

decor — plus tons of local produce.

“On a typical Saturday we have about

12-15 vendors and we had 21-22 vendors

over the course of the whole summer.

There are a few vendors who only come

for a few weekends a summer,” Fahrenbruch

said. “So every week the market

has something different to offer.”

The market has been an integral part

of Orange City since the 1970s.

“When they built the pavilion in

Windmill Park it was partly to be used

for the farmers markets. There’s even

a plaque at the pavilion from it’s dedication

in the ‘80s, that refers to this,”

Fahrenbruch said.

It’s evolved over the many decades

and now takes place in downtown Orange

City on a block of Central Avenue

between 1st and 2nd Streets. They shut

down the street so people can enjoy the


| COMMUNITY

ORANGE CITY FARMERS MARKET

TIME: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays in June-September

LOCATION: Downtown Orange City on Central Avenue

On the second Saturday of each

month, they host Kids Market, where

alongside the regular vendors, kids

can host a booth for free and sell their

products.

“We want to encourage those kids’

entrepreneurship and their creativity

and crafting,” Fahrenbruch said. “We

have elementary school girls who make

play doh, a high school girl who is a

phenomenal artist and some kids who

like to bake up some things to sell.”

The special Kids Markets days also

often include fun options for all the

kids who come to the market to enjoy.

“We always try to have something

free, weekly community event. extra fun for the kids at the market

All that combined would easily make from face painting or bounce houses,”

Orange City’s Farmers Markets a lot Fahrenbruch said. “Then also, pretty

more than your run-of-the-mill farmers

market, but they don’t stop there. market we have bubbles, chalk

much every Saturday of the farmers

and

jump ropes available for the kids to

play with.”

Another cool offering at the Orange

City Farmers Market is the Iowa State

University Extension and Outreach

program called the Power of Produce

or POP club.

“Every week kids can come and find

the Iowa State table and they will have

some sort of activity for them to be

engaged in like taste testing different

vegetables or doing a scavenger hunt

based around produce,” Miranda said.

“By participating, the kids earn a $2 token

that they can use to buy produce at

the market. It’s a great way to encourage

healthy eating and living.”

Another way the market seeks to

promote healthy eating and living is

that they have a number of vendors

who accept checks from the Iowa

Farmers Market Nutrition Program,

which consists of the Women, Infants

and Children (WIC) FMNP and the Senior

FMNP.

While the Orange City Farmers Market

seeks to be a community space for

people to enjoy and to encourage people

of all ages to live and eat healthy,

and a place for vendors to sell their

wares, the market is even more than

that to some people.

For the Fahrenbruchs for example,

the Orange City Farmers Market is

family.

“Our market really feels like a family.

The vendors watch out for each other

and we look forward to how the community

and family of the market will

grow each year,” Fahrenbruch said. “I

am excited about getting back to having

this weekly event. We love being

downtown and seeing the community

together and supporting local vendors

as well as downtown storefronts. It’s

really all about the community.”


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TEXT BY TOM LAWRENCE | PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Prince of

Orange

Orange City named

for national hero

of the Netherlands

He was a man of many names.

Willem van Oranje, or William

of Orange, is considered

the greatest hero in Dutch history.

He also was known as William II or

William I of Nassau-Orange, Willem de

Zwijger, William the Silent and William

the Taciturn, Dutch Willem, Dutprins

van Oranje, graaf van Nassau, prince

of Orange, count of Nassau, Katzenelnbogen,

Vianden, Dietz, Buren, Lingen

and Leerdam, marquis of Veere and

Bergen op Zoom, viscount of Antwerp,

and baron of Breda, IJsselstein, Diest

and Cuyck.

He also is known as the “Father of

the Fatherland,” or Pater Patrice, “Vader

des Vaderlands” in Dutch.

While his names and titles make up

a long list, he is known for one color:

Orange. That comes from Arausio, a

Celtic water god in Gaul, now southeastern

France, where the historic city

of Orange exists.

William the Silent was born in what

is now Germany, grew rich and influential

because of lands he was deeded

in France — but he became an icon because

of his dedication and devotion to

the Netherlands.

William the Silent was not the king

of the Netherlands. He served as stadtholder,

a kind of governor who oversaw

an advisory council.

His name is honored across his land,

as well as in America. The Dutch national

anthem, “The Wilhelmus,” was

written in his honor.

Orange City, founded by Dutch immigrants

who came to N’West Iowa

from Pella, Iowa, in 1869, was named

in his honor.

Henry Hospers, Leendert Vander

Meer, Dirk Vanden Bos, and Hendrick

Jan Van De Waa were assigned to locate

fresh land for a new colony. They

found rich farmland and decided to

stake their claim on 38 sections of land.

“Here is the place!” they declared, naming

the townsite Holland and the first

community for the hero of the Netherlands.

William was known primarily as

William the Silent because he avoided

speaking on controversial topics in

public settings. He led the Dutch Revolt

against Spanish forces persecuted Protestants

in the Netherlands and limited

local input on governmental affairs.

That led to the Eighty Years War, which

lasted from 1568-1648.

“He is considered the George Washington

of the country, but even more,”

said John Buntsma of Orange City, who

will deliver a presentation on William

the Silent at the Dutch-American Heritage

Museum this year.

William was famed for his diplomatic

skills and for being of very high

character, Buntsma said. Born into a

family of modest means in the House of

Hapsburg in what is now Germany, he

was named prince of Orange, a region

in France, in 1544.

He was the founder of the House of

Orange-Nassau, and his descendants

serve as the Netherlands’ rulers, in a

constitutional monarchy, to this day.

The House of Orange was created

through political and marital unions

between royal families of that era.

Henry III of Nassau-Breda from Germany

and Claudia of Châlon-Orange

from French Burgundy married in 1515.

Their son René of Châlon was granted

control of the sovereign Principality of

Orange in 1530.

He died in 1544 and William of Nassau-Dillenburg

— yes, that’s another

name for the heroic figure — inherited

the lands and founded the House of

Orange-Nassau.


| HISTORY

Empires, feuds

and war

The Netherlands had been a

country for hundreds of years, but

in the Middle Ages, it was part of

the extensive Holy Roman Empire,

which covered most of Europe for

more than 500 years.

William had a good relationship

with Emperor Charles V, who admired

his diplomatic touch. Charles

also was the king of Spain, archduke

of Austria and duke of Burgundy,

which made him lord of the Netherlands.

When he abdicated his title as

lord of the Netherlands, on Oct. 25,

1555, he did so before the States

General of the Netherlands. Crippled

by gout, he literally leaned on his close

advisor William the Silent during the

solemn ceremony.

“Charles V was kind of a bridge in

the Holy Roman Empire between Burgundian

and Habsburg rule,” Buntsma

said. “He was the emperor of the Holy

Roman Empire and spent considerable

time ruling from his royal quarters in

the larger Netherlands (mostly from

Brussels, now part of Belgium). Upon

his abdication he broke the empire in

half, giving the east half with Germany,

Austria and Italy lands to his brother

and the west to Philip II.”

At first, Philip and William had a

good relationship, as Philip named

him a member of the Council of State in

1555 and a knight of the Golden Fleece,

the Burgundian chivalric order, in 1556.

In 1559, Philip II named him stadholder

of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht.

But the two leaders had a deep and

dangerous division over religion.

Philip, who ruled Catholic Spain,

sought to deny rights to Protestants in

the Low Countries of the Netherlands,

Belgium and Luxembourg. William,

born a Lutheran, had been required

to convert to Catholicism when he was

named prince of Orange.

But while he was deeply religious,

he was tolerant of other faiths. As the

Protestants were oppressed, he joined

their ranks, becoming a Calvinist.

By 1868, war broke out between

the Dutch and Spanish. It would be

known as the Eighty Years War. William,

frustrated by a lack of success and

squabbles among the people of the Low

Countries, led the seven northern provinces

in forming a new political union

in 1579.

France, England and Scotland all

recognized the country, which is remembered

as the forerunner of the

Dutch Republic. By 1581, after a series

of defeats, the Dutch patriots formed

the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.

Battles ceased in the Fatherland,

but continued across the globe.

The Dutch had an extensive empire, as

did Spain in a union with Portugal.

Philip II declared William an outlaw

in 1580 and placed a reward of 25,000

crowns on his head, declaring him a

“pest on the whole of Christianity and

the enemy of the human race.” William

replied with “The Apology,” a bitterly

worded message criticizing Spanish

domination of the Low Countries.

The Dutch rebels issued the Act of

Abjuration, which renounced the oath

to King Philip II, in 1581. Francis, the

French duke of Alençon and Anjou was

invited by William to serve as a constitutional

sovereign in an effort to gain

French support.

However, Francis was responsible

for the French Fury, an attack on Antwerp

with French troops, as he sought

complete control of the country. It

failed, as William became the major

figure in the country.

William relocated to the Netherlands,

and announced his conversion to

Calvinism, the faith of the most fervent

revolutionaries, in 1575.

With a price on his head, he became

a target, but Buntsma said he remained

a public figure, moving freely and without

heavy guard. That almost cost him

his life, as he was nearly murdered on

March 18, 1582.

Jean Jaureguy, a Spanish accounting

assistant who was persuaded to

turn killer by a promise of wealth and,

amazingly, instant invisibility after the

assassination, shot William, who was

seriously wounded. But instead of disappearing,

Jaureguy was almost immediately

killed by members of William’s

retinue.

After a lengthy recovery that cost

his devoted wife’s life because she was

exhausted by caring for him, William

recovered. But his time was running

out.

William the Silent’s voice was stilled

on July 10, 1584, when a second assassin,

Balthasar Gérard shot him twice

while visiting William’s home. He was

the first head of state killed by a handgun.

Gérard was captured, sentenced

to torture and death and was beheaded

after four days of excruciating torture.

As he died, William’s sister knelt beside

him, asking him if committed his soul

to God, and if he had any final words.

Speaking in French, the language of

royalty in that era, he reportedly said,

“Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, ayez pitié de moi

et de ton pauvre peuple,” translated as

“My Lord, My Lord, have pity on me

and your poor people.”

In death, William the Silent became

an icon. Statues of him are located

across the Netherlands, and his story


and legend are repeated in books, songs

and more.

The 11 provinces of the Netherlands

were united in 1648. There are now 12.

While Holland has been invaded — Napoleon

did so in the early 19th century,

declaring it the Kingdom of Holland

and placing his brother Louis Bonaparte

on the throne — and the Nazis did so

during World War II, it has maintained

itself as a free and independent nation.

It became a constitutional monarchy in

1815.

Four wives, 16 children

William the Silent was married four

times. His first wife, Anne of Egmont

and Buren, died in 1588. They had

three children, two of whom survived

into adulthood.

He then married Anne of Saxony,

in 1861, but that unhappy marriage

— she was described as “ugly and illtempered”

— is considered to have

been a political arrangement. It ended

when she left him for another man and

William had her declared insane. They

had five children, with three surviving

to adulthood.

In 1575, he married Charlotte de

Bourbon, a French princess and a runaway

nun. This was reportedly the happiest

union of his life. The couple had

six daughters, all of whom survived

childhood, which was remarkable, even

for wealthy families, in that era. Charlotte

grew ill caring for him after the

first assassination attempt and died.

William then married Louise

de Coligny, in 1584. They

had one son.

William had 16 children

in his four marriages, along

with one illegitimate son

whom he officially recognized

and had educated. That son,

Justinus van Nassau, would become

an admiral in the Dutch fleet.

Three of his four sons from his marriages

survived to adulthood.

His son Phillip William — named

in an effort to garner favor from King

Philip II — was taken to Spain to be educated

and never saw his father again.

He later served a ceremonial role in

Breda and was called the prince of Orange,

but had no real authority.

William’s son Maurice — not to be

confused with his brother Maurice August

Philip, who died as an infant —

was considered a great military leader.

His brother Frederick Henry followed

with further successes and ushered

in the Golden Age of the Netherlands,

when it was a mighty world

power.

William the Silent’s grandson William

III was king of England, Ireland

and Scotland. He was known as William

II in Scotland.

The Eighty Years War came to an

end on Jan. 30, 1648, with the Peace

of Münster, a treaty between the Netherlands

and Spain. It was part of the

Peace of Westphalia, which also ended

the bloody Thirty Years War, as the

Holy Roman Empire had been torn

apart, with up to 8 million people dying

in the conflicts.

The Netherlands’ rulers today can

trace their ancestry to William the Silent.

King Willem-Alexander, the first

male heir born to the royal family since

WILLIAM THE

SILENT’S 16

CHILDREN

William had a total of 16 children

with five different women (four

wives, one mistress). All 16 received

traditional first names, but four of

his daughters were given locationinspired

middle names — symbols of

the political alliances between William

and countries and regions.

Maria (born in 1553)

Philip William, (b. 1554)

Maria (b. 1556)

Justinus (b. 1559)

Anna (b. 1562)

Anna (b. 1563)

Maurice August Philip (b. 1564)

Maurice (b. 1567)

Emilia (b. 1569)

Louise Juliana (b. 1576)

Elisabeth (b. 1577)

Catharina Belgica (b. 1578)

Charlotte Flandrina (b. 1579)

Charlotte Brabantina (b. 1580)

Emilia Antwerpiana (b. 1581)

Frederick Henry (b. 1584)

1851, served as prince of Orange-Nassau

until he was crowned in 2013 after

his mother Beatrix abdicated.

He and his wife Queen Maxima have

three daughters: Princess Catharina-

Amalia (the princess of Orange), Princess

Alexia and Princess Ariane.

The king and queen visited Iowa on

Sept. 3, 2014, when King Willem-Alexander

cut a ribbon at the grand opening

of a cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg.

It’s a joint project of Royal DSM,

which is based in the Netherlands, and

POET, which is headquartered in Sioux

Falls, SD.


JOHN BUNTSMA COMES BY HIS FASCINATION

WITH DUTCH HISTORY NATURALLY.

The 70-year-old Orange City resident

was born in the Netherlands, returned

to live there

in his 20s, and

has visited

it several

times. This

year, Buntsma

will make a

presentation

on William

the Silent,

renowned

in the

Netherlands as “The Father of the

Fatherland” at the Dutch-American

Heritage Museum. Details are being

finalized.

“He’s held in such high regard,”

Buntsma said of William the Silent,

who served as a stadholder — a highranking

government official — in the

Netherlands in the 16th century, and is

still revered there.

“My interest in William the Silent

was in knowing more about why early

settlers here wanted to name the

community after someone who hadn’t

been around for 300 years,” he said.

“In the Netherlands, William the Silent

was referred to colloquially as ‘Orange.’

The more I read, the more immersed I

became in wanting to learn more.”

Buntsma was born in the Netherlands

but his family departed when he was 2,

first moving to Canada before settling in

Boone, Iowa. He was raised in a singlefamily

home, he said, and his mother

worked hard to make ends meet. He

became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1967.

Buntsma attended Boone High School,

Bemidji State College in Minnesota and

several other colleges, including Iowa

State University. He was drawn toward

writing, and landed a job with the

Dayton Review after college.

When he was in his early 20s, he

returned to the Netherlands, living with

relatives.

“I was in the Netherlands for seven

months in 1976 and over the next 10

years was there for two or three weeks

three more times,” Buntsma said.

He knew very little Dutch, but family

members told him he needed to learn

the language.

“They said, ‘Either you speak Dutch or

be quiet,’” Buntsma said.

He doesn’t consider himself fluent in

the language, but he is conversant, and

can write and read it.

For most of his career, however, he

wrote in English, serving as editor and

general manager for The Dayton Review,

The Canton Pilot in Kansas, The Sioux

County Capital-Democrat in Orange

City and The Le Mars Daily Sentinel.

The demands and hours of weekly

newspaper work grew wearisome,

and he took a job as a copywriter for

K Products, which became American

Identity and finally Staples. He held that

post until his department was eliminated

in 2017.

Buntsma said he has collected a

mountain of information on William the

Silent and could deliver an extensive

report, complete with numerous slides

depicting the Dutch hero, his era, and

dramatic exploits.

Dutch-American Heritage Museum

board member Jill Haarsma said she is

looking forward to the presentation. The

schedule will be announced in the spring.

“We are excited to have him part of

our Summer Nights at the Museum,”

Haarsma said.

It will be the latest community event

for him. He has been a very active

presence in Orange City over the years.

Buntsma, his wife Cheryl, and their

daughter, Katie have been devoted

members of the Trinity Reformed

Church, where he was a Sunday school

teacher, missions committee member,

Wednesday night children’s worker,

deacon and elder.

They have volunteered their time to

the Orange City Tulip Festival. Buntsma

has served on the Orange City Public

Library board, the Orange City Arts

Council, the Dutch Front Committee

and the Downtown Visioning Committee.

Buntsma ran for the Iowa House District

4 seat as a Democrat in a Jan. 6, 2015,

special election, losing to John Kooiker

of Boyden.

In addition to history, Buntsma is a

music enthusiast.

“I do have a large vinyl collection

and an even larger CD collection that

is stored online so it is accessible from

all of our devices,” he said. “Big in the

online arena is Christmas music, over

150 albums. My music tastes are pretty

eclectic including jazz, R&B, old alternate

rock and Black gospel. Favorite artists

include Tower of Power Nina Simone,

Wes Montgomery, Quincy Jones, early

Boz Scaggs, Kirk Franklin and too many

more to name. The only Dutch band I

really have is a couple of Focus albums.

“Beyond that, volunteering, reading

and researching are big,” Buntsma said. “I

am also captivated by collecting stamps,

a childhood hobby I resumed about five

years ago.”

Among the most popular faces

on Dutch stamps: William the Silent.

He remains a regular presence in his

country more than 500 years after his

death.

Why that is, and what he means to

the Netherlands, will be explained during

Buntsma’s presentation.


Untitled - Page: 1 2014-02-26 01:40:09 +0000

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| ARTIST

TEXT BY RYLAN HOWE

PHOTOS BY RYLAN HOWE, SUBMITTED

Water

World

Judy Thompson creates

vivid watercolor art

Watercolors are fluid by

nature. The resulting

works of art contain

an ethereal quality difficult to match

with other mediums.

As an artist it helps to go with the

flow and Orange City’s Judy Thompson

has done exactly that as she’s navigated

life’s path toward the pursuit of

professional art.

Beginnings

“As a kid, I loved to read and I was

captivated by the drawings and illustrations.

It amazed me that someone

could make a story come alive

by creating pictures,” Thompson

said. “I particularly liked pen and

ink drawings and was fascinated that

you could draw just about anything by

using lines. I was hooked and spent

countless hours drawing.”

Growing up in a western suburb

of Chicago, Thompson attended a

large high school with an extensive

art program and she enrolled in very

single one of them, even securing an

Judy Thompson’s watercolor works of art grace the walls of not only her Orange City home, but

several N’West Iowa hospitals and clinics, numerous art galleries, and even the book covers for the

Laura Ingalls Wilder Pioneer Girl project by the South Dakota Historical Society Press.

art scholarship.

Her artistic endeavors however

would end up taking a bit of a pause

as life took her in other directions.

“We’ve all heard the ‘starving artist’

motif and my parents encouraged me

to go a different direction so I started

thinking of art more as a hobby than

a career,” Thompson said. “But I think

if you’re creative it’s hard to leave it

completely. There always seems to be

ways to come back and explore it a


little more.”

She had a variety of jobs, some more

creatively oriented that others, and was

able to find an artistic outlet in different

ways.

“There was a time when I did creative

gingerbread houses for people.

I also worked as a children’s pastor

and developed a puppet program, so

I was a puppeteer, wrote scripts and

designed sets,” Thompson said. “And

when you’re a mom with kids you’re

always trying to be creative in terms

of thinking up things to do that would

captivate their imaginations.”

Her son would actually end up tagging

along when Thompson decided to

dive back into

the art world.

“I had been

out of doing art

seriously for

decades and

thought maybe

I should brush

up on my skills

when I saw an

art class come

available, so I

jumped at it,”

Thompson said.

“My son, who

was in junior high at the time, encouraged

me and said ‘I like to draw. I’ll

go with you.’ He was the only guy, let

alone young guy, in the class and was a

real hit with the whole class.”

Once that class was finished the

teacher encouraged Thompson to try

painting and enroll in her watercolor

class.

“I was a bit hesitant but decided to

give it a try. It was a real eye opener

and, quite literally, added color to my

life!” Thompson said. “She took me

under her wing, mentored me and encouraged

me to start exhibiting work

and things kind of took off from there.”

The medium

Watercolor can have a life of it’s

own, which presents a unique set of opportunities

and challenges for an artist.

Thompson enjoys both those aspects

of the medium.

“Watercolor appeals to me both aesthetically

and practically,” Thompson

said. “It is a very versatile medium

which has a unique luminosity which I

find very expressive. Colors are transparent

or can be layered to produce

bright, rich color. It can also be combined

with other mediums to create

unique textures.”

While the artist can exert a certain

level of control, they need to be flexible

as well to go with the flow.

“With watercolor you put water

on paper and drop in the paint and it

spreads out and mingles and does its

own thing. You have some control, but

it’s kind of mysterious and I like the

spontaneous nature of it,” Thompson

said. “That mysterious aspect is very intriguing

and I enjoy working with that.

It’s kind of a good cognitive problem to

solve.”

As far as her preference for watercolor

over other types of paint, it can

be boiled down to practicality.

“Watercolor is easy to clean up,

doesn’t smell like oils and dries rather

quickly,” Thompson said. “It is used


Thompson has created several vivid watercolor representations of familiar scenes from Orange City’s Tulip Festival as well as a

historical railroad scene for the nearby city of Alton. She will be teaching two classes at the Orange City Library this winter and spring.

primarily on paper, so there is no need

to stretch canvas. Watercolors are also

portable and easy to take on the road.”

The process

Through her art Thompson hopes to

provide a new lens through

which people can see the

world around them.

“Creating an artwork is

hard work,” Thompson

said. “I start with an idea

or inspiration which may

come from a bike ride or

hike through the back roads

of Iowa or exploring a new

park. I may get excited

about the wind in the grasses,

the sunlight through the

trees or the drama of the

sky.”

She’ll take a few photos

and jot down notes about

colors and textures of a

scene and take those to her

studio for reference.

The next step takes

Thompson back to her

original artistic love as she

draws and sketches out several

ideas over the course of

several days.

“Once a composition

meets my approval I sketch

it on my watercolor paper and begin to

paint. My goal is to capture the feel of

a place and to capture the eye of the

viewer,” Thompson said.

For her, painting is adding color to

a drawing, and even when that step is

complete, she often adds another element

before the piece is finished.

“Many times I’ll add ink or charcoal

or draw with a wax crayon. I really like

the drawing element. It’s very direct

and I think that really shows the artist

through the paint,” Thompson said.

When it comes to her subjects, she

tries to capture something beyond just

a straight representation.

“When you’re really forced to look at

something in detail you don’t just assume

a tree or a leaf or birds look like

this or that. What I try to do is capture

what I call the gesture,” Thompson

said. “Even if you look at pieces of

fruit, they’re all different and all have

different personalities. You look closely

and one’s leaning a certain way. It’s the

same way with people — a tilt of the

head or how they position their body

— and that communicates something

and brings you into the painting.”

Subject matter

Judy Thompson creates works

of art from her home studio

in Orange City and has been

inspired by prairie landscapes

and the stories they hold,

especially after participating in

artist residencies at Homestead

National Historic Park in

Nebraska and Badlands

National Park in South Dakota.

She loves the expressive nature

of watercolors as well as the

possibilities that come with

combining it with other mediums.

As Thompson says, you can paint

just about anything.

Her mentor really enjoyed still lifes.

Thompson found them a bit tedious,


but not without their benefits.

“It really forced me to hone in on

my drawing skills, so that was a good

thing,” Thompson said. “But I’m kind

of an outdoorsy person so of course I

think that really influences my painting.

Being in the Midwest we don’t

have the mountains or a lot of different

elements that other places in the

country do, so you start to appreciate

the prairie and field landscapes that

surround you.

A pair of extended stays in those environments

solely focused on painting

her surroundings solidified her favorite

subject matter.

“I like to paint a variety of subjects

— particularly figures and landscapes,”

Thompson said. “After artist

residencies at two national parks, the

Homestead National Historic Park in

Nebraska and Badlands National Park

in South Dakota, I began painting the

prairie landscape. The fields, farms

and prairies which surround us here

in Iowa are quite beautiful and have

Judy Thompson works on her most recent

commission at her home studio. Thompson’s

watercolor work focuses mostly on landscapes

and some figures combining her love for the

outdoors with her passion for painting.

a rich history. I love telling their story

through my artwork.”

The residency in Nebraska led

Thompson to create what she calls her

“Homestead Series,” a body of work

showcasing the stories behind praised

landscape and pioneer movement.

Memorable projects

When the 150th anniversary of the

Homestead Act rolled around, Thompson

started thinking maybe galleries or

museums would be interesting in showing

her “Homestead Series” in conjunction

with the anniversary.

So she started reaching out to various

venues and garnered lots of positive

responses.

Eventually her art would make its

way to South Dakota where it would

hang in the state’s Cultural Heritage

Center in Pierre, which also houses the

South Dakota Historical Society Press.


Judy Thompson’s

watercolor works of

art grace the walls of

not only her Orange

City home, but several

N’West Iowa hospitals

and clinics, numerous

art galleries, and even

the book covers for the

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Pioneer Girl project

by the South Dakota

Historical Society Press.

sport — skeet shooting — so I went out

to the range to learn all about it and get

some photos. There’s always something

interesting going on to paint.”

She’s also done artwork for Orange

City’s Tulip Festival as well as a historical

railroad scene for the city of Alton.

Those projects started building her

artistic reputation in the area, something

she continues to build on with

every new work of art.

“I had lived here quite awhile before

I started painting. Even now people

say, ‘I had no idea you painted!’”

Thompson said.

Turns out her series had struck a the arts in the healing process and are

chord and they wondered if she would committed to working with area artists

be interested in creating another series and using original art in their facilities,”

for one of their upcoming projects. Thompson said. “It is so rewarding to

“They were working on the autobiography

of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It had and comforting process.”

have my artwork as part of the healing

never been published, so the society Plenty of commissions come from

had decided to do that and I got a call closer to home as well.

from the editor asking if I would be interesting

in doing illustrations for the ects have included skeet shooting and

A couple of the more unique proj-

book covers.”

a missing barn.

So far three of the autobiography’s “One person wanted a painting

four volumes have been published, with of their barn but it already been destroyed.

So they found a video taken

each cover depicting a different season

on the prairie.

where a guy is talking and the camera

Another rewarding project for pans the background and I ended up

Thompson has been her work with the taking it to someone who could extract

healing arts ministry of the Sanford and stills from the video so I could paint it,”

Avera Health Systems.

Thompson said. “Another person wanted

me to do a painting of his “One of their missions is to share

favorite

WATERCOLOR ON THE WEB

Interested in seeing more of Thompson’s work, or commissioning a piece of

your own? Check out her website www.judythompsonwatercolors.com for

more information on past and current projects and classes.

Teaching

As she made the art exhibition

rounds, Thompson soon found herself

being asked if she taught classes or gave

lessons.

With a teaching background from

some of her previous jobs, she decided

to start taking on a couple of students

at a time.

Thompson also accepted a position

as a teaching artist with the South Dakota

Arts Council.

“For a while I traveled, especially to

underserved areas, to teach art, which

was really fun,” Thompson said. “Many

of the kids didn’t even have access to

art materials in those areas, so they

were really enthusiastic students.”

She currently has two classes scheduled

at the Orange City Library this

winter and spring and thoroughly

enjoys passing on the joy of art to her

students.

“I never grow tired of the excitement

students express when they start exercising

their creativity,” Thompson said.

“The fun is in the journey and creating

a great piece of art is just frosting on

the cake!”


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market

SETTING THE

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY RYLAN HOWE

| RETAIL

Kim Hoogland, along with

her husband Junior and

business partners Steve

and Vonda Post, took

ownership of Woudstra

Meat Market last May.

Her daughter, Martina

Hoogland, helps manage

the downtown store.

Woudstra Meat Market

is nearing the century

mark.

And as a new group of owners has

taken over operation of the longstanding

downtown Orange City business,

they do so with their eyes toward

the future and an understanding of

the past.

Junior and Kim Hoogland run a

dairy operation while Steve and Vonda

Post grow grain and finish hogs.

The group took ownership of the

business in May of 2021, though it was

a decision a few years in the making.

“We had thought about purchasing


Woudstra Meat Market

nears 100 years in business

it about three years ago, but the timing

just wasn’t right,” Kim Hoogland

said. “Then around the end of last year

we tossed around the idea again and

things fell into place.”

It was a new idea that made the

move seem right this time around.

“We had been hesitant because of

the access to the alley. As time goes

on the bigger trailers get, the bigger

animals get, and it was just not convenient

to drop off animals in the back,

so we thought what if we would build

a different facility to take the processing

off-site and keep the meat market

downtown,” Hoogland said.

So that’s exactly what they’re doing.

They hope to be in their off-site processing

facility south of town by March

and in the meantime are doing custom

butchering at the shop downtown.

In the long run, after the required licensing

and inspection processes, they

Woudstra Meat Market was originally founded in 1925 by Jim Woudstra and new owners

Junior and Kim Hoogland, along with Steve and Vonda Post, look forward to continuing the

long-standing business’s legacy in downtown Orange City. An off-site processing facility, which

they hope to have ready this spring, will allow them to expand their options and capacity.

aim to market and sell meat from their

own livestock.

It will be the next evolution for a

business that began in 1925 when Jim

Woudstra first established the meat

market.

“It’s pretty amazing and the community

support has been very humbling,”

Hoogland said “We’ve had members

of the Woudstra family give us

their blessings and well-wishes

and that has meant a lot.”

The community has rallied

behind them, especially after

they answered two key questions.

“Were we going to keep the

name and were we going to

keep the recipes? Those were

some of the first questions we

had,” Hoogland said. “Once we

said yes to both of them it seems

a community team has been

formed to keep us encouraged

and supported. It’s been pretty

great.”

It’s those recipes that she believes

are some of the biggest keys to the

meat market’s long running success.

On the top of that list is the dried

beef.

“That has been known forever as

some of the best dried beef around,”

Hoogland said. “I think history has

paved the way for us and as long as

we keeping running with that we’ll be

fine.”

She said they plan to step all the way

back to the original recipes as she noted

some had been tweaked a bit over the

years.

And they will be cutting back on the

flavor options for the time being.

“We’re going to get down to five or

six that we can get to where people

think they’re amazing and then we

can expand our flavors from there,”

Hoogland said. “So we’re taking a

slower but simpler approach and trying

to stay really true to the Woudstra

reputation.”

Stocking the shelves currently are


THE WATERS EDGE

A new line of ready-to-eat meals

can be found in the freezers at

Woudstra Meat market.

Kim Hoogland also runs The Waters

Edge, through which she prepares

prepackaged freezer meals of

anywhere from 2-10 servings off a

menu that varies week by week.

“We all keep getting busier and still

want to eat a healthy, home-cooked

meal. These you can just stick in

the oven and they’re ready to go,”

Hoogland said.

the always popular Dutch goods, frozen

brats, deli meats, specialty cheeses

and all the pork and beef products one

would expect inside a meat market.

The one thing they don’t currently

offer is frozen chicken products but

they are considering the possibility

so they can be a one-stop-shop for

people looking to grab what they need

for meals for the week.

Once the move to the off-site processing

facility is complete, the next

major step for the new owners will be

a renovation of the downtown store to

include an eating establishment.

“We have a couple different plans

we’re looking into but we haven’t decided

what that will look like quite

yet,” Hoogland said. “We’ll still have

the brat stand and we’re going to renovate

that as well.”

As both endeavors march forward

Hoogland says the meat market will

be looking to hire for both locations,

something that has proved difficult for

many businesses in the current labor

market.

More than anything Hoogland and

the new ownership group is excited

to continue the tradition of Woudstra

Meat Market by retaining its history

while investing in its future.

“We want to thank everyone for

their support and encouragement,”

Hoogland said. “We’re really excited

about what’s to come.”


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RELATIONSHIPS |

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY ERIC SANDBULTE

Resident Directors

serve

Students

As Hospers Hall resident director at

Northwestern College, Michael Simmelink lives

in an apartment at the dorm. Being accessible

to students at all hours of the day is an

important aspect of the job.

Job a unique way to

minister and serve

College comes with a whole set of

challenges: the struggle of a new

environment away from home,

trying to forge your own identity while

meeting academic goals and the stress of

becoming an adult.

But at Northwestern College, a team

of adults are available around the clock

to assist and guide the college’s students

who live on campus. That job goes to the

resident directors, who live in the dorms.

Michael Simmelink has been the resident

director of Hospers Hall, which has

fewer than 100 students, since 2017.

He had applied for the job while working

construction after graduating from

Northwestern College in 2014, knowing

that he would regret not at least trying to

get the job. Getting the position has been

a dream come true.

“To be an RD, you have to be OK that

maybe not everyone fully understands

the work,” he said. “The joke is that

even our parents don’t get what we do;

they’re just happy we have jobs. It takes

elements of what a youth pastor would


NATALIE WHEELER, RESIDENT

DIRECTOR OF FERN SMITH HALL

do, some elements of a therapist or counselor, some

academic support, some older sibling tendencies as

well. A portion of it is event planning and programming.

At the core, our job is to support the students

in our buildings in whatever ways they need.”

Of course, there are the mundane aspects of the job,

too, such as addressing some maintenance requests,

but the most important part of being a resident director

is building relationships with the students.

Small things like looking at a student’s football card

collection can be the foundations for bigger things

later on.

“We talk about the game on the weekend or whatever

and sometimes that relationship leads to them

feeling comfortable and coming to us when their

grandfather passes away suddenly or a breakup happens

or they’re struggling with some mental health or

anxiety type things,” Simmelink said.

Issues such as anxiety and depression have always

been present at colleges. For many years, those numbers

had seemed steady, but it feels like more of an

issue in recent years, Simmelink said. Knowing how

to address those problems for a student can be a challenge.

“You have to figure out that balance of needing to

support and help you out, but I also don’t want to

enable unhealthy behavior and don’t want to remove

their agency from their lives,” he said.

That’s all part of what he and the other resident

directors call a ministry of presence. With a smaller

campus and smaller living quarters, Northwestern’s

resident directors feel like they can make a bigger

impact on students’ lives than if they were at a larger

college or university.

Still, it’s not always obvious that you are making

much of a difference, and that can be frustrating at

times, Simmelink said.

“What I like about construction is it’s very tangible.

I built this, here it is. Ministry and relational stuff is

not that. You got to find some ways to measure your

success and count your wins when you can because

sometimes it is a lot of work with no real tangible pay

off,” he said. “You have to trust what you’re doing

and trust the work and that what we’re about matters.

We’re planting seeds and sometimes you don’t see

that grow, and that’s OK. You can’t be too prideful.”

How did you come to be a resident director? When

did you begin?

“Through prayer and conversations I found myself applying

for the open female resident hall director position in the spring

of 2020. It was a good fit for my next step in life because it has

allowed me to develop relationships that will hopefully last for a

few years if not more with my students and be a small part of their

growth as they navigate college and life. I started in August of 2020.”

How many students do you oversee?

“I currently have 124 women living in Fern Smith Hall.”

What are some of the common things you run into

when working with students?

“Lots of conversations involving what the students are learning

not only in their classes or campus activities but also in their

interactions with their peers or what they are finding out about

themselves through living with others in a dorm setting.

Questions as they hear things they haven’t heard of before in

chapel or classes or meetings/groups. We process their beliefs or

their thoughts they agree with and those they also don’t agree with.

Random conversations in the hallways involving a large variety

of topics from faith and politics to food and favorite movies

to friendships and relationships. There is always a conversation

happening in the dorm with some random topic.”

Could you compare today’s students to your own

college experience?

“Personally, I feel the social media is playing a large factor in the

lives of our students today. Yes, we had social media when I was in

college, but it’s grown in the last six to eight years and keeps on

growing. Smartphones are such a big part of what students do for

fun or streaming devices for movies and TV shows. There seems to

be more options for students to find ways to isolate themselves in

their own dorm rooms and not interact with their peers. Students

are not being as involved in campus activities as they were when I

was in college.”

What has kept you in this job? What do you really

enjoy about it?

“What’s kept me in this job are the students that give me life and

the opportunity to share up to four years of their life with them

as they grow and change throughout their college careers. The

opportunities to get to know them, laugh and cry with them, have

hard conversations and lighthearted ones. … My job is hard and

sometimes socially draining, but it’s also very rewarding in so many

ways.”


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PEOPLE |

The Prairie Winds Event Center in Orange City gained new management this

fall. It’s led by assistant manager Danielle Zuidema and manager Jess Kuehl.

TEXT BY RENEE WIELENGA | PHOTOS SUBMITTED

TALE OF TWO

ROLES

Prairie Winds Event Center

management may have

changed this fall, but the high

level of customer service remains

strong.

The duo maintaining such event

center services are manager Jess Kuehl,

33, and assistant manager Danielle

Zuidema, 29, both of Orange City.

Kuehl is no stranger to the event

center as she was on staff full time for

a year before assuming the manager

role in October.

“I was looking for a leadership role,

a challenge and a way to give back to

the community,” she said. “I enjoy this

community, I love the small town environment

and raising my child here

so I want to give back. Working with

people for their weddings or other family

events, helping create things for

people, I see that as a way to use my

skills to give back.”

Kuehl’s love for and interest in event

planning goes back to growing up in

Clear Lake.

“It’s a tourist town; I grew up going

to so many events, festivals, concerts,”

she said.

She went on to earn an associates

degree in applied arts and graphic

communications from Hawkeye Community

College in Waterloo in 2009.

Her work experience includes a job in

retail for four years, working at Staples

in Orange City for six years and with

OC Arts for three years.

Blue Mountain Culinary Emporium

in Orange City previously managed

the bar side of things for event center

events but closed in 2020 due to

the corona virus pandemic. Such bar

management became a large portion of

Kuehl’s role as an event center staffer.

Once she assumed the event center

manager role, Kuehl received approval

to hire an assistant to take on the bar

management side of things and provide

general assistance.

Zuidema, who started in November,

graduated from Dordt University in

2015 with a degree in agriculture business.

“I worked in various ag-related positions

at first but never found what I

felt called to do until I switched to the

Manager splits position

for better customer

service


service industry,” she said.

Previous work experience includes

positions at Habitue Coffeehouse in

LeMars, general manager of the Hy-

Vee C-store in Sioux Center and being

a retail sales manager at Holland House

Interiors in Orange City.

“I’m more of a behind-the-scenes

kind of person,” Zuidema said. “I like

thinking through all of the details

leading up to something. I did that in

school for plays and musicals because

I preferred being the go-to background

person than being front and center on

the stage Now I get to use that skill at

the event center.”

The newness of the management

team is a challenge and a joy.


AT A GLANCE:

Prairie Winds Event Center in Orange City is a popular location for weddings, business

meetings, quinceañeras and concerts. The facility also has an outdoor garden pavilion.

“I hired Danielle to balance me

out,” Kuehl said. “I knew we weren’t

going to agree on things. We have our

differences but that’s good. The bigger

challenge right now for me is still

learning my new role while also teaching

Danielle her new role.”

Kuehl often focuses on the technical

aspects of events from working

with vendors to knowing the precise

measurements during event set up.

Zuidema’s focus is geared toward

the overall picture of how an

event should look to be able to think

through table settings and facility decor

that add up to the proper environment

for each event.

“It’s all in the details,” Kuehl said.

“That’s our slogan and focus for every

event.”

The women have enjoyed working

together and overseeing their 18 parttime

staff.

“We try to make it a fun environment,”

Kuehl said. “A job is as stressful

as you make it so we want to provide

a chill atmosphere.”

Having two people step into a role

that had been run by one person

for six years changes out how some

procedures are done, which can be a

struggle for clients.

“We’re working through gaining

community respect and trust,” Kuehl

said. “We may not have been born

here but we’ve both been living in

the area for almost a decade. We call

Orange City home because we love it

here and we want to support our community.

By putting our best efforts

forward, we hope the community can

come to see that.”

As of Jan. 20, they had 67 events

on the 2022 calendar — at least 30 are

weddings. Other events include business

meetings, quinceañeras, a craft

show, a bridal show and a couple of

concerts in partnership with OC Arts.

“We work hard to help make each

event a success; it’s fun to see the end

result,” Kuehl said.

“We live for those moments where

people are truly appreciative,” Zuidema

said. “Every ‘thank you’ counts

and helps us keep doing what we’re

doing.”

JESS KUEHL

Age: 33

Position: General manager

Start date: October 2021

Residence: Orange City

Education: Associates degree

in applied arts and graphic

communications from Hawkeye

Community College in Waterloo, 2009

Experience: Jobs in customer service,

event planning, coordination, graphic

design, arts and entertainment; Prairie

Winds Event Center staff, 2020-21.

Family: Husband, Kody; daughter

Charlotte, 7.

Interests: Spending time with family,

playing with the family’s two dogs and

cat, watching “The Office.”

DANIELLE ZUIDEMA

Age: 29

Position: Assistant manager

Start date: November 2021

Residence: Orange City

Education: Degree in agriculture

business from Dordt University, 2015.

Experience: Various customer

service roles.

Family: Single

Interests: Cooking, playing with her

dog and visiting Orange City’s

dog park.

PRAIRIE WINDS

EVENT CENTER

Owner: City of Orange City

Open: June 2012

Address: 908 Eighth St., Orange City

Hours: 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-

Friday; by appointment only Mondays

and Saturdays.

Phone: 712-707-5900 or 712-737-7717

Online: prairiewindseventcenter.com


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FAITH |

Pastor Jeff Whit has been a fixture of New Hope Evangelical

Free Church in Orange City for more than a quarter century.

TEXT BY TOM LAWRENCE | PHOTOS BY ERIC SANDBULTE

F I N D I N G

FAITH

Jeff Whit wasn’t sure what he was

searching for, but he knew there

was something missing from his

life.

“I was really kind of unhappy. I was

kind of deeply unsatisfied, even when

I would have my best successes,” Whit

said.

He was a good student in his Kentucky

high school, and had success as

a distance runner. His family was loving

and supportive, and in many ways,

he was living a good life. But he felt a

gnawing need for more.

Friends talked to him about the fulfillment

they had found in their faith.

But Whit, who had not been raised in a

religious family, resisted it.

Then he decided to try prayer. It

was, he admits, an awkward attempt,

a “wimpy prayer” that helped change

his life.

“I said, ‘God, if you’re really real,

and I’m not sure you are, I want you to

come into my life, because nothing else

is filling that hole,’” he prayed.

With that, his life began to change.

It wasn’t immediate, Whit said, but

is newfound faith helped gradually heal

his brokenness and rebellion.

There was a long journey before he

arrived in Orange City on Oct. 31, 1994,

as the first pastor of a newly planted

church.

“Never dreamed I’d be here 27-plus

years later,” Whit, now 60, said.

He was born in West Virginia, moving

with his family to Kentucky when

he was a teenager. He graduated from

high school in Lexington in 1979 and

enrolled at Wake Forest University,

where he studied history, with a minor

in education.

Whit took a job teaching middle

school and high school special education

in rural West Virginia, while

also working to complete a master’s in

education. Mingo County was a poor

county in a poor state, with poverty and

misery constant elements.

Many of the people worked as coal

miners, a job that Whit’s grandfathers

had done decades before. He had roots

in the area, he said, but seeing the difficult

lives the people faced was an eyeopener.

“It had a profound impact on me,

actually,” Whit said. “I was really humbled

by that.”

He realized the question that was

constantly on his mind was, “Where do

you find hope?” The answer seemed to

be in the Gospel.

He enrolled

in the Trinity

Divinity School

in the northern

suburbs of Chicago — completing a

three-year degree in five years, he said

with a laugh — to obtain a master’s in

divinity. He also worked part-time to

pay the bills and get through the seminary.

By then, he was married to Karen,

who grew up on a farm outside of Baxter

and studied to be a nurse. They met

through a mutual friend in West Virginia,

while he was teaching and she

was on a nursing mission.

They became friends, then dated, fell

in love and were married 36 years ago.

Iowa assignments

His first assignment as a pastor was

in Madrid in 1991 as the sole pastor at

an Evangelical Free church for three

and a half years.

Whit said Evangelical Free churches,

while part of a national denomination

with about 1,500 churches, are governed

by their members, who also own


New Hope Evangelical Free

Church pastor has been in

Orange City since 1994

Whit also offers the program in Orange

City, and a few of his students

have become pastors. Most are Orange

City and Sioux County residents who

want to learn more about the Bible and

how to get more out of reading it.

Whit was scheduled to go to India

in 2020, but five days before his flight

was to depart, COVID-19 shut everything

down. He said he looks forward

to resuming that part of his career.

their own building.

They rely heavily on the Gospel and

preach from Scripture. It’s similar in

many ways to the Baptist Church.

“We really emphasize on the Gospel,”

he said, noting evangelical means

exactly that. “If you push me against

the wall, and say, ‘What is our church

about,’ what do we try to focus on is,

the Bible as God’s word and Jesus as

God’s savior. We believe other things,

but those are the central things we want

to keep our eyes on.”

In 1994, he accepted the post as

pastor to New Hope Evangelical Free

Church, arriving on Oct. 31. Kids approached

him and Karen as they unpacked,

requesting candy, so he recalls

the date well. Whit said they promised

to have treats next Halloween.

When he started, the church was

meeting at MOC-Floyd Valley High

School. It had 16 members. Five years

later, when it moved into its present

church at 718 Florida Ave., there were

18 members.

“So we had rapid growth those first

five years,” Whit said with a laugh.

Laughter comes easily to him. Whit is

free with his thoughts and emotions,

quick to admit his frailties and doubts.

The church now has around 240

members, Whit said, and up to 500

people sometimes attend Sunday services.

All are welcome, he said.

Whit is deeply interested in other

cultures and languages. He has been

to Haiti 10 or 11 times, he said, and to

India six or seven times, where he helps

train new pastors through a program

called Bible Pathways.

He used to devote two months a

year to it, providing nine workshops to

fledgling pastors over two years.

“In some ways, it’s what I did as a

high school teacher, just how to read

carefully,” he said. “I train them in the

tool and then they can do it with their

people so I’m not needed long-term.

I’m equipping the leaders to do it.”

COVID recovery

Whit said dealing with COVID-19

produced special challenges.

He came down with it in the fall of

2020, but recovered with few problems.

Whit said people close to him have gotten

COVID, and the church has lost

members who had the virus, in addition

to other health concerns.

New Hope Evangelical Free Church

closed for a few weeks in 2020, but

has been open since then. People are

allowed to make their own choices on

masks and vaccines, Whit said, and the

church has no rules on either.

COVID-19 has caused further divides

in an already fractious country, he said.

Whit said he has learned to be still

and listen more.

“A lot of it is just being a spiritual

friend. Caring for people, listening. The

older I’ve gotten, I try to listen and ask

questions,” he said. “Usually people

ask what I think, but I’m less inclined

… if they’re not asking, they probably

don’t want to hear anyhow. Sometimes,


three sons and a daughter.

Whit said he makes mistakes and

has regrets, as do his family members.

But they are aware of their frailties and

errors, and try to learn from them and

grow. God has been with them as they

go through their struggles.

I don’t know the answers. I just help

people ask questions and say, ‘I wonder

what the Bible would say about that?

How can we seek that out?’

And then God will step in and provide

direction. So, hopefully, it’s God

shepherding people, not me.”

Rev. Mark Haverdink, pastor of

congregational life at First Reformed

Church, has known Whit for 20 years.

Haverdink has been at First Reformed,

the church where he was baptized and

grew up, since 2011. He has high praise

for Whit.

“He’s a wonderful man, very biblically

centered, very Gospel centered,”

Haverdink said.

He said Whit strongly believes God’s

grace is responsible for all good things,

since “we are all sinners.”

He said Whit honors God in all

things and sets a great example in his

church and the community.

Whit appreciates the support and

friendship he has with other local pastors.

They are “spiritual friends” and

meet on a regular basis to talk, share

and pray together.

John Swart, an elder on New Hope’s

10-member church board, has known

of Whit for 25 years and been a part of

the congregation for 15 years.

“Jeff is a very gifted teacher,” Swart

said. “But more than that, he is a very

humble person who is a very good listener.”

‘Front-row seat’

Whit said there have been some very

special times in his career, including

going to the bedside of a woman who

was near death more than 20 years ago.

Her brain activity had mostly ceased,

and it was a matter of time before she

passed away. She was just 42.

As he and his wife walked toward

her room to pray with her, they heard

her teenage son singing a hymn to his

mother as tears streamed down his

face. Her family had found comfort in

the Lord even as they walked through

the shadows of the valley of death.

“And it was just beautiful, and obviously

sad,” Whit said.

Whit also knows the pain of losing

someone precious to him. His 27-yearold

son died a few years ago. It was a

painful time for their family, but they

felt God was with them during that difficult

period.

“In the midst of that pain, God has

been real and worth trusting,” he said.

“Until Christ comes back, it’s going to

be hard for us at times. The church

has been very willing to let us be real

people. We’re very thankful for that.”

He and his wife had four children,

Pastor Jeff’s message

Whit loves to travel in his free time

and renew ties with old friends while

meeting new ones. He has an interest

in other cultures and languages.

He can read Old Testament passages

in Hebrew and Koine Greek, an ancient

language, studied French for two years

in college, can speak and read some

Creole, a form of French used in Haiti,

and has a modest grasp of Spanish.

Whit also enjoys time in the outdoors

and exercising. He’s a Tennessee

Titans fans, and shares his interest in

the NFL with his sons.

He also finds time to renew himself

and recharge his batteries by spending

time at home reading the Bible, praying

and resting. It’s vital for a pastor to

do that, he said, and he appreciates the

fact that his church allows him to do so.

Whit plans to continue to work at his

current pace for five or six years, and

then might accept a reduced role. That

will sort itself out, he said.

“I don’t know that I can determine

that,” Whit said.

There have been times he wondered

if the Lord was calling him to other

jobs, other communities. But after talking

with his wife and church members,

he has chosen to remain at New Hope

“They’re not looking for the perfect

pastor,” Whit said with appreciation,

“because they don’t have him.”

For now, he focuses on helping people

through their own journey.


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