Dutch miller shares his windmill expertise in Fulton

FULTON – A special visitor from the Netherlands has been sharing his expertise and knowledge with the Fulton community through training sessions, a cooking demo, a digital tour, and meet and greets at the Windmill Cultural Center.

Johan van Dijk, a miller and cultural historian, arrived in Fulton on July 24 to work with volunteer millers of de Immigrant Windmill and will be in town until Sunday.

Although Fulton’s volunteer millers are skilled and trained on their windmill, van Dijk’s visit brings a fresh perspective and an authentic connection to the trade. Training sessions started July 25 with an overview of Dutch mills and their styles, functions, history and restorations.

On July 26, they trained outdoors to improve their reefing techniques on the sails. The millers joked that van Dijk was “a third of their age” and more agile as he climbed up the sails.

Topics while working included “sails of the season” and colors of the canvas and the whys of adjusting the canvas and making more space. The millers wore safety harnesses as they climbed up to adjust the canvas and learn some of van Dijk’s tricks of the trade. The top of the sail is 90 feet off the road, with six different positions for the windmill to set. The Fulton millers wait for windy periods to mill and grind.

Anticipating the weather and having a good eye of the sky are essential to the trade. As the heat swelled last week, afternoon training sessions had to be canceled. Van Dijk set up in the Windmill Cultural Center as a backup plan, making himself available to talk mills and history and life in the Netherlands.

Van Dijk was raised in Warffum in the province of Groningen and lives in the city of Groningen. He’s been a “windmill enthusiast” his whole life. At age 12, he began helping at the windmill in Pieterburen, Groningen and at age 16, he started his formal education as a volunteer miller before receiving his miller’s degree at 18.

He studied at the University of Groningen and received a master’s degree in modern cultural history in 2011. Since then, he’s worked as freelance researcher, writer, city guide, documentary maker, presenter and advisor. His focus is on cultural heritage in the northern part of The Netherlands. He works at the windmill Hollands Welvaart in Mensingeweer, Groninge, and started being a trainer there in 2022. He also became chairman of the provincial board of the Gilde van Molenaars (Guild of Millers) in Groningen.

This trip is van Dijk’s fourth to the U.S. and his third visit to Fulton. He met the Kolk family during their trip to the Netherlands in 2000 and stayed with them during previous visits to the U.S., the last time in 2016. He’s been staying with Heidi Kolk on this trip.

“It’s special to have American family,” he said of his connection to Fulton.

“It’s been such a pleasure to have him here,” Kolk said.

At a public Miller program July 31, van Dijk presented “The History of Groningen,” to an audience of over 100 people. It was a digital tour through downtown Groningen and highlighted some of the famous landmarks and beautiful locations in the city. Earlier in the day, he hosted a cooking demonstration at the Windmill Cultural Center featuring mustard soup, uitsmijters, and sweet Dutch pancakes.

Training will continue this week with millers from Elkhorn and Pella, Iowa and Holland, Michigan on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, from 10 a.m. to noon, van Dijk will meet and greet at the Windmill Cultural Center, with the community invited to come by and visit.

There will be a farewell gathering at the WCC from 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday before he departs to meet family in Indianapolis, before flying out of Chicago and then back to his homeland.

To learn more about van Dijk’s visit or about becoming a volunteer miller, visit the Windmill Cultural Center & De Immigrant Windmill Facebook page.