OC Mag 01-22
SPRING 2022■ Farmers Market a long-time tradition■ Meat Market looks to the future■ Resident directors serve studentsORANGE CITYMAGAZINELiving ColorArtist shares her talents
- Page 2 and 3: HOME OF THE RAIDERS
- Page 4 and 5: We specialize in manufacturingdrone
- Page 6 and 7: TEXT BY KATE HARLOW | PHOTOS SUBMIT
- Page 8 and 9: PLUMBINGHEATINGAIR CONDITIONINGAIR
- Page 10 and 11: TEXT BY TOM LAWRENCE | PHOTOS SUBMI
- Page 12 and 13: and legend are repeated in books, s
- Page 14 and 15: Untitled - Page: 1 2014-02-26 01:40
- Page 16 and 17: SERVINGORANGE CITY &NORTHWEST IOWAF
- Page 18 and 19: little more.”She had a variety of
- Page 20 and 21: but not without their benefits.“I
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- Page 34 and 35: RELATIONSHIPS |TEXT AND PHOTOS BY E
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- Page 42 and 43: FAITH |Pastor Jeff Whit has been a
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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
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 3
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SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 5
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
6 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
| 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.”
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 7
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SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 9
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.
10 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
| 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
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 11
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.
12 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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.
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 13
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
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 17
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
18 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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,
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 19
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.
20 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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!”
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 21
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Orange City Orange Elementary School School District MOC-Floyd City
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Mike Landhuis
MOC-Floyd Valley High School 712-737-4873 Eleme
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Orange City Mike Elementary Landhuis School Superintendent: Russ MOC-Floyd City Valley High School Eleme
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712-752-8480 Principal:
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MOC-Floyd Adams Valley Mike High School Land
712-737-4606
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| OC MAGAZINE 23
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26 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 27
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
28 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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.”
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 29
The key to finding the
right home
is working with the
right realtor
Looking to buy or sell a
home in our area, you’ve
come to the right place!
Brenda
Dokter,
BROKER, OWNER
712.441.4196
LENDER
bredokter@yahoo.com • siouxlandre.com
117 Central Ave. SE, Orange City, IA
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Jonathan Beaver, PGA Professional
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jonathan@landsmeergolfclub.com
30 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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Speed - Orange City Mag 2022.indd 1
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 31
1/6/22 3:00 PM
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32 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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Email: solsmabrosinc@nethtc.net
SHOP: 712-752-8683
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PHONE 712.737.3528
ORANGE CITY, IA
Contact us for
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Stanton Visser
Owner
105 4th SW, Orange City, IA
712.737.3514
Cell: 712.540.8084
Master Planning | Architecture | Interior Design
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SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 33
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
34 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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.”
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 35
PROUD TO PARTNER
WITH A NETWORK
OF THE WORLD’S
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712-707-3276 • Orange City, IA
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FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1976
36 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
Smithfield Foods
is proud to support
our Orange City
community.
At Smithfield Foods, we employ over 200 hard-working individuals
in Orange City. We're committed to being a good neighbor in the
places where we live, work and raise our families. Since 2018, our
Orange City facility has reduced waste in the local community by
not sending any waste to the landfill. We're proud of our employees'
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reaching goals to achieve a sustainable future for all.
smithfieldfoods.com
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 37
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
38 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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.
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 39
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
40 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
EXPERIENCE THE BENEFITS OF
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FOR ALL YOUR
EXCAVATING
& TRUCKING
NEEDS-CALL US!
For years, Chiropractic has been
helping people live a better quality
of life by providing natural health care.
At Orange City Chiropractic Center, we are
dedicated to the health of our patients.
Orange City
Chiropractic Center
DR. TRENT P. ABRAHAMSON
123 Albany Ave. SE, Orange City
Phone 712-737-3339
Aalbers
EXCAVATING
& TRUCKING
701 East Division
Alton, IA
712-756-4410
45 Years of Quality
Greenway & Associates, LTD
Industrial Manufacturing Equipment
3811 450th Street • Highway 10 East
Orange City, IA
800-742-4457 • www.greenwayassoc.com
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 41
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
42 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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,
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 43
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.
44 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2022
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