1. New Weather Record Set
The first six months of the year were the wettest on record for
Belgium, according to the measuring station in Ukkel, which is
used as the main reference. It has recorded 608 millimeters of
precipitation so far, breaking the previous 1937 milestone of
543 mm.
An average year only has 399 mm of rain, snow or hail in the
first 6 months. The driest start to the year, since records began
in 1833, was in 1976, with only 177 mm precipitation. Some
experts claim that this extremely wet start will be followed by a
very wet and unstable month of July.
It’s especially the past weeks that were particularly wet. June
had 134 mm of rain, almost double the average of 72 mm. The
wettest month of June on record was in 1839 (174 mm).
Many areas, especially in Flanders, were hit by floods.
– flandersnews.be
Brexit May Affect
Flanders
The Flemish Prime Minister Geert
Bourgeois claims the Brexit vote
to leave the EU, could negatively
impact the Flemish Gross Domes-
tic Product to the tune of 2.5% by
2030.
Geert Bourgeois was citing a re-
port compiled by researchers work-
ing for the Flemish government.
“After Ireland, Flanders would be
hardest hit. This is not a positive
perspective,” Bourgeois told the
Flemish Parliament.
Flanders is exporting more to
the UK than it is importing: tapes-
try, food products, chemicals and
pharmaceutical products, to men-
tion just a few. In 2015, Flemish
exports to the UK totaled 27.4 bil-
lion euros, which makes the UK the
F
rom July 7 to 10, Ant-
werp played host to The
Tall Ships Races. Some
50 ships were docked at the
quays, the docks around the
MAS and Kattendijk. Sail Train-
ing International (STI) is the or-
ganizer of The Tall Ships Races
2016. It is a registered charity
established to give young peo-
ple – regardless of nationality,
culture, religion, gender or so-
cial background – a sail training
adventure.
Every five years the tall
ships come to Antwerp bringing
with it this year approximately
4,000 trainees and 40 officers
on board. In addition, more
than 500,000 visitors came to
admire the cathedrals of the sea
over the four day festivities. “We
have all eagerly looked forward
to this major event for months,”
said Alderman for Tourism and
Mobility Koen Kennis.
Not only were the ships huge
crowd pleasers, other planned
activities proved popular. The
traditional crew parade drew
a lot of spectators, as well as,
the live concerts of Natalia and
Cookies & Cream. There was a
magnificent fireworks display
over the Scheldt on Saturday
and visitors could enjoy an im-
pressive Parade of Sail on Sun-
day.
After the festivities, the sail-
ing ships left to Lisbon start-
ing the sixtieth edition of The
Tall Ships Races, which started
in Antwerp for the sixth time.
The first part of The Tall Ships
Races sails south to Lisbon and
from there to Cadiz followed
by Corunna. On August 14, the
races have ended.
Marc Van Peel, President
of the Antwerp Port Author-
ity: “The sixtieth edition of The
Tall Ships Races is a successful
event for Antwerp for at least
two reasons. Our hospitable
port city made an indelible im-
pression on all crew members
from the sailing ships and made
them future ambassadors for
our city and harbor. Secondly,
many visitors were given a
unique opportunity to sail to
Antwerp with the Water Bus.
As many as 8,000 people dis-
covered the means of transport
across the water, the means of
transport of the future.”
In the summer of 2017, the
Water Bus will sail daily on the
Scheldt.
“The Belgian Connection”VOL. 102 NO. 7 14 JULY 2016
Red Devils Lose In Euro
2016 Quarterfinals
PAGE 10
Maak een plan om
Griekenland te bezoeken
ZIE BLZ 12
De Belgische Vlag
Hangt Verkeerd?
ZIE BLZ 14
BELGIAN NEWS
continued on page 6
Antwerp Hosts Tall Ships
K.MEULEMAN
John Smith Monroe
PAGE 16
Conceptual Artist
Koen Vanmechelen
Story on page 7
Theo De Cock
Sheep Farmer
Story on page 11
Thomas Van der
Plaetsen Takes Gold
Story on page 10
The sail training ship Cuauhtémoc, built in 1981 has trained
officers of the Mexican navy for over 30 years. She serves as a
sailing ambassador for her home country and is a frequent visitor
to world ports.
IN THIS
ISSUE
Editor’s Notebook. . . . . . . . . . . 2
Cheery Chatter.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
In Flanders Fields. . . . . . . . . . . 3
From the Chairman.. . . . . . . . 4
Diet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Sprokkels.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Belgian News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Urban Renewal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Cultural News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Club News.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Paula’s Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Er op uit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Food.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
De Belgishe Vlag. . . . . . . . . . 14
Wausaukee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
In Memoriam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Belgian Heritage. . . . . . . . . . 19
Puzzles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Brush Up.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
GSFA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Een beeld/A Picture. . . . . . 23
Where in Belgium?. . . . . . . 24
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The UK is the fourth biggest export
market for Flanders.