Hope College President Jim Bultman and his wife Martie have been invited to be the grand marshals of the GMB Tulip Time Muziekparade in Holland on Saturday, May 12.
The 82nd Tulip Time festival will be held May 5-12. During the festival there are three parades through the central business district. The Muziekparade occurs on the final day of the festival and draws tens of thousands of people to the community.
The grand marshall of the Volksparade on Wednesday, May 9 will be recently retired Holland City Manager Soren Wolff and the grand marshal of the Thursday, May 10 Kinderparade will be Holland public schools superintendent Brian Davis.
Dr. and Mrs. Bultman have been active members of the campus community for the past 13 years. Particularly committed to students, they can regularly be seen attending many Hope and community events. Dr. Bultman is the 11th president of Hope College and will be retiring June 30, 2012.
A 1963 Hope graduate, he assumed the office in 1999 having already had more than two decades of direct experience with the college, including his student days. During his tenure as President, Hope has pursued the two largest single fund-raising efforts in the college’s history. In 2000 the college launched the “Legacies: A Vision of Hope” comprehensive campaign which included construction of the A. Paul Schaap Science Center and renovation of the Peale Science Center, construction of the DeVos Fieldhouse, construction of the Martha Miller Center for communication, and restoration of the historic Graves Hall and Lubbers Hall. In 2011 Hope launched its current “A Great Hope” comprehensive campaign. The $175 million effort will benefit every student as it strengthens the college’s endowment, adds several new buildings, and supports immediate needs through the annual Hope Fund. He has been involved in the community and is a member of the Holland Area Chamber of Commerce and the Holland Rotary Club, and serves on the Board of Directors at The Bank of Holland, the Board of Directors of the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, and the Board of Governors of the Van Andel Institute. The past 12 years have also been a period of steady growth in enrollment, from 2,943 students in 1999 to a record enrollment of 3,249 during the current school year.
Martie Bultman is also a Hope College graduate with a passion for children and teaching. She has taught elementary age special-education students, high-school students, and has co-authored the “Friendship Series,” a religious curriculum for those with disabilities, that is used throughout the English speaking world. The past few years she has served on the Board of Directors for Friendship Ministries and the Holland Area Arts Council Board of Directors, and as chairwoman of the Kate Garrod Post Educational Scholarship Fund for the Woman’s Literary Club. She is the co-advisor for the college’s Alcor chapter of the national Mortar Board organization. The chapter has received multiple national awards, including being named the top chapter during the national conference in July 2010.
Soren Wolff served the City of Holland as City Manager from 1988 until his retirement in September 2011. Mr. Wolff was born in Denmark and immigrated to the United States at the age of 11. He graduated from Central College in Pella, Iowa with a degree in political science and economics, and then went on to Kansas University where he completed a Master of Public Administration degree specializing in city management.
He served as Assistant City Manager in Grand Haven for 3 years before coming to Holland as Assistant City Manager in 1975. He served in that capacity until accepting the position of City Manager of Muscatine, Iowa in 1979. He remained there until he was rehired by the City of Holland as City Manager in 1988. During his 23 year tenure as City Manager, Mr. Wolff participated in the implementation of Streetscape, Snowmelt, and the construction of a parking ramp in downtown Holland. He oversaw the improvement and upgrade of nearly every City Park and recreational facility, including construction of the boardwalk from Heinz to the Window on the Waterfront. He later directed the renovation of Holland City Hall, and the development of a new police and court complex downtown, and most recently presided over the consolidation of the police and fire departments into a single public safety department. He was a part of numerous collaborative efforts with local private businesses, non-profit organizations, and neighboring governmental units. The Sponsor of the Volksparade is Fifth Third Bank. The Street Scrubbing that precedes the parade is sponsored by Tennant.
Brian Davis is the current superintendent of Holland Public Schools. Superintendent Davis was born and raised in Hillsdale County. He grew up on a forty acre farm assisting his parents in raising crops and livestock throughout his childhood and high school years. He was very involved with 4-H and many extra-curricular activities in high school, especially music. In high school, he was the drum major of his high school marching band for three years and was the recipient of the John Phillip Sousa Award.
Superintendent Davis earned his first degree, a Bachelor of Science in Education, from Central Michigan University majoring in mathematics with a minor in reading. In 1996, he completed his Master of Arts in K-12 School Counseling from Eastern Michigan University and served as a middle school counselor in Zeeland Public Schools. In 2000, he completed his Educational Specialist Degree from Michigan State University in Educational Leadership and is currently working on his doctorate from Western Michigan University.
In 2000, Superintendent Davis began his career at Holland Public Schools as an elementary principal at Lakeview School. He then served as the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning for 5 years. In 2008 he began his current tenure as the 12th Superintendent of Schools. Recently, Superintendent Davis was named by the Michigan Association of School Administrators as the 2011 Michigan State Superintendent of the Year. Since this acknowledgement, he has had the opportunity to participate on a state and national level in assisting and shaping education policy and school reform efforts.
In addition to his public school commitments, Superintendent Davis serves on many community boards and councils including the Holland Area Chamber of commerce, Ready for School, Kids Hope USA, Wavecrest Career Academy, Tulip Time Board of Directors and the Ottawa Area Superintendents Association. He can be followed on Twitter at bdavisHPS or with Juke VanOss on Talk of the Town WHTC Radio every third Tuesday of the month to learn and discuss significant issues regarding public education. The Kinderparade is sponsored by Johnson Controls.