A TOWN in Louisiana, named after Ella de Ridder from Geldermalsen. She was 19 when, late 19th century, she eloped with Guus Janssen from Baarn. His friend Arthur from England was building railroads in America, and Arthur fell in love with Ella. He gave her her own town on the railroad, DeRidder. Ella’s sister Mina also got a town of her own, Mena in Arkansas. And sure enough, so did her mother-in-law Geesje van der Voort from Zwolle, Vandervoort, also in Arkansas.
And because he really, really thought young Mrs. Janssen-de Ridder was unbearably beautiful, he also named a villa park in Kansas City after her, Janssen Place.
Oh la la.
Mayor Misty Clanton of DeRidder is young, blonde, divorced and got herself out of the blue arrested this month. The accusation: she had sex with a minor boy, with a second minor boy in attendance. Sex with a minor, consensual or not, equals rape in Louisiana. It comes with an up to twenty-five years in prison sentence.
Misty denies the allegation. But she had already seen the storm coming. A week before her arrest, she resigned as mayor.
* Ella de Ridder from Geldermalsen.
