The decision became known in early June and concerns a piece of grassland of just over a quarter of a hectare that belongs to the congregation. The Boermarke Rolde-Nijlande-Eldersloo, the local farmers’ association, organises the Easter bonfire there every year under a lease between the church and the Boermarke.
The Stichting Behoud Rolder Kerk received reactions and cancellations after the decision. In a newsletter to its supporters on Saturday 27 June, it makes clear that it has no part in the church council’s decisions. The foundation is not a church body, but works to preserve the church building and to have it used by the whole village. Since it was set up in 1998, it has contributed an average of around €10,000 a year to the upkeep and restoration of the church and its organ. The board says it has been trying for some time to talk to the church council about a number of concerns.
Jan van der Struik from Rolde is asking the church council to reverse the decision in a letter dated Monday 15 June, which the Rolderpost, Rolde’s village paper, printed. He spent 43 years on the board of the Vereniging van Drentse Boermarken, which brings together the Boermarken of Drenthe, was one of the founders of the Stichting Behoud Rolder Kerk and drew up the lease between the church and the Boermarke at the time. In his letter he refers to an interview in the regional daily Dagblad van het Noorden on the same Monday, in which, according to him, the chair of the church council said that the Easter bonfire pollutes the soil and no longer fits the church’s policy on ecology and nature conservation. The chair does, however, want to keep talking to the Boermarke about other options.
“There is no question of soil pollution,” writes Van der Struik.
According to him, three members of the Boermarke check all the wood that is brought in, and wood that is not suitable goes back. Afterwards the ash is cleared away and, in consultation with the municipality of Aa en Hunze, taken to a processing site in Wijster.
Van der Struik fears that the decision will divide the village. He is also worried about the financial consequences: a shortfall before long, which would mean the church could no longer afford a full-time minister. He calls on residents to send the church council a letter or email as well. According to the Rolderpost, the church council will discuss the Easter bonfire again on Wednesday 1 July.
Pupils from the final year (groep 8) of the primary school help with the Easter bonfire and also light it with special sticks. Since 2017 the tradition has been on the Dutch list of intangible cultural heritage.