Next year the Gazette van Detroit will celebrate its 100th anniversary, and for sure it’s a special one. Not only because it will be the centennial jubilee, but also because the Gazette van Detroit is the only Belgian newspaper that still exists in North America, written in a mix of English and Dutch and read on both sides of the Atlantic. Like many other media, the Gazette van Detroit also faces difficult times. As we are approaching the centennial of the Gazette van Detroit a number of projects are planned to celebrate …

The flags that were used for the inauguration ceremony of president Barack Obama were produced at a location you may not have expected: Oostrozebeke, Belgium. The Waelkens flag company employs 40 people.  Small orders are embroided, sometimes by hand, at the production facility in Belgium, while large orders are produced on silkscreen machines in Romania.  Waelkens ships about 2,000 flags a year to the U.S.

Have you ever wondered how U.S. citizens are able to donate money to the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp and still receive a U.S. tax deduction? Or, how our Belgian friends can donate to the Gazette van Detroit and still receive a tax deduction from the Belgian Government? Or even how North Americans can donate money to help giant rats become heroes in Tanzania? The answer to all three of these questions is the King Baudouin Foundation United States in New York City (“KBFUS”).
The two-person Manhattan office of KBFUS, …

By David Baeckelandt
As a young Flemish-American growing up in Chicago I earnestly wished to study in the country where my father and grandfather were born. Unfortunately I was unable to find any such program in Flanders or Belgium at the time, and neither did I find any opportunities to study about Flanders as an undergraduate here in the U.S. As a result, I ended up studying abroad in Asia. While not a bad career move, I would have much preferred a chance to study in and about Flanders. Today’s North …