Page 8 - AHATA

a8 local
Saturday 9 November 2024

Aruba Tourism Authority honored loyal visitor at Costa Linda Beach Resort!

The Aruba Tourism Authority recently had the ed States.
great pleasure of recognizing Goodwill Ambas-
sador of Aruba. The honoree was respectively Ms. Marouska Rasmijn representing the Aruba
honored with a certificate for his years of visits, Tourism Authority, and staff members of Costa
loyalty, and love for the island of Aruba. Linda Beach Resort bestowed the certificate
upon the honoree, presented him with gifts,
The honorary certification is presented on be- and thanked him for choosing Aruba as his fa-
half of the Minister of Tourism as a token of ap- vorite vacation destination, as his home away
preciation and to say “Masha Danki” to guests from home.
who have visited Aruba 10, 20, or 35 years or
more consecutively. The top reasons for returning to Aruba provided
by the honoree was:
The three levels of honor are as follows: • Mr. Bell fell in love with Aruba from his
Distinguished Visitor (10>years consecutively vis- first visit in 1984
iting Aruba) • Spending time with family
Goodwill Ambassador (20>years consecutively • Sun and Sand
visiting Aruba) • Aruba’s weather
Emerald Ambassador (35>years consecutively • The Casino’s on the island
visiting Aruba)
On behalf of the Aruba Tourism Authority, we
The honoree was: would like to express our sincere gratitude and
Goodwill Ambassador appreciation to the honoree for their continued
Mr. Gerald Bell from Levittown, New York, Unit- visits to the “One Happy Island”.q

In celebrating 200 years of Oranjestad...

Learn about the history of the famous town hall!

(Oranjestad)—If you’ve ever ties—now serves as a public mansion for the first time, fur- ated behind—the Aruban governmental office and
taken a stroll through main town hall for civil marriages nished entirely by her sisters- census office. public space for visitors of
street Oranjestad, you may and is a cultural monument in-law. Oranjestad.q
have stumbled upon a big on the island. Jacobo and Maria’s mansion
green house with beautiful The mansion also contained was situated in front of anoth- Source and pictures credited
colonial design. This leg- The house was designed the doctor’s office, as well as er famous mansion, owned to: “De Kolibrie op de Rots (en
meer over the geschiedenis
endary house, now used by architect Chibi Wever, a pharmacy. After the death by Jacobo’s brother Fred- van Aruba)” by Evert Bongers.
as a town hall for civil mar- and constructed under the of Jacobo, the house was erico Maximiliaan (Machi)
riages, was once owned by leadership of famous master inherited by his son, an Aru- Arends. Frederico was mar-
a wealthy doctor and formed carpenter, Dada Picus, who ban dentist, who converted ried to Veneranda (whom
part of the elite neighbor- was famous at the time for Jacobo’s office into his own the mansion was named
hood in Oranjestad. his construction of beautiful dental practice. Over the after). Their house was also
buildings. years, the house was rented constructed by Dada Picus,
Jacobo Eloy Arends was an and used by third parties, but utilizing Veneranda’s design
Aruban physician, and in The construction of the house eventually fell into disrepair, vision that was inspired by a
lived in Oranjestad during started once Jacobo and as the maintenance cost be- house she saw in Cartagena,
the 1920s. In 1922, he mar- Maria got engaged. It is came too high to cover. Colombia.
ried Maria Monica Lacle, the said that during the time of
daughter of well-known busi- construction, Maria was not The land was sold to Land Nowadays, this mansion lies
ness man at the time, Adri- allowed to see the building Aruba in 1986, but it did not in ruins. However, the Aru-
aan Lacle. The two lived a nor be anywhere near the see a renovation until 1997. ban government recently
posh life in the city center, construction site. It wasn’t Nowadays, it serves to host announced its official res-
and their mansion—once the until after her honeymoon weddings, and is attached toration, with plans to con-
center for neighborhood par- that she saw the completed to a modern building situ- vert this monument into a