Mayor Anno Wietze Hiemstra pinned the insignia on Siegers at Eetcafé Hegeman, with his wife, his son and a large group of friends and acquaintances looking on. A royal honour did not come as a complete surprise to Siegers, but a knighthood did, writes the Rolderpost, Rolde's village paper.
Siegers has been active in wildlife management since 1995, in Drenthe and beyond. He sat on the boards of local wildlife management units and of the Faunabeheereenheid Drenthe, the provincial wildlife management body, where among other things he helped manage the roe deer population. He also laid the foundations for the Drenthe scheme for dealing with roadkill and helped develop a system for recording management data. He passes on his knowledge as a teacher and examiner at Stichting Jachtopleidingen Nederland and as a mentor to new hunters.
Wolf has been active for decades in village life and in naoberschap, the local tradition of neighbourly help, in Amen and the Broekstreek. He is involved, for example, in the drama society, the Uitvaartvereniging Rolde-Eext en omstreken funeral society, the De Eekhof village hall and walking events.
Across Aa en Hunze, seven residents received an honour, of whom Siegers was the only one to be made a Knight. Besides Wolf, Henk Vedder, Ben Verwoerd, Piet Wolters, Evalien Krans-Kors and Jacob Wolf also became Members of the order. Roelof Brands from Rolde and Bertus Reinders from Grolloo had already been made Members of the Order of Orange-Nassau when they left the municipal council, the Rolderpost reports.