Fundraiser to bring klompen back

For over 20 years, Elmer Veldheer mesmerized locals and visitors as he transformed a piece of wood into a traditional Dutch wooden shoe during Oak Harbor’s Holland Happening.

In 2012, arthritis forced Veldheer to announce he would no longer return to the festival, leaving a pair of big wooden shoes to fill. He died peacefully in 2020 at the age of 90, according to his obituary.

With no one in the area possessing the knowledge and skills to carve klompen, the Dutch festival remained without its most iconic attraction for 11 years.

This year, the community has the opportunity to bring back the rhythmic sound of block knives and spoon augers to Holland Happening. In fact, the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce is launching a fundraiser to bring a professional wood carver, Luke Traver, who owns Luke’s Lost Arts in Wisconsin.

Traver has learned the art of klompen carving from Master Shoe Carver Bob Siegel Jr., who retired in 2014. Now, Traver is one of a handful professional klompen carvers in the country.

According to Events and Logistics Manager Cheryl Grehan, the chamber is hoping to raise $4,000 that would cover the cost of a van and gas to transport Traver, his father and their tools from Wisconsin to Whidbey — a trip expected to take a total of about six days. The money would also cover the cost of food and a hotel.

While Traver might bring klompen back in 2024, a North Whidbey resident might keep the tradition alive for years to come.

For many Holland Happenings, Rebecca Fakkema and her family would clop in their klompen around the streets of Oak Harbor to celebrate their Dutch heritage. Since she was 6 years old, Fakkema was particularly drawn to Veldheer’s booth, where she would observe him for hours, hoping to learn that skill one day.

“All I wanted to do was sit in front of the wooden shoe carver and watch him carve,” she said.

In a Whidbey News-Times article from 2003, Fakkema’s grandfather, Ed, mentioned his grandchild’s infatuation with klompen carving.

“She can sit there for hours and just watch him. If she wasn’t such an engineer I’d say she’d end up being a woodcarver,” he was quoted saying.

Now, the 35-year-old engineer and amateur greenwood carver wants to learn the art of klompen carving from Traver to bring back the magic that was lost when Veldheer said goodbye to Holland Happening more than a decade ago.

While the parade, the Klompen Canal and other forms of entertainment are fun, Fakkema believes they don’t compare to the experience of seeing someone meticulously carve wearable art out of wood.

Feeling sad at the lack of a shoe carver at the festival, Fakkema decided to take matters into her own hands.

About two years ago, she reached out to Traver and his father Dev, finally meeting them in Wisconsin a few weeks ago to learn more about klompen carving. Coincidentally, this year, the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce also reached out to the Travers in hopes of bringing them to Holland Happening.

If the chamber is successful, Fakkema might become a klompen carver apprentice during the festival and use those skills to bring back the practice on a regular basis.

In January, a group of community members told the chamber that Holland Happening hasn’t felt Dutch in years, an opinion shared by Grehan.

Things, however, might change if the fundraiser is successful.

“I think it’s the best shot we have at having klompen carving come back,” Fakkema said.

The link to the fundraiser is expected to become available on the chamber’s website Friday, March 15. Community members who wish to make a donation sooner can do so by calling the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce, Grehan said.

Photo provided Rebecca Fakkema uses a stock knife on a finished demo shoe at Dev Traver’s house. Fakkema visited the Travers a few weeks ago as she is interested in learning the art of klompen carving.

Photo provided The Fakkema sisters pose with Elmer Veldheer, Oak Harbor’s klompen carver for over 20 years, in the 1990s. Rebecca Fakkema is on the right, next to Veldheer.