Launch of Stanford News!
Proud to be part of Village history
THE HISTORY books will not be unhappy with the visionary efforts that the people of Stanford have made to ensure that their heritage village remains as true to its beginnings as possible. The village green precinct with its new framework of dusky rose coloured bricks would spell out to any visitor that pride and the love of history and heritage are the key messages that underline the village’s future. It also is a celebration of a vision of earlier Stanford office bearers, who first laid out the plans for the beautification of Shortmarket and Longmarket Streets believing that in keeping with the heritage status the look and feel of the village should be preserved at all cost. Andrew Baadjies, a municipal road works employee, closely involved in the brickwork project, sums it up like this: “For me to be able to tell my children and my grandchildren that I helped build these roads means a lot.” There were many people in Stanford South, says Baadjies, who wanted to be part of this project. “It’s about working together for the Village and the people who live here. We hope we can do more things like this. If we can connect the two areas with nice roads and trees, that would be good. Being proud of where you live is everything.” Liz Clarke
A JOB WELL DONE: (from left) road team workers, Thembalethu Mgwetana, Andrew Baadjies and Delano Booysen. ABOVE: Shortmarket Street shows off its new look
KYK! We’re on TV
Let’s hope we don’t have load-shedding because next week the veil will be lifted on our Collective Shop in Victoria Street “its Made in Stanford sa” People who have wondered what the make-over is all about will be able to learn from Chef Bertus Basson himself just what changes and additions were made, why somethings were ripped out and other things put in. The programme In die Sop will be aired Wednesday June 9 – from 8pm to 9pm on KykNET(Channel 144).Says Harry Poortman who helps with the running of the popular venue, “We are very excited. It will be a one- hour promotion for Stanford, prime time TV – you can’t get better publicity than that! “In fact the 60-minute programme is advertising for free, he says. “We think it will benefit our community, our newly established restaurant and shop concept. It will also generate interest in a wider sense, encouraging visitors to come to Stanford and experience what it’s like to connect with country life and all that it offers.
Do we need a newspaper in Stanford to tell us what’s going on?
Truth is, we won’t know until we try?
The first question is – Do we need a newspaper for Stanford? If yes, the second question is – How do we do it? The third question is – How do we know it’s going to work? To be honest, we don’t really know, until we’ve tried it. Hence this week’s first ‘pilot edition’ which focuses on ‘real time’ news and community updates. It won’t be perfect and will probably need some tweaking, but the main thing is that we have started the journey towards launching a product that is well-liked, factual, with news that affects us all and is financially sustainable. Many thanks go to those who have supported the idea and have put forward useful suggestions for the future. But as we know, putting plans in place is the easy bit. Putting plans into action is much trickier. Most people would agree it should be a free on-line publication – monthly at first (with regular social media updates to whet the appetite). It would be great if we could have a limited print run. If all goes well, we can hopefully look at that down the road. Talking about roads, as luck would have it the first story covered was the new ‘heritage’ roads bounding the Village Green. The people involved in the project talked about renewal – perhaps this could be part of it! Stanford has a remarkable community with an abundance of creative talent and expertise, not to mention a love for a special village. The idea is that together we create a village newspaper that is informative, fair, well written, with great images – a product that says something about all of us. Liz Clarke
These are the basis elements that the newspaper would include:-
- Current news in the public interest relevant to the whole community
- Opinion piece/editorial on pressing and important issues
- Tourism with referrals to social media and websites
- Municipal/Ward news
- Human interest – people doing interesting things within the community
- Gardening, environment, home, art, music, books, birding, history, eating out
- Community Organisations/Clubs within the area – updates, reports etc –with referrals to newsletters/websites etc
- What’s on – upcoming events
- Business, property, marketing
- Letters
- Sport and recreation
- Puzzles page – crosswords Suduku
This is where the community can play its part, sending in info, picture ideas, suggestions, letters to give our new publication wings. A number of residents have offered their time and skills to help check for accuracy, collate, proof-read and select material to ensure a smooth flow. In the next pilot edition, there will be a list of emails and people to contact. In the meantime, please feel free to get hold of me on lizclarke4@gmail.com to comment on the journey so far. Be as honest as you like.
ABOVE: The “Heritage” team celebrating the completion of Shortmarket and Longmarket streets.
Big Thank You to the A Team
The hard work, back-breaking sometimes, often in cold and wet conditions was worth it. That’s the message from the team who completed the village green road paving project in record time. “We set out to do something” says team member Delano Booysen. “Seeing it finished and the last brick in place is something we won’t forget. ”At a celebration “end-of-project” braai, Francois Myburgh, Overstrand municipal area manager for Gansbaai and Stanford thanked the road team for their dedication and efforts. “You have created something that we can all be proud of” he said. “It will become part of the village history.” The decision not to tar the roads was unanimous says Willem Germishuys, principal technician for the Gansbaai and Stanford Overstrand municipality. “It was a more expensive option but it was decided in the many meetings we had that a brickwork surface was the right look for such an old village. It is hard-wearing and will age well. “What has been really great” says Germishuys “is the dedication and work ethic of the Stanford South team to complete the job with as little disruption as possible. They have really put their heart and soul into this project. ”The “heritage” bricks used are a custom-made product manufactured in the Western Cape using local sand and stone, which gives them arose-coloured tint. The last task to be completed are the parking bays, which will allow for diagonal-style parking either side of the village green. Going the extra mile and paving the way for a rosy future …
LEFT: The team enjoying the braai. MIDDLE: David Hagen and Willem Germishuys. RIGHT: Bea Whittaker, Katie Smuts (right) and Louis Roodt Big Thank You to the A Team TEXT AND IMAGES: Liz Clarke
The project included the hand laying of 3,150 sq metres of bricks, 640metres of edging, and the raising of 23 manholes
The appearance of a new newspaper in a community is a treasured moment. It doesn’t matter whether it is digital or printed, weekly or monthly (or even daily). The point all successful newspapers have is that they are useful and that they have the trust of their readers. Stanford is badly in need of reliable information. We are a fairly large community in which information is very unequally shared. When will the road to Hermanus be done? What lessons were learned from the recent flash flooding? What will the entrance to our village look like when all is done? What is going to happen to the Spar? To the slipway toilet scheme? To the schema infrastructure damaged in protests a few years ago? The answers to all of these questions may vary over time but what a newspaper does is something special — it tells everyone everything it knows, and all at the same time. And someone, the editor, takes responsibility for it. It is a kind of curated gossip. The road may be done by the end of the year and come December it might be finished by next May. The point, always, is for the editors to do their best to get it right. And where they get it wrong, on a digital newspaper like the new Stanford News it can be instantly corrected. People with information about the questions listed earlier are not deliberately trying to withhold it. There simply isn’t an easy way to talk to everyone. Until now, that is. I hope businesses in the village also support Liz Clarke’s brave venture. Townsfolk on WhatsApp are always looking for this or that, and often when someone has asked for help and advice and received it, someone will ask the very same question the next day. Advertising helps prevent that and with the ability now to click on adverts restaurants can change their menus and shop owners can update us on their new stock. News and advertising are complimentary forms of content and the value of the Stanford News will be in drawing us closer together as a community. It is a great way of making us a more inclusive place — a destination of choice and a great place to call home.
Change is part of our lives. From the moment we are born we change. Change never stops. Because change is life itself. Embracing change is embracing life. Especially in fast moving and difficult to control times its change we can be sure of. Moving forward and upward, is taking charge, personally and professionally. So that we rediscover our love of change. So that we can embrace change. In order to embrace life. And lead it. And pass it on. Harry Poortman Stanford Village Foundation
STANFORD CARES: I’m doing this bit on behalf of my friend, Melody Schweyer, who runs Stanford Cares. Could you please add this article to the first newsletter? Stanford Cares’ objective is to aid villagers, particularly those that live alone, in need of assistance recovering from illnesses, operations, injuries such as a big fall, etc. Assistance might come in the way of a raised toilet seat, crutches, commodes, wheelchairs and the like. These items are available on loan at no cost for short periods of time until a more long-term arrangement can be made by the recovering patient. A volunteer from Stanford Cares will visit the person in need of aid to assess the situation and could also supply a list of local qualified carers if need be. Stanford Cares advises all villagers living alone to complete an information questionnaire (available from Frans at Stuffed Creations shop) and keep it in a ‘visible place (i.e. on your fridge) in an envelope together with a copy of your ID and medical insurance membership for ease of reference in a case of emergency. STANFORD CARES CONTACT DETAILS: MELODY SCHWEYER 072 245 9721. Linda Strydom
All set ready to go – that’s the buzz from our local netball team kitted out in smart sports gear thanks to donations from two private schools in Cape Town to the Stanford Swop Shop. The Swop Shop is an affiliate of Stanford Conservation Association which supplies much needed school stationery, second-hand clothing, toiletries and used household items such as blankets, linen, towels, crockery and cutlery to the disadvantaged people in our community. Recyclable items are collected, weighed and exchanged for tokens to be swopped for any of the above items. Volunteers running Swop Shop are grateful for any donations of clothing, toiletries (soap, deodorant, toothpaste and sanitary pads) as well as any extra household items no longer needed. Items could be dropped off at our local Information Centre, or we could collect it from your home if you give us a call.
What’s your interest?
Birding, gardening, painting and a host of other special interests are all part of the Stanford lifestyle. Some people belong to small groups, others join various clubs, or spread the word on social media. What this newspaper would need to know is whether these activities should be showcased. Please let me know so that we can factor those activities in a special “What’s On in Stanford” Page which will feature in the next Pilot edition – lizclarke4@gmail.com
You can read editions you can go here : https://www.stanfordinfo.co.za/stanford-tourism-useful-things/