The Rep 13 April 2018

4
Tel: (045) 839-4040 Emergency: (A/H) 083-272-0955 ° Editorial: sonjar@tisoblackstar.co.za - advertising: charodinev@tisoblackstar.co.za
THE REPRESENTATIVE 13 April 2018
LOCAL IS LEKKER
Do you live in Dordrecht – or call Cacadu
home? Is Cofimvaba your place of residence
or does Stutterheim have a special place in
your heart? Send us your news
C O U N T RYWAT C H
KOMANI NEWS
SEND YOUR NEWS
Our country correspondents are active in
their respective areas and will gather your
news. Contact sonjar@tisoblackstar.co.za for
details of the correspondent in your area.
Country news deadline: 10am on a Tuesday.
Pumpkins supreme
at festive event
TARKASTAD - A festive
atmosphere prevailed at the
pumpkin festival last Saturday
as hordes of people turned
out to enjoy the fun and
games.
The festival, now in its
second year, was convened by
Denise Raw on behalf of the
garden club, but when she
had a mishap a couple of
weeks earlier, the competent
Ali Leathes took over and the
arrangements continued
without a hitch.
Excitement had been
building for months as
entrants pampered and
nurtured their pumpkins
(some even giving them
names!), encouraging them in
every way to grow as big as
possible and 24 monsters
eventually made it to the
judging.
The winner was Sharon
Lucas, who produced a
whopper of 147kg, with Ashley
King second and Hal and Ali
Budler taking third place. Sam
Millar, 4, won the prize for
juniors.
The entries were all given
to charitable institutions and
if you would like to see what
a 147kg pumpkin looks like,
the winner is on view at Pick
n Pay in The Mall.
The large pumpkins were
not the only attraction – there
were also white and “blue”
pumpkins, gem squashes,
patty pans and some younger
contestants even spent days
polishing their pumpkins to
get them looking their best.
Roy Hayes made a most
genial MC and a highlight was
again the parade of vintage
and veteran cars from the
Queenstown Old Car Club.
There was music, with Kim
Liebenberg giving a live
performance during lunch, the
garden club ran a steak house
in aid of funds for Tarka
Home, there was a tea
garden, pampoen Olympics,
hot pies, hamburgers,
pancakes and a fancy dress
for the little ones, many of
whom wore creative space
outfits. A real community
event enjoyed by all.
CATHCART – Townsfolk gathered at the
Intaba Centre of Arts and were treated
to something unique in the town
recently – the inaugural concert of the
Incopho Academy of Music which is a
sub-project of Incopho Development
Project.
This project was founded in
November 2016 by British professional
clarinet/saxophone player and teacher
Anthony Drake who is also the project’s
executive director.
Its vision is to transform lives
through arts education and its mission
is to provide quality music education to
children in the Amahlathi and
surrounding districts, supported by a
holistic approach to children’s
wellbeing, including close community
engagement, health, welfare and
academic support, helping young
people to reach their peak (incopho) in
terms of development.
Music teaching at the project began in
May last year with 10 children selected
to participate. These are pupils of DG
Cossie School in the township of Daliwe.
In February this year, another nine
children were selected to participate.
Incopho Academy teaches children
the recorder and valuable life skills. It is
aimed at children from low income
families and intends to keep children
occupied with a variety of activities to
help prevent boredom which might
otherwise lead to a whole range of
social problems.
The project is mainly funded by an
anonymous international donor but has
also attracted local, national and
international financial support. Funds
allow for the employment of two
teachers, food for the children when
they attend workshops, sheet music for
concerts and there are plans to expand
the programme to offer lessons in basic
computer-based mathematics.
Music lessons take place in groups
during the week and on two Saturdays
per month. Last Saturday, children
between the ages of eight and 10
performed to a packed house at Intaba
Centre of Arts which is the project
base. Unique versions of pieces, such
as Waka Waka, Joe Joe, Careless
Whisper, I Have Nothing and Fish &
Chips, as well as some very original
compositions could be heard filtering
across the town.
An incredible time was had by all,
including the audience who responded
with huge applause after each number.
Reviews from audience members were
exceptionally positive.
One audience member wrote to
Drake, saying: “You will definitely see
me again. Maybe in future I might even
get involved. It was very nice to learn
that there are people in Cathcart who
are willing to share their talents with
PLAY ON: Members of the Incopho
Academy of Music which is a sub-project of
the Incopho Development Project, played
to an appreciative audience in Cathcart
recently
Picture: SUPPLIED
others who want to learn. Thank you
again for an unforgettable afternoon.”
Next year the academy hopes to
enter its first cohort of pupils for
accredited Unisa music examinations in
order to maintain structure in their
learning and the pupils later being able
to include such examinations as part of
their national senior certificate. The
hope is that the project will also be
able to offer instruction on other
musical instruments which will, in turn,
lead to the formation of bands and
orchestras within the project.
The project may even be a
springboard to developing professional
musicians who may change the face of
music and the arts in the Eastern Cape.
MEET THE WINNER: Little Sam Millar, 4, spent all day polishing his pumpkin
before entering it in the pumpkin festival in Tarkastad and it paid off, as he
was the winner of the junior section
Picture: SUPPLIED
STUTTERHEIM – On March 31,
parkrun event #179 was attended by
32 people in cool, slippery conditions.
A number of the parkrunners
travelled to Cape Town to compete in
the Old Mutual Two Oceans
Marathon 56km and 21km events.
Well done to all those who finished.
On April 7, 42 local athletes
managed to “splash and dash” their
way around the route during event
#180.
The ground simply cannot hold any
more water, so there are puddles
everywhere – even on the slopes!
Ava Kingman and Yamkela
Matyunjwa received the Junior Club
10 certificates and Joe Mpunzima
received his black 100 shirt.
Tomorrow will see the
#Recordmustfall challenge issued by
Gauteng and Western Cape parkrun
tourists, who will visit Stutterheim
parkrun. As well as the 13 tourists
from Johannesburg and Cape Town,
many East London parkrunners who
were at our inaugural run in
November 2014 have indicated they
will be present that day to try and
break the inaugural attendance
record. Stutt parkrun is one of only
three in the country whose inaugural
attendance has not been bettered.
THE annual Round Table 103 bike
ride will take place next weekend,
April 20 and 21. On the Friday night,
Daniel Baron will give two live
performances at the country club.
Early Bird tickets cost R100 each and
are available from all Tablers or via
the website w w w. s t u t t 1 0 3 . c o . z a .
Tickets at the door will be R150 each.
A cash bar and food will be available.
The bike ride takes place at 8am
from the club and tickets are R150
per rider. On Saturday night, there
will be music by Sound Solutions, as
well as a spitbraai.
Dordrecht tourney final action
SIMTEMBILE MGIDI
DORDRECHT Easter
Tournament (DET) organiser
Nathi Ndengane believes
that sport could help to
combat crime – and with the
tourney to reach completion
on April 27 – he hopes to
achieve his ambition of
unifying the town during this
and future tourneys.
The DET tournament,
which started last year, was
originally called Sport
against Crime.
He said the soccer
matches had been played
over Easter with the
semifinals and finals due to
be played on April 27.
Boxing, pool, rugby and
netball will also feature on
Freedom Day.
The Dordrecht Legends
versus Black Aces and Chief
United versus Bayern
Munich will show off their
skills in the semifinals.
“The winner of the soccer
tournament will win R5000,
a trophy and gold medals.
Those in second place will
receive a trophy with R2000
and silver medals. The
netball tournament winner
will win R2000 for their first
place with medals while a
trophy will be handed over
to the team in second place
with R1000 along with
medals,” Ndengane said.
The pool tournament
winner will receive R2000
with 15 medals for the
par ticipants.
The prizes for boxing and
rugby would be decided this
w e e ke n d .
He called for unity in the
sporting fraternity of
Dordrecht to allow
development and to assist in
the fight against crime.
Ndengane thanked
stakeholders Thulani Mente,
Sintu Siyoyo, Loyisa Qunta
and Mzwethu Ncane and the
newly formed Dordrecht
sports board for assistance.
KEEP ON GOING: Yamkela Matyunjwa
recently completed his 10th parkrun.
He was also one of the Stutterheim
Athletics Club members who
completed the Two Oceans half
marathon on Easter Saturday
WELL DONE: Ava Kingman
completed her 10th parkrun to earn
her Junior Club 10 certificate in
Stutterheim recently