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DUTCH TO ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLE |
| This
translation was done by Inez (Koster) Gollersrud, thank you so much Inez! |
| The original Dutch article was written
by: Janna Koops |
 Dan Jensen grew up in the Colony. His web site
about this, foreign workers of the Lago refinery in Seroe Colorado, is loved by
history lovers. Pages full of pictures, articles and gadgets about Lago Colony.
Jensen grew up there while the refinery was in its prime. When he retired last
year he started his website about the American Colony on Aruba. His site is a
work in progress because more people are discovering it and send him old
pictures of Aruba and the Colony. Jensen "The reason I started the web site was
because I wanted something to do when I retired. I chose the Colony because I
knew it. I was born there and stayed until I was 19. Jensen started with a
detailed map of the Colony. The bungalows and other buildings in the Colony are
given with links to each site. These links then give specific information about
who lived in the house or show how the school used to look. Jensen "When I put
the map on the Internet around Christmas 2004, it created a lot of interest.
Jensen lived his entire youth in Aruba, from 1938 to 1957, the year his dad
retired. |
| During that time Lago was the largest oil
refinery in the world. Also, the work force was much larger that what remains in
Seroe Colorado now. The Jensen's lived in bungalow 252. Nowadays you would call
the Colony a "gated Community." Jensen "The Lago employees were allowed outside
the gate, but the islanders were not allowed in unless they had a pass. Nowadays
you would consider it a colonial white settlement in a foreign land, protected
from the others by the fence. I think many of the people who lived outside the
gate felt that way. I see it that way now too. But at that time, Lago Colony was
for me, a small, self-contained company. A small town with paved streets good
services and good schools. You didn't have to pay taxes and health care was
free." |
| The workers in the colony had an exceptionally
good life. Old colony workers still get together regularly. Jensen "about four
times a year they have reunions, spread out over the US. The next one is in
September in Chicago. Once every four years they have a big reunion in Aruba.
Jensen "There is someone who manages an e-mail list with about 500 names. Via
the e-mail we keep in touch. It is too bad that lately the e-mails have been
about deaths. Jensen we married for 41 years. In 2002 his wife died. "I went to
a reunion for the first time in 2003. I met an old classmate there. She was a
widow. In 2004 we got married. Seemingly, I cannot break the bond with Aruba." |
| On the website, with some searching, there is a
lot to find: documents from the Lago refinery, and a lot, a whole lot of old
pictures of Aruba. Articles like one out of National Geographic from 1942 about
the "Booming town of Sint Nicolas." a newspaper article in Aruba Esso News about
Princess Beatrix's visit to Lago, and pictures of the 2nd WW make the website a
paradise for those interested in Aruba History. Jensen still loves to receive
pictures, stories and other things for is website. I am looking for stories
about families who lived in the bungalows in Seroe Colorado, of the rest of the
island and of the refinery. Also I am looking for old school newspapers, i.e.,
Pan-o-Ram and Pan Aruban. Your can find the website at www.lago-colony.com. |
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