In celebrating the New Amsterdam Festival on Saturday, the historic Onderdonk House in Ridgewood gave the community a taste of what it does best: Dutch folk art.
During the festival, the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society opened the farmhouse museum’s grounds up to community with music, games, homemade Dutch doughnuts and a slice of New York City’s Dutch colonial history.
The festival coincided with the date of King’s Day, a celebration of the Dutch royal family, which the Dutch celebrate by holding flea markets to sell their used items.
In the spirit of the Dutch tradition, the farmhouse unveiled a vintage item of its own: a new set of Hindeloopen furniture. The bed and accompanying pieces painted in the traditional style of the northern Netherlands, were donated by the estate of Elizabeth Keller Kagan after her death.
Kagan’s granddaughter Elsie, who lives with her family in South Park Slope, was present at the unveiling.
“It feels so special that it found a place where we can see it,” said Elsie, who lived in The Hague for a year when she was 9.
Elsie’s grandparents acquired the furniture when they lived in Holland after World War II while her grandfather Alexander Keller was working to implement the Marshall Plan. He was given Dutch collectibles by the families that he helped.
In addition to the new furniture, the celebration featured two colonial re-enactors demonstrating wampum- and spoon-making. It also featured the smooth sounds of the Francis Lewis Jazz Ensemble, a custom Onderdonk House brew by Bridge and Tunnel Brewery and pony rides for the children.
