01 OC Mag 01-24

Mulder and her husband, Brett,
owned the Tulip Town Bulb Company
for 10 years before selling the business
and home to the Dreschers in 2017. The
Dreschers carried on the tradition, but
Mulder hoped to increase the number
of bulbs in Windmill Park.
This year, the volunteers spent eight
hours planting in Windmill Park over
the span of two days. Seeing the fruits
of their labor is an even longer process.
“Really, nothing happens until
spring,” Mulder said. “They just go dormant
for the winter. And then once it’s
nice in the spring, then they start their
growth process.”
In Iowa, tulip season runs from early
April to early June. It’s a short time
frame, but they are perennial, meaning
the flowers return from the same bulb
two or three seasons. But Mulder said
they bloom the best the first year, so the
city digs them up and plants new bulbs
each year.
“They’ll gather all the tulips and let
them dry over the summer,” Mulder
said. “And then they do let city people
take the bulbs and plant them themselves
in their own gardens.”
The court
Orange City crowned its 2024 Tulip
Festival queen on Nov. 20.
Avery Kelch will be joined by fellow
high school seniors Becca Boersma,
Amelia Calsbeek, Kylie Kurtz and Ella
Poppema to make up the Tulip Court.
The role is an honor for Orange City
teenagers. They are first chosen by the
public in October and then compete in
a pageant in November to choose the
queen and her court.
Lauren McDonald, head of the
Queen’s Committee, said her job as
the “court mom” is to make sure the
girls are having fun and preparing well
for these upcoming projects. She also
is in charge of media training, helping
the court prepare for the onset of interviews
and attention.
In January, they begin planning for
the road show, one of their biggest outreach
opportunities that takes the court
SPRING 2024 | OC MAGAZINE 21