Spring is Sprung

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz
I wonder where the boidie is
They say the boidie's on the wing.
But that's absoid. The wing is on the boid.
      This bit of (almost rhyming) poetic doggerel is not by the American humorist and poet Ogden Nash, says one blogger, it's by that most prolific of all poets - Anonymous.
     Any way you look at it, the spring flowers are in bloom in Johannesburg and the birds are out in full force for an early spring.
     To celebrate Julian and Debbie Nagy hosted the club to a Spring Day party which is fast becoming an annual affair.
     The photographs, thanks to Jenine Coetzer, tell their own story.

Hats off to these two spring chickens for their creative hats. Steve du Plessis and Jankees Sligcher share a laugh

Christiaan and Debbie de Vries with Linda Vink and Judy Sligcher, all in hats

Hannes Dressler's daughter Liza and Zena Kimaro's son Amani had a whale of a time, despite obvious language restrictions

Zena Kimaro, Graham and Joan Donet, Robyn Widdop and the photographer, for once in front of the lens, Jenine Coetzer

Zena joins in as Felicity and Paul Kasango pose with Amani

Joan Donet with Carolina Reddy

Graham Donet and Hannes Dressler, who did most of the work at the braai

David Marshall and Ian Widdop, proving that
 a beanie can also be a hat

Liza and Hannes befriend the dog

Steve with Katya and Hannes Dressler

Joan and Graham Donet letting their hair down

Hannah Bartlett and Frayne Mathijs enjoying the spring afternoon

     The work carries on and hats off to Frayne Mathijs for almost single-handedly manning  the New Dawn stall at the Jozi Book Fair, which was held in Museum Africa in Newtown from last Thursday to Sunday this year.
     Frayne tells visitors to the stall all about Rotary, all about New Dawn and perhaps more importantly about the books available from the Humanitarian Distribution Centre.

Frayne with three school pupils who visited the stall last Thursday

     The Jozi Book Fair was a somewhat diminished affair compared with previous years, but nevertheless attracted a significant number of visitors.
     As a club we shouldn't let any opportunity to promote books and reading go by.

Paul Westcott and Judy Sligcher join in the fun at Play Africa

     President Judy Sligcher was at Constitution Hill last week after the meeting with Jankees and Paul Westcott of the Rotary Club of Northcliff where Play Africa opened a sensory water table, donated by the Rotary Club of Lake Mercer in Canada.

     Play Africa is an NGO based at Constitution Hill that creates hands-on exhibits and programmes for children, families and schools to help children to look to the future.

Judy and Jankees Sligcher and Linda and I were at Kamers

     Last week also saw the start of the arts and craft show Kamers at St. John's College in Houghton. The starlight market last Tuesday was in aid of the Realema teacher intern project, which initially started at St. John's. Carl Chemaly, champion of the project at the club, also attended.
     Suffice to say some of us did a fair amount of shopping and others didn't.
     Board members are reminded that there is a board meeting tomorrow morning at 7am at the Sligcher home at 9 Sutherland Ave, Craighall Park.
     A Business meeting will follow on Wednesday morning, continuing the discussions started at the meeting last week.
     Barrow of Booze: The barrow of booze for the Golf Day (Friday 8 November) is still looking very empty, so please remember to bring a boot full of surplus bottles of this and that to the meeting. Raffle ticket sales will have to begin fairly soon and for that we need the barrow full to overflowing.
     A Thought for the Week: Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy. - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - 1940)