Dutch Voice

Paul Strikwerda, one of the voices of the Easton Farmers' Market, tells of the path that his life has followed, from Europe to the USA: 

"I came to the United States at the end of 1999 to start over."
"What were you starting over from?"
"I was in radio in the Netherlands. I worked for an international radio station doing news and current affairs. The way the worlds is, 'news and current affairs' usually means disaster and tragedy, and after having done 25 years of disaster and human tragedy, I was  really fed up with it. I found someone special in the United States, and decided to pack up all my bags, leave my friends. leave my family, and came to the United States literally with two suitcases. And a voice. (Laughs) Because i'd been in radio and I love to talk, and even get paid for it, I went to a casting agency in Philadelphia that casts all the movies for M. Night Shayamalan, and they liked my accent and they hired me on the spot. That's how I started doing voiceovers. Now I have a studio in the basement where I work for clients on all continents. I do videos; I do audio books; I do e-learning: anything that needs a disembodied voice with a funny European accent. The Farmers' Market is like having a block party in your own town every week, and what I love about it is that it brings the community together, you know? Really, the whole farm-to-table thing, the sustainable agriculture, and the friendships that you make. The vendors become your friends. The patrons become your friends. That small town feeling I had from growing up in a very small country that I really missed, coming to a big country like the United States, I found it back, and it's right here." 

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