HOLLAND, Mich. — The family of Vernin Veldheer, founder of Veldheer’s Tulip Garden, is inviting the public to help celebrate his 100th birthday this weekend.
Veldheer started his tulip farm in Holland in 1950. Decades later, his family’s business has become a fixture of the community and helped shape the city’s tulip industry.
“In a few more days, I’ll be a hundred,” Veldheer said. “For my age, I’m pretty good.”
Veldheer’s grandson, Jacob, helps run the gardens, and credits his grandfather’s varied career for inspiring generations.
“It's always amazing with him being 100 years old, and just everything he has gone through, between working as a plowman with the county, working as a farmer, he was an MP in the military,” Jacob said.
The farm began after Vernin returned to Holland from World War II.
“We started out, Vernin and his wife, Esther, after World War II more as a hobby, with 300 reds and 100 whites,” Jacob said. "And slowly, the hobby became a business where people wanted to come out and start seeing the farm."
Veldheer recalled, “I was 17 years old, and then I got my first one.”
Since then, the gardens have drawn visitors from beyond West Michigan.
“It started out with motor coach groups, and then people started coming in from all over the country, and now all over the world,” Jacob said.
Veldheer played a vital role in the industry’s growth by sharing expertise and innovation.
“His knowledge about the tulip industry, with him helping design and create the first mechanical tulip diggers out there, with him helping spread the knowledge and planning with how to do it all throughout the city, [and] Tulip Time,” Jacob said.
The family is marking Veldheer’s centennial, which will happen on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with an open invitation to the community.
“We are encouraging people to bring out a birthday card, wishing Happy Birthday, and maybe saying something about the farm, or if they had an experience with them,” Jacob said.
Visitors will be able to enjoy cake, historical trivia, and potentially hear advice from Veldheer himself.
“As long as you’re active, you keep going. You get to the point where the person’s not active, then they age faster,” Veldheer said.
Jacob hopes the family legacy endures.
“I love to be in business, another 100, 200, 300 years. Be one of those family businesses that, oh yeah, we are 12th generation, 13th generation, plus going on. Bringing the community in and educating people... just helping people enjoy the natural beauty of their yards,” he said.
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