A picnic at Windmill Island Gardens and home Hope College football and women’s soccer games will be among the features of the 52nd annual Community Day on Saturday, Sept. 9.

Tickets include the picnic on campus, admission to Windmill Island Gardens that day and the two home athletic contests.

The picnic will take place at Windmill Island Gardens from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with fare including carved mojo pork loin, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken tamales, vegetarian enchiladas and black bean burgers.  The event will feature live music by the Holland American Legion Band from 11 a.m. to noon and Karizma from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.  There will also be a prize drawing at noon.

Highlights at Windmill Island Gardens include the 256-year-old “DeZwaan” windmill; 36 acres of gardens, dikes and canals; the Posthouse museum and shops; and, for children, the antique carousel and playground.  The day’s ticket stub will provide admission to the island from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Hope women’s soccer will host Adrian College for its home opener at Van Andel Soccer Stadium beginning at noon.

The college’s first home football game of the season, with Defiance College of Defiance, Ohio, will be held at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium beginning at 1:30 p.m.  The West Ottawa High School marching band will perform during pre-game and halftime.

Community Day celebrates the long-standing relationship between Holland residents and the faculty, students and staff of Hope College.  The event debuted in October 1966 as a Community Ox Roast, held in conjunction with the Hope College centennial celebration.  Like the first event, which was the idea of former mayor Nelson Bosman, subsequent Community Days have provided an opportunity for Holland and Hope to come together.

Tickets for Community Day cost $9 for regular admission and $5 for children age five to 11, with admission free for children under five.  Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center, which is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at 616-395-7890.  Tickets will also be sold at Windmill Island Gardens on the day of the event beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Throughout the day during Community Day, the De Pree Art Center and Gallery will be hosting the exhibition “Out of Nature,” featuring work by internationally based artist Nancy McCormack, who has been at Hope as the 2017 Borgeson Artist-in-Residence.  The gallery is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Admission to the gallery is free.

The Kruizenga Art Museum will be showing the exhibition “From Beyond the Stars: Innovation and Inspiration in Meiji Japanese Art,” from Tuesday, Aug. 29, through Saturday, Dec. 16.  The museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Admission is free.

The Anderson-Werkman Financial Center is located at 100 E. Eighth St., between College and Columbia avenues.  The De Pree Art Center and Gallery is located is located at 160 E. 12th St., facing Columbia Avenue.  The Kruizenga Art Museum is located at 271 Columbia Ave., between 10th and 13th streets.  Ray and Sue Smith Stadium is located at 313 Fairbanks Ave., between 13th and 16th streets.  Van Andel Soccer Stadium is located at 225 Fairbanks Ave., between Eighth and 11th streets.  Windmill Island Gardens are located at 1 Lincoln Ave., north of Seventh Street.

Additional information about Community Day may be obtained by calling the college’s Division of Public Affairs and Marketing at 616-395-7860 or online at hope.edu/communityday.

In the event of rain, the picnic will be moved inside the DeVos Fieldhouse, located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets. If the picnic is moved inside, announcements will be made online at hope.edu and on area radio stations.