Planning in works for trip to Veendam

Staff 2010-01-10 Kelowna Courier:
A pending trip to Kelowna‘s sister-city in Holland will include some add-on trips to Paris, Vimy Ridge and Normandy. Plans are being drawn up for a delegation of civic officials, veterans and interested members of the public to travel to Veendam in early May to mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands from the Nazis. Members of the Kelowna-based B.C. Dragoons were based near the Dutch city when the Germans were sent packing from Holland, and that connection has been the basis of the sister-city relationship since 1980. “During the troops‘ nine-months stay in Veendam, many friendships were bonded with the citizens, which carried on after their return and still to this day,” reads part of a report going to city council on Monday. Since the average age of a Second World War vet is now in the upper 80s and 90s, the report notes that this year‘s trip may be one of the last to include people who actually fought in the war. Up to 40 people can be accommodated on the upcoming trip to Europe. Costs for the 12-day trip, per person, are expected to be about $3,500, including airfare and hotel accommodation, but not meals. Anyone interested in more information about the trip can call tour leader Dick Gunoff, who has been to Veendam 10 times previously, at 250-762-8766. For more information about the Kelowna-Veendam sister city association, see the city‘s website, www.kelowna.ca and click on visitors-about kelowna-sister cities.