HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-05-08, Page 86iV
"As R free
By Man Rivett
The first thing rank Van Altena of
Clinton remember when he and his wife
stepped Off the ship named the Volendam
on to Canadian soil was the wide open
spaces.
It (Canada) was peaceful and quiet
and there was lots of room," he said.
"When you come from a city of over a
million and you come here, It's really
great, You're free as a bird - that's what I
thought."
Mr. Van Altena, like thousands of other
people from Holland, immigrated to
Canada after the Second World War. He
and his wife Anna Marie left aboard the
old, crowded passenger ship from Rot-
terdam Harbor and, 10 days later, arriv-
ed in Quebec on Jlrne 23, 1951 to start a
new life in Canada.
Upon arrival, they took a train to.Strat-
ford where their sponsor was waiting to
pick them up. At the time, immigrants
coming to Canada were sponsored for a
year on their farms.
He settled in the Dublin area and soon
found work barbering at the Clinton air -
base (now Vanastra) - a trade he learned
in 1933 after graduating froxn school in
his home town of Haar Lem, Holland.
After five -and -a -half years at the air -
'base, he worked in the basement of the
old Cloud Nine Hotel in Clinton for over
taitanaMMINMINIP
PEP81
HAVE A
GREAT
KLOMPEN FEEST!
We look forward to
continuing our association with
our many friends in the community.
Pepsi, Canada Dry and 7-Up products
are bottled and distributed in
this area by,
TUCKEY
BEVERAGES
LTD.
HURON PARK
117
as a bip
ird
two years as a -barber before settling into
his present shop on ,Rattenbury St. ap-
propriately named FranWs Harbersbop, •
After 50 years in die barbering business,
Mr. Van Altena says he will, close his
shop in November.
"In October 1 will have been in the
business for 50 years. I think that's
enough," he said.
In two cardboard canisters in the cor-
�xer of the shop, he keeps a couple of
items from his homeland. A rolled up
map and flag of Holland serve as conver-
sation
onveysation pieces when talking to his
customers or when one of his friends
comes into the shop for a mid-afternoon
visit.
Mr. Van Altana talks fondly about his
home town of Haar Lem. He says it's one
of the oldest cities in Holland. He points
out the fact that a lot of famous artists,
including Rembrandt and Frans Hals,
were native to the city.
"The city has gone through ali'the wars
with France, Spain, the Germans, the
Norwegians as far back as the 1500's. It's
really an old city," he says.
Life, he said, was good in Holland.
Then the Germans came. They occupied
Holland from 1939 until 1945.
"Life was good until the war started,
then the misery came. Everything that
was in the country was taken away by the
Turn t,) page 49
Mr, and Mrs. Frank Van Altena
TV
Congratulations Clinton
on the 5th Annual':
Klompen Feest
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482-7441
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