Photo by Samantha Davis Rolle bolle was one of the main events at Ghent’s Belgian American Days

GHENT — The annual Belgian American Days took place over the weekend for a four day long event hosting a variety of vendors, games, a street dance, kids activities, parade and a crowd favorite, a rolle bolle tournament. 

The festival began on Thursday and went through Sunday. Saturday was the longest day of the event, starting at 8 a.m. with a softball tournament and running past 9 p.m. when the street dance began. At Legion Park, there was a petting zoo and bounce houses for kids. In the main plaza, there were new and returning boutiques. While the day’s fun was ongoing, the rolle bolle tournament brought in a sizable crowd for those to watch and participate. 

Rolle bolle is known as Belgian bowling and originates from Belgium. Ghent is known as the rolle bolle capital of the world. 

“There’s people from Illinois, Iowa and Canada,” tournament organizer Chauncey Welvaert said. 

The concept of the game is to roll the bolle toward the stake at the far end of the alley. Three people make up a team, and points are given to those that are closest to the stake. 

“Seeing all the people and hanging out,” Welvaert said regarding his favorite part. “You always hope to do good, but just always having fun.” 

Welvaert typically helps in running a majority of rolle bolle events in Ghent, and a lot goes into planning a weekend long tournament. 

“You have to coordinate, you have to get the alleys ready. I talked with the fire department, I put water on this morning at 6:30 a.m.,” Welvaert said. “Running the game takes a little bit, but you get a lot of help.” 

Welvaert also said there is an international tournament going on between Ghent and Marshall this week, bringing in even more people. Play will begin Thursday night in Ghent, and then bounces between the two towns throughout Friday and Saturday.  

Welvaert acknowledged there are a handful of younger adults beginning to participate in rolle bolle. 

“The next generation is coming up,” Welvaert said. “At least you know the game will keep going.” 

A handful of vendors were offering clothing, crafts and jewelry. 

White and Walnut is a clothing boutique that opened this year and participated in Belgian American Days for the first time. The business is run by Lynneigh Vrooman and Kallie Plantenberg. 

“We do this as a side business,” Vrooman said. “We do this pretty much all online, but we do these pop ups every once in a while.” 

Their shop includes a variety of clothing for all seasons and can be found on Facebook. 

“We started working on things in August of last year,” Vrooman said. “We didn’t open until March.” 

Ashley Davenport was also debuting her projects in the festival. She and her family crochets merchandise like coasters, stuffed animals, keychains and body scrub clothes. 

“This is our first time selling any of it,” Davenport said. “I’m super excited and super nervous.” 

The products they create can take from 10 minutes to five hours, depending on the size and complexity. 

Davenport said she plans to create an Etsy store for online purchasing, and the family will continue participating in public events as well. 

“We are doing one (pop up) next week in Ivanhoe for Polish Days,” Davenport said. “Super excited for that one.” 

Jade Moorse has been a vendor at Belgian American Days for several years with her shop, Jewelz’s Unique Gems, which is a boutique of handcrafted earrings, badge reels, pens, air fresheners and more. 

She, her mom and sister all work together. Their shop can also be found on Facebook. 

“It (Jewelz’s Unique Gems) actually started in 2020,” Moorse said. “My mom has always been involved in vendor shows and stuff like that, so she knew all the contacts and networks. My mom and I just kept going.” 

Moorse said they will buy supplies in bulk, and hand make the crafts from there. 

“We do a lot of vendor shows. The fall is absolutely booked out,” Moorse said. “We have something every weekend, sometimes two at the same time.” 

The main factor Moorse appreciates about vendoring is the community support. 

“One of my favorite things is networking. The vendors around here have been incredibly supportive,” Moorse said. “We were at the farmers market in Minneota on Thursday, and someone’s tent was about to blow over, so we were like, ‘Here’s some weights, borrow that.'”