Anecdote "The Rascal"
This anecdote took place six years ago during an evening stroll through our village with my two faithful hunting dogs, Luna and Siena.
From our house on Oude Arnhemseweg, I walked on a warm summer evening via Schaerweijdelaan, Jacob van Lenneplaan, and Bergweg towards Steynlaan. The doors of several restaurants and cafés were wide open, and the terraces were packed.
There, on the corner of Cronjélaan, I saw the oh-so-recognizable statues of my childhood heroes from 1980, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi with their Blues Brothers act, already sitting on a crowded terrace. Incidentally, you can now find these statues at the Beauforthuis. The moment I passed the terrace, some drunkard, hiding behind his beer glass, turned to me. This "rascal," mischief-maker, rascal, or scoundrel was apparently afraid of dogs, not much of a hero, didn't dare look at me, but wanted to impress his friends by suggesting otherwise. And then, just as I expected, came the stammering words, "They say owners start to look like their dogs." Of course, I didn't let this opportunity pass me by, and before the rascal could turn around to accept the applause of his drinking buddies, I countered him with, "What a hideously ugly dog you must have at home!" A roar of laughter followed, and I never had to bother with that rascal again while walking my dogs. From that moment on, the only thing I saw of him was his back, and even that was a sight to behold.
Like so many other neighborhood pubs before it, De Schavuit closed in 2025. Over 55 years ago, Egon and Bep Mayr took over Café Ons Centrum from the De Bruin family, and De Schavuit was born. I can still remember that in the past, there was a neighborhood pub on almost every street in the center of Zeist. These pubs were meeting places where many a week's salary was spent before the rascal headed home to face his wife, penniless and in apparent distress. Mothers had to figure out how to feed their children that week and make ends meet. In those days, people often lived on credit, meaning they were in debt to the milkman, baker, and so on. In those years, at the end of Friday afternoons, graphics industry workers would gather at the Colonel on Slotlaan, and over drinks and bitterbal, hearing about better prospects, you'd quickly switch employers. The pay slip gradually fell out of use, but until 1978, I still received my weekly salary in a pay slip at the Kroondruk printing company on 2e Hogeweg. When salaries were deposited monthly, or transferred digitally to an account, mothers no longer had to stand at the company gate to receive their fathers' pay slips. This was a blessing for many families, but less so for the men and pub owners.
The oldest neighborhood pub in Zeist can be found on the corner of Dahliastraat and Rozenstraat, opposite the Roman Catholic Church. I knew it as De Oorsprong, then as Jaap de Jong, later De Kaketoe, later still Bijna Thuis, and now Tante Greet. Other neighborhood pubs were Wulf en Jedi, Victoria, De Twaalf Ambachten, Marijke, De Colonel, Schrijvers, Ons Centrum, later De Schavuit, Bert van Soest, Lambik, and West End in the Griffensteyn neighborhood. Most of these neighborhood cafes have disappeared or have turned into eateries and restaurants where you can enjoy delicious food and drinks.
Zeist is so beautiful, and we're so lucky to live here.
Arnie Della Rosa
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You can read my hiking stories at https://www.als-bomen-en-stenen-konden-praten.com, as well as the columns of other Zeist columnists at https://www.zeistermagazine.nl