Courtesy of: The Morning News
By Rosalie Klein
ORANJESTAD — An impressive greeting awaited HM King Willem-Alexander and HM Queen Beatrix as they entered the Guillermo Trinidad Stadium yesterday morning. A sea of blue tee-shirts worn by thousands of Aruban elementary school students was punctuated by a very special avian swimming through it, “Shoco Prins” the official mascot of the 2013 Royal Visit. Together they welcomed them to this unique “Royal Jump Up.”
The royal couple was escorted to the center of the stadium to be officially greeted by Monique van Embden, Director of IBISA, Aruba’s official health and sports association, and Director of the Department of Education, Anne Marie Proveyer.
Thousands of children preformed a rousing, coordinated dance to the popular carnival tune “Pan di Dios,” providing an exhilarating start to the day and eliciting enthusiastic applause from their majesties.
A full day of athletic events commenced by the king and queen tossing giant beach balls into the air. Following this, they were escorted to the stadium offices where a team from IBISA, the Health Bus and a chef from a local nutrition project explained Aruba’s long term-plan for battling childhood obesity.
It was a pleasure for all involved to witness the delight of HM King Willem-Alexander and HM Queen Maxima on experiencing the irrepressible energy of island children during this final leg of their tour.
