Dawn Vlaminck (left) and Jesse Christianson (right) take a photo with one another while setting up for the annual Belgian-American Days. Vlaminck is chairman of the festival organizer committee, and Christianson manages set up, traffic control and tear down.

GHENT — The annual Belgian-American Days that control the town of Ghent at the start of each August is about bringing together communities to partake in a variety of activities, and festival chairman Dawn Vlaminck works behind the scenes throughout the year to ensure the event carries on its traditions. 

“We usually start our planning the week after Belgian-American Days happen. We have an after meeting, a wrap-up meeting, and make some notes of comments that people have made, good things that happen, things that we should avoid for the next year,” Vlaminck said. “We already start brainstorming for what we should be doing the next year, and start working on things right away.” 

Vlaminck also serves as the Ghent city administrator, and has been chairman of the Belgian-American event committee for over a decade. 

“I started volunteering probably a couple years before I became chairman. I was on the committee for a couple years, and then I took the position as city administrator … They (committee) just handed it over to me,” Vlaminck said. “We probably have eight solid members of our committee that help put everything together. Of course then we have more people from our community that come help with setup, clean up, tear down, those sorts of things.” 

Belgian-American Days take place the first weekend of August each year, and will begin Aug. 1 this year. 

Vlaminck said when it comes to planning, the committee tries to keep the main events the same, while also bringing in new ideas each year. 

“We do a parade on Saturday. We always have a softball tournament, and we also fill up our big park with things for the kids. Our daycare facility in town puts on a big kiddie carnival, and we do inflatables, we try to have food trucks out there, and try to do a whole bunch of activities for the kids on Saturday morning. There’s usually a petting zoo out there,” Vlaminck said. “Then we try to get the stuff wrapped up in time for everybody to watch the parade. Then, we go into one of the main events where we have our big street dance on Saturday night.” 

The Ghent Cruisers also make an appearance during the weekend for a car show, which is one of the festival’s biggest attractions. 

“It’s one of the best ones in our area, I would say,” Vlaminck said. “They usually have over 100 cars, trucks and motorcycles. It’s pretty big.” 

Vlaminck grew up in South Dakota and married into the area, and has grown admiration for the way people come together for the festival. 

“The people in our area, I really feel like to connect to tradition and have a really good sense of community,” Vlaminck said. “I feel like in our smaller towns, we’re still doing a pretty good job of doing that.” 

Vlaminck also mentioned that Jesse Christianson, Ghent’s public works director, also plays a heavy hand in helping her plan the weekend with being in charge of organizing set up, traffic control and tear down.

“There’s also a lot of people who are willing to step up and just do a small part, which is the best thing,” Vlaminck said. “It just all comes together so easily, which is so nice. I feel like we’ve perfected that, which is good … It’s nice when the plan all comes together.” 

Ghent is also known for rolle bolle, a Belgian sport that crosses between curling and bowling, and a tournament is held during the Belgian-American Days. 

“People come from all over the United States, and also from across the ocean like from Belgium and Canada to participate,” Vlaminck said. “We have the rolle bolle tournament here in Ghent and the next weekend is Lyon County Fair, and they have the national tournament there. People come for our weekend and use it as a pre-tournament for the national tournament that happens at the fairgrounds.” 

Although the planning starts nearly immediately after the festival wraps up, Vlaminck said the bulk of beginning to put preparations together begins around February and March. Once the weekend finally arrives, it never gets old seeing community members and visitors enjoy the festival that took months of organizing. 

“It’s a good event to bring everybody together as a community, and to remember how nice it is to live in a small town. That’s, I think, one of the best things,” Vlaminck said. “A lot of people who still live here, their family and their kids still come home and play rolle bolle, and come back to spend the weekend and get to touch base with everybody before they go off and carry on with their lives.”