Sunday school Heurne

Brethouwerweg 9, Heurne

Until 1989, a small Sunday school stood at Brethouwerweg 9 in the Aalten hamlet of Heurne, where Sunday school was held once a week for children up to the age of 12. After reaching that age, they could attend the youth club, which also took place once a week. Occasionally, the building was also used for small parties and gatherings.

Regarding the old Sunday school, we read in De Graafschapper of 22 October 1937, among other things:

Commissioning of the new Sunday School hall in Heurne

Last Wednesday was a happy day for many residents of the hamlet of Heurne near Aalten. On this day, the completely renovated Sunday school hall was festively and officially commissioned. With this, this hamlet has also been released from its so-called isolation regarding a good location to hold meetings.

It was more than necessary. The old, small building, which had been erected with very primitive means at the time, was in such a desolate state despite various repairs over the years that a new building or a complete renovation proved more than necessary. The latter has now been achieved through the well-meaning cooperation of many within and outside this hamlet. The building itself has, among other things, two reasonably spacious rooms, which are connected in such a way that, in the event of large meetings, etc., one large room can be obtained.

On Wednesday evening, the official opening took place for the elders and interested parties. The chairman of the Building Committee, Mr H.G. ter Maat, opened this festive gathering by having Psalm 89:1 sung and led in prayer. He then read Psalm 147. In his opening address, he expressed thanks to all who cooperated to achieve the construction and completion of this project.

After a break, a beautiful report followed from Mr J.W. Colenbrander, secretary of the Building Committee, as well as from Mr H. Navis, treasurer. The delegate of the Boys’ Meeting conveyed congratulations and presented the chairman with a beautiful gift for wall decoration. A recitation by Mr J. Legters closed this second part before a new break.

Subsequently, Mr S. Wevers spoke on behalf of the Association of Sunday School Teachers. Several recitations by Mr H. Hoftijzer (Veenhuis) and Colenbrander provided the necessary variety. The dialogue by Messrs H. and G. Wesselink and Klein Poelhuis was also superb in one word. Mr H. Nijman spoke an earnest and inspiring word after having told several interesting things from the old days regarding the rise and further development of youth work in Heurne.

Finally, the chairman thanked everyone who had cooperated in the success of this evening; he then handed over the building to Mr J.H. Jentink, as chairman of the Association that will manage the building. The latter finally spoke a concluding word, after which this festive meeting was ended.

D’n Heurnsen Tref

Heurne is a rural district without a central core. There is no school or café and no clear focal point. Therefore, the Heurns Belang (Heurne Interest) association devised a plan to transform the small Sunday school into a slightly larger community centre that could be used for multiple activities. A round of visits to the residents of Heurne to hear if there was interest in this and if they were potentially willing to contribute financially had a positive result.

Heurns Belang hired an architect and applied for a building permit for a new community centre. To keep costs low, many volunteers helped with the construction. On 6 April 1990, the building was festively opened, and the fitting name, devised by a resident of Heurne, was revealed: ‘D’n Heurnsen Tref‘ (The Heurne Meeting Place).