Sinterklaas Makes His Annual Visit To The Hageman House

The Hageman House on South Middlebush Road was once again the venue for an annual visit by Sinterklaas on December 4.

The celebration of Sinterklaas – who each year rides his horse from Spain to the Netherlands – is a national holiday in that Dutch nation.

In Franklin, the day included food, tours of the Hageman House and barns and games and activities such as a scavenger hunt for the children, said Barbara ten Broeke of the Meadows Foundation, which sponsors the event each year.

There was also a no-hands doughnut-eating contest and tours of antique tools in another of the property’s barns, ten Broeke said.

But that was all just the lead-up to the main event, the arrival of Sinterklaas on his horse.

After greeting the families who had come to see him, Sinterklaas took up residence in the property’s main barn and called for his “book,” which contains information about all of the children he will see.

“Sinterklaas has a big book, and if if he’s visiting a school or a group of children, he would have some ideas about where the children excelled, and he’d also have a notion about things where the child could improve,” ten Broeke said.

After speaking to the children, Sinterklaas gave them a bag of candy.

Here are some scenes from the day:

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