“Look, there is an election sign from Dorien”: even the mayor cannot escape Poortje Pik (Rijkevorsel)

READ ALSO. They drag along everything that is loose: “Nothing has changed in thirty years of Poortje Pik”

The San Fermín festivals in Pamplona and La Tomatina in Buñol are cultural heritage, Poortje Pik has not yet achieved that status. Outside Rijkevorsel, people tend to think that Rijkevorsel’s is not quite right for one day a year. At least one day a year. But the residents of Rijkevorsel who have fallen victim to the practice are resigned to their fate.

“Damn, my dog ​​is gone.” Gustaaf Leysen is looking for a small statue on the roundabout near the church. A needle in a haystack, it seems, because the roundabout mainly contains large materials: waste containers, bicycles, traffic signs, garden gnomes and flower boxes, but also a site toilet, a cement mixer, signs from real estate agents and the police. And a set table. There were also thieves with a sense of humor.

“They used to steal gates and bicycles, basically anything that was loose. Nowadays they also take things with them that are actually hanging, or traffic signs. That should not be allowed, because it is dangerous”

Alfons Van den Langenbergh

Looking for his link chain

The owners of the flower pots have little trouble finding their property, although one woman doubts whether the flowers in her pot are the ones she put in them herself. It becomes more difficult for those who have lost small items. Alfons Van den Langenbergh is looking for a chain. A red-and-white link chain that they took from him after the perpetrator had pried open the eyebolts with which she hung it on the wall. “They used to steal gates and bicycles, basically anything that was loose. Nowadays they also take things with them that are actually hanging, or traffic signs. That should not be allowed, because it is dangerous. All traffic signs at Drijhoek are gone.”

Alfons himself never participated in the tradition. A good conscience? “No, no time,” he laughs. He points to a large row of shopping carts at the roundabout. “Last year they took the ones from Okay, now the ones from Lidl are here. Those carts hang together. To get them here, there must have been at least four of them.”

Or eight. Neel Vermonden saw a group of eight working in his street on the night of Poortje Pik, April 30. They tried to remove a fence around a yard. “They folded that fence together and were just about to carry it away when the police passed by. Because they really do patrol during Poortje Pik and if you get caught, you’re out of luck. They all had to show their identity cards.”

“The police really do patrol during Poortje Pik and if you are caught, then you are out of luck”

Neel Vermonden

Saw eight ‘perpetrators’ being checked

Neel sees the Belgian flag on the roundabout, which until recently stood in front of the town hall. Next to it is a sign with the election portrait of mayor Dorien Cuylaerts. “I find that funny now.” Roeland Wens also does not lose his smile, although he is missing some rubber mats. “I had warned my children not to leave anything outside and now I have the price myself.”

My eye suddenly falls on a small statue. It looks like that of a dog. “Is it this dog?” I ask Gustaaf Leysen, who is still searching. The man takes the dog from me, looks at it from all sides, strokes it and cherishes it in his firm hands. This is his dog, which once had to be discovered during a photo search by the municipality. “How lucky, you found my dog.” Anyone who wants to steal Gustaaf’s dog again next year must be from a good background.