Tweet01-10-2009 om 14:57 by Stafford Wadsworth

On September 23, a group of journalists met  for their tenth anniversary dinner at the Davanti Restaurant in the heart of Valkenburg. This new restaurant is run by a very young and enterprising couple – Charles Otten and Kim Boves. The journalists were not just from the Maastricht Region, but from the Euroregion, crossing the borders into Belgium and Germany. They brought together a range of interesting people that they’d met in their work in recent years; and, as one glances through the list, the variety of personalities is dazzling.

Wim Cremers of TV Limburg brought a Limburger who made it to the Guinness Book of Records for his feats, which included a 100-mile run through the desert in Mali, where temperatures went up to 40° centigrade. He followed this up with the Yukon Arctic Ultra run on the border between the Yukon and Alaska. These were but two of a series of his running adventures.

Leo van der Kant was there too. He is the President of Assemblee, the International Speakers Agency, who has brought Bill Clinton to the Netherlands, Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa; and, most recently, the four-star general and Princeton PhD David Petraeus, praised by Der Spiegel and Time magazine. The general gave a clearer analysis of warfare in the Middle East to his Limburg audience than that vouchsafed by Dutch national TV (Nova).

Bert Salden, an indefatigable chronicler of the Maastricht Region’s culinary scene, brought Pierre Cnoops, the well-known wit and speaker at all jolly Limburg gatherings. The children’s world was not forgotten and Jempi Welkenhuysen, the Belgian journalist and educationalist, brought Wim Swerts, the cartoonist who developed Kabouter Plop (Plop the gnome) and Samson & Gert.

Mattie Maes from Belgium’s ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’ brought another witty speaker, in the shape of prizewinner Roger Scheepers. Jacques Collen, an expert on all matters culinary including stroop – that famous syrup from the south - brought the cartoonist Steven Wilsens. Not to be outdone, No Wolfs, of ‘Dagblad the Limburger’, brought the theatre into the evening, with Brigitte van Eck, director of the Toneelgroup Maastricht. Guy van Grinsven, the publisher of Niveau magazine, brought in Maastricht’s very own Europe specialist in the shape of Ton Wanders.

The list of names continues with wine merchants (Sauter and Vini Selezioni Italiani), former starred restaurateurs (Elly en Jan Waghemans); a master butcher (Ernest Lebouille) celebrated for his organic products and includes those who run national parks and outlet centers. Eventually, a much-needed specialist in etiquette arrived in the attractive shape of Liesbeth Hobert, of Libelle magazine, who had just completed an excellent work on Etiquette for Everyman and was able to lend elegance to the evening.

There was also Leon Aarts an artist and Dutchman, based in London, his background is in the restaurant business, and now he’s a wholesale fruit supplier to London’s up-market restaurants, Hanos was there too. Felix Meurders of Vara Radio, by way of a contrast, brought Monique Hochstenbag. She turned out to be a pulmonary specialist from Maastricht’s University Hospital, ready to inspect the chests of those in need.

Jos Tuinstra of radio fame brought in Toon van de Reek, who is the chairman of the catering industry’s association for central and northern Limburg in the Dutch Catering Association, and also the owner of the Ijsvogel Distillery.

Bringing up the rear, came Louk Hustinx, he of the distinctive style. Louk brought the ‘digestif’, Christel van Weers and her superb Ingendael liqueur, a fitting conclusion to which only Louk could have brought us - no doubt apologizing for any omissions.

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