Irene Town Crier July 14

Irene Town CrierJuly 2014

Living in peace

irenetowncrier.co.za

Greenfields lawn services

Your neighbourhood lawn specialist

Frans Jordaan 082 668 2431

GROW A GREENER, HEALTHIER LAWNWe visit your lawn 4 times a year, once every season and apply our magic blends of fertilizers and

the agents to control weeds, insects and diseases for the best looking lawn in town.

Glenda Saxby, 076 316 9632

[email protected]

Carroll Townsend, 082 560 9423

[email protected]

Sylvia Gibbons

P R O P E R T I E S

www.sylviagibbonsproperties.co.za

Sylvia Gibbons, 082 374 4778

[email protected]

Glenda Saxby, 076 316 9632

[email protected]

Passionate about Irene property and proud supporters of the ILA

Deadline for the August 2014 issue of Irene Town Crier is 6 August 2014.

Advertising and editorial contact: Tracey Garde 082 460 6007 [email protected]

Irene Town Crier is published by TLG Publishing (Pty) Ltd. All material is subject to copyright and permission to reproduce may be obtained from the publisher. Editorial contributions are welcome and can be sent to the publisher. All rights in said editorial contributions, whether it be in the form of a letter or article and whether it includes graphics or not, will be treated as unconditionally assigned for the publication and copyright purposes and material will be subject to TLG Publishing’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially. TLG Publishing will place editorial contributions at it’s own discretion, space allowing.

3ContentsLiving in peace 4

You said it 6

From the ILA 12

Irene Winter Solstice Polar Bear Swim 16

Village quiz 18

Irene bridge project 20

Irene Homes news 22

Small businesses 27

Small cries 28

Important telephone numbers 30

Front cover photo: Julia Davies: Icicles and one year old

Skumbuzo Manganye

Town Crier July 2014

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and

winter, day and night will never cease . - Genesis 18:22

4 Living in peaceOur countdown to Spring has begun! As I am sure most of you would agree, I am now fedup with Winter and looking forward to the warmer days, singing birds and greener gardens. For some reason this Winter seems to have been colder and crueler than usual as, along with my own family, many people have been suffering with colds and flu. Hopefully the soon-to-be welcoming of what is my favourite season of the year will see many of us shaking off our Winter blues, enjoying our lovely outdoor life in the village and partaking in many events Spring has to offer.

This issue is filled with lovely village news yet again - thanks to all the people who take the time to email me their projects, happenings and achievements. The cold didn’t scare all of us off - many recent activities such as a community tennis tournament, the annual Irene Winter Solstice Polar Bear Swim and the project to spruce up the Irene subway has kept our fellow neighbours enjoying Irene life.

As you start to venture out on walks around the village again, why not take the ‘How well do you know your village?’ challenge. I’ve enjoyed trying to identify the photos published so far.

Please remember to support our advertisers as it’s with their input that we are able to publish the Town Crier. If you are looking for a service that is not advertised or if you remember seeing a service that isn’t featured in a recent issue then please feel free to contact me. I will try to source the information you need.

‘Till next monthTracey


KEEP CALM because

SPRING IS COMING


You said itThe opinions expressed in this readers’ column are not necessarily shared by the publisher of the Irene Town Crier. Readers’ views can be e-mailed to [email protected].

6

Shelling peas!

I had to share something quite satisfy-ing and good newsy too really... The sheer relaxing luxury of shelling peas.

As I was wallowing in the memory of it all, sitting in our glorious sunshine out that bitter wind, it got my grey-matter whirring as to when was the last time I ever did it. And, do you know (no of course you don’t) it was when I was a child, no more than about 10 years old or so. I would sit with our maid (Sherree her name was) never in the sun, I grew up in Durbs by the sea and hence always warm - at a garden table beneath our ginormous shade tree in the back garden, and help her and sometimes my mum too.

Ok. ok so it was around 1962 or so. Incredible that it is a delightful chore denied us by the early advent and convenience of the frozen variety. And what was even more satisfying was that I saw them first at Woolworths for R29 (perish the thought) and from Zimbabwe. I had to go to our Lyttelton Housewives Market shortly thereafter and got an equal size packet for R6 and

locally grown. They were zapped up forthwith and granted me a good 20 minutes of reminiscences and smiles.

Thought you might enjoy that.Ros

7Containing dogs

I am deeply concerned at the sheer volume of dogs which escape from their homes, to gallivant in the streets of Irene.

Two of our dogs were killed after escaping from the property. This was in the bad old days before Irene was sectioned off, but still today, not only do they endanger themselves, but they endanger motorists too.

I wonder if it might be possible for anyone else to do what we have done on our property. We have completely sectioned off the garage area. This effectively works like the lock system on a submarine. And, in our case, it proved to be sur-prisingly inexpensive to do. It needed three small areas to be sectioned off from the rest of the property. Fortunately one of these (a short brick wall) had already been done by the previous owners.

It is now almost impossible for the dogs to get out onto the street and for anyone to feed them poisoned food. Nothing in this world is entirely foolproof. On the odd occasion the Caromba’s have been seen running down Laurence Lane after an escapee. But, importantly, the dogs have not been able to get out without our realising it immediately.

This may not be possible in most Irene homes, but perhaps, just perhaps - it might work for you. If this is inspiring, or helpful, to just one Irene family, I will be happy.

If anyone would like more detail on how we achieved this, please feel free to phone us at 012 667 2664.

Lisle Caromba

Raptor spotting

While we will leave it to others to write of the wondrous funeral and proceedings of Mr John and Mrs Diana van der Byl, I hope they will not mind my telling a rather unusual story of the grave-side ceremony.

A friend was gazing up and away from the proceedings and I knew she had spotted a raptor. “Yes, yes,” she said, “now look up there, directly up the main trunk to the squiggly left branch, take a right through the mass of pine leaves and look through that main tree to the one beyond,” (you have to be familiar with bird-speak of course) and there it was, right on top of one of those ancient tall farm pines.

Unmistakable with his long crested bearing and demeanour. He was magnifi-cent. He stayed a while, then gave a spectacular swoop giving us the full regalia of his white panels visible both above and below with his barred black and white tail disappearing through the trees.

We both felt he blessed the occasion like no other, and I make no apologies. What made his appearance even more overwhelming was the fact that he is not supposed to be in our area, not in Gauteng at all! He is scarce even in his habitat of moister regions, skimming the coast, Mpumulanga, Swaziland up

into Mozambique, Zimbabwe and the eastern wetlands of Botswana. His diet is also highly specialised in being entirely of rodents and in particular the vlei rat... so a fast shrivelling hunting ground and breeding territory.

You might find more than a few as you travel down to Durbs by car of course, on the roadside fence posts around the midlands... but this is no indication of the rare scarcity of these beautiful feathered creatures.

Ros Ambler Lindley

Please help to keep our guards

warm this winter

The nights are very cold now!

We would appreciate any donations of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, creamer & sugar. Knorr Cup o’ Soup, rusks and cookies will also be most welcome.

Your donations may be delivered to Jan or Dawie, at the Oval.

Thank you

The ILA Team and EBS Management

Looking for a place to

start your own business?

Look no further! There is a

45sqm room right at the entrance to

the Irene Hall available now!

Contact Barbara on 076 604 5432

10


Dear Residents and ILA Members

With the Winter Solstice behind us we can look forward to the end of what has turned out to be a rather bitterly cold winter. So many people have been ill, struggling to shake off the effects of flu and colds, and we’re sure that a few months of glorious weather will help us all to forget the discomfort, allowing us to once again experience more of our gardens and beautiful village.

Our thanks also go out to those who have generously donated items to assist our guards in staying warm while working outdoors to keep us safe at night.

Security

Petty crime, like the theft of brass house numbers and such persists, and we encourage our membership to please be alert and inform the ILA via Jan Swanepoel or EBS Security of any suspicious behaviour of individuals in the village.

Three crimes have been reported over the last month and it is with thanks to the efforts of EBS Security who, in the face of an increasing crime climate, maintain a firm approach to criminal activity in the village. An armed suspect was identified in the village and we again urge residents not to try and confront possible suspects. Follow emergency protocols and let EBS handle the situa-tion.

Once again, we appeal to all Irene residents to contribute to our collective security. Increasingly, new residents have avoided membership and this trend will make maintaining the security in the village problematic.

Domestic help

When EBS responds to an alarm and are met by domestic help, be it by a gardener or domestic worker on site, there is often no verification that they are


entitled to be there and for all the reaction officer knows, he might be talking to a potential criminal. In order to overcome this problem, we would request all members to supply us with the full name, ID, cell number and days of employ-ment of their domestic worker and gardener. If you employ a garden service, please supply name and cell number of the owner. Details may be emailed to [email protected] and copied to [email protected].

Building rubble

Please remember that it is the responsibility of the property owner to timeous-ly clear building rubble and other material left on the verge after building work has been completed. Please remember that we live in a village with small lanes and the roads become impossible to safely navigate when construction equipment and rubble lies in the way of traffic.

Contact details

Village ManagerJan Swanepoel Cell: 083 607 6600 Email: [email protected] ILA AdministrationAlyson Lea-Cox Cell: 072 714 3740 Email: [email protected] EBS Control RoomTel: 012 667 6337 or Cell: 071 576 5904

Membership

Should you not currently be a contributing member of the ILA, whether a prop-erty owner, tenant or pensioner, please remember that everything has been done to accommodate the residents in our village and we encourage you to join and be a part of the community and security that works hard to main-tain the quality of life that we have here. Interested parties can contact Jan Swanepoel at the number above.

Wishing you a safe month.Your ILA

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15IRENE’s OWN WIMBLEDON

After more than 12 years of not being used for playing tennis, there was huge excitement as the newly revamped tennis court at 20 Queen Street was inaugurated on Saturday, 12 July 2014. The occasion was attended by neighbours, friends and family (even friends from Germany).

In true Wimbledon fashion, strawberries, cream and champagne were served. A display match was played by Zani and Megan Teubes. Zani took the honours of being the first winner of the silver plate. Next year we hope to see a mixed doubles game as well, seeing that there will be ample time for the players to practice and get fit. Watch this space!

Photo: Lisle Caromba

“LOONEY TUNES” ANNUAL IRENE WINTER SOLSTICE POLAR BEAR SWIM

The annual “Looney Tunes” Irene Winter Solstice Polar Bear Swim was held at 21h00 on 21 June at Johan and Carien van der Watt’s house. The Theme remained “Fear is temporary, regret lasts forever.” The air temperature was a bit warmer than last year at 8degC and the water was a mild 10degC! The party started early with the Test Match on the big screen between Wales and South Africa, won unconvincingly by The Bokke. Carien and Johan were the perfect hostess and host allowing the swimmers and friends to make use of their home and entertainment area. Carien prepared Soup, Mac ‘n Cheese and Lasagna, while Megan and the other teen-agers provided a hot dessert. Ghluwein was courtesy of Wendy while Annemarie provided the ‘Melktertjies’. This, together with a bit of Jagermeister, was all an attempt to ensure the swimmers had enough Dutch Courage to take the plunge.

Most of those at the gathering had no fear but a few had valid doctor’s notes indicating heart conditions, ‘flu or similar! One family from

Brooklyn took great convincing being unaccustomed to the Irene temperatures. Nevertheless they too got in although I think Mom set a new record for the shortest time in the pool. Martin and Neels were so filled with the joys of winter that they even had another swim later on. They were officially crowned the champions of 2014, taking into account also their dancing tactics to warm up again afterwards. Martin and Zani won

the fancy dress competition with their snorkels, goggles, armbands and flippers.


Thanks Johan and Carien for a great evening. It was unani-mously agreed to hold next year’s gather-ing at Theo and Mel’s house down Lavender Lane!

Au Revoir,Malcolm

How well do you know your village?So you think you know the village. Here’s a fun challenge for you. I will publish three photos taken inside the village fence, per month, June to Dec, with questions. All you have to do is answer them correctly.

If you know the village as a result of long walks you may find some very easy, some on the other hand will be extremely challenging, and of course if it is your postbox or gate you will be one step ahead of the pack.

If you think you know the answers or can hunt them down, send your results to me in an e-mail and I will let you know how you did. My address: [email protected].

The full results will be published in February 2015 with the names of those individuals who got them all correct or came close. Good luck!

Peter July’s challenge:

Photo 1: You see lots of them in the Karoo. At what address would I find this one in the village?

Photo 2: These three lovely hand painted Hoopoe’s will catch your eye, name the lane please.


19be lucky. Give me the address please. Photo 3: Another

set of impressive gates… found at what address?

Congratulations go to Ethan Botha, Gabriel Burger and Alwyn van der Merwe - all three had June’s questions correct, well done.

Naomi Smith083 461 1231

Your reSideNt realtor ServiNg ireNe reSideNtS SiNce 2002

[email protected]

Making a difference

The Irene subway has been spruced up with a wall mural, painted on both sides of the pedestrian walkway, in addition to the clean up of debris and litter. As a result, this once rather depressing area is showing signs of upkeep and beauty.

Melia Gardens staff volunteered to spend 67 minutes planting at the subway and did a great job of planting donated succulent plants into the retaining wall. Now all we need is a little watering and with some luck, the area will take on a permanently attractive façade. Should you find yourself willing and available, take a watering can and keep the plants alive by giving them some much-need-ed hydration!

The project is not complete with the tunnel of the pedestrian walkway forming part of the next phase (thanks to Open Window who have volunteered their creative talent to make it happen) so keep an eye out for further upgrades and hoot and say “hello” when driving by.

Our sincere thanks to the efforts of the residents who volunteered their time and energy for this project as well as those who donated funds to make the project a possibility. The ILA kindly added their contribution to allow us to move forward on the project and the DIY Depot in Pierre van Ryneveld very generously do-nated paint.

Make a difference and be a part of a positive change!

Heather

21

Melia Garden Services - 67 Mandela Minutes

On Friday, 18 July 2014 the team of Melia Garden Services gave 67 minutes of their time to plant some plants at the newly beautified Irene Railway bridge. The plants were donated by some residents.

Thank you to Amelia and her team for doing their bit for the legacy of Madiba! Every bit helps and makes a difference. All that’s needed now is a few additional 67 minutes of watering (until the summer rains come)...

Fire WoodDelivered per solid cube 1/2 ton load or 1.5 ton load

delivered to your doorstep

Oscar078 389 9632

Irene Homes were privileged to be able to enter a team of Swimmers and athletes in the Special Olympics National Games which will be held at KZN in July. The residents and the dayworkers worked so hard to make it to the National games from Tshwane and now they will be representing Gauteng. We are very proud of them.

The golfers (picture above) will be participating in a tournament at the Royal Jhb Kensington Golf Club.

082 622 9001

Two Irene Homes Staff members received the following awards:

Lesley Clark – Communication & Leadership Award - presented by the Pretoria 2000 Toastmasters.

Maureen Gerber – Community Service Award – presented by the Ro-tary International Club of Centurion.

We at Irene Homes are very proud of you!

Congratulations

23

26Smuts House Museum

Ouma’s Tea GardenJan Smuts Ave, off Nellmapius Rd, Irene

Caravan ParkSmall Functions Arboretum & Trail

071 100 8481

www.smutshouse.co.za

012 667 1176/80

[email protected] Tea Garden 083 595 7293

Dogs on leads welcome

Smuts House

Tea Garden Closed on Mondays

Elize van den Berg 082 924 5178 012 667 2273

Yoga @ Southdowns

Contact Katherine

084 302 9186

www.kathyoga.com

To advertise in the Irene Town

Crier please contact Tracey on 082 460 6007

Ann Campbell (ARAD – Teach Dip) School of Dance: offering Pilates and Body Conditioning, Ballet – especially for the younger child at home studio and Irene Homes Hall, Ballroom and Latin American – social group classes, private lessons and wedding dances. Phone Ann 012 667 5187/083 316 7842 or email [email protected].

LP Gas: Cannisters delivered to your home. 9kg, 19kg, 48kg. Phone Colin 082 856 5335 e-mail orders [email protected] School of T’ai Chi Ch’uan: Holistic Internal Martial Art incor-porating deep breathing, slow rythmic movement bringing balance and harmony, peace and tranquillity. Self defence martial applications. Often described as a moving meditation. Please Con-tact Ainslie at 012 667 2262 or 082 568 0467.

Need professional shuttle services? Efficient and professional door-to-door shuttle ser-vices to OR Tambo airport and around Pretoria/Johannesburg areas. Tel 072 681 1713 or [email protected].

Security/Steelwork: Welding and repair work of steel fencing, burglar bars, security gates and motorised gates and intercom systems. Guar-anteed professional work. Phone Koos Sutherland 082 374 7164.

Extra Maths classes for Gr 8 to 12 in Irene (English or Afri-kaans). Available from 16h00 to 18h00 week-days. Fees payable per class or month. Contact Sigrid van der Walt (B.Sc (Hons) Mathematics) at 082 253 5079.

Education products: For good quality, reason-ably priced educational toys, books, posters.

wooden products, fan-tasy furniture, music instruments, stationary and arts and crafts from Grow, Unique kids, Smile and other education ranges please contact Mandy 083 256 7949 or email [email protected].

Certified Body Talk Practioner: Body Talk is a natural health care system, which is de-signed to work with, and support, your body’s own natural ability to heal it-self. Contact Eleanor 082 812 7606, www.body-talkhealth.co.za or email [email protected].

For advertising in the small business section please email [email protected].

Small businesses 27

Paving: I am John Banda and I do very good paving. I have learnt my skills from a paving company so I can do all kinds of patterns. Now I am working on my own. I have done paving in Irene so I have good referenc-es.Please call me at 078 039 5197.

28 Small criesAccommodation

To let: 3 bedr 2 bathr house with swimming pool, access to tennis court, double car port. R 18 000.00 p/m. w/l incl. Please contact Philip 072 254 7553. Offers also welcome.

To rent: 2 Bedroom simplex Centurion. A 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom townhouse with open plan kitchen, one garage and a small sunny garden, within close proximity to Centurion Gautrain Station, UNITAS and Centurion Mall. R5 300 per month. Available from 1 August 2014. Contact 083 271 1008.

Bachelor flat available to let in Irene Village R3 300.00 p/m w/l incl. Preference would be given to a tenant who can help with children and English tuition for a reduced rent. Contact Cornelia on 083 452 0971 for an interview.

Domestics

Sarah has been working

for me for the past 3 years. I’m moving to Durban. She is looking for domestic work from Monday to Saturday. She’s an honest lady and hard working. Her contact details are 074 578 1273.

Lisbet is currently working for me on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, she is looking for work on a Wednesday. She is a even tempered, very committed, hardworking, reliable and a remarkable trustworthy person who has been working for me since 1994. Since my children left home, the work at my house is not enough to keep her busy. I can highly recommend her. Kindly phone me for references Christine 082 824 0194.

Rahab is looking for domestic work on Wednesdays and Fridays. Honest and reliable. Resident in Irene and has worked here for 20 years. Please contact her on 076 308 3722. Reference 072 306 5619.

Mavis is looking for a job from Monday to Friday.

She is hardworking, honest and very reliable. Please call her on 074 517 4388.

Cinthya has over 15 years of experience on domestic/nursing including in Irene, Golf and Midrand Estate. She was professionally trained to clean by superior international standard. She’s simply excellent in all respects. Looking for daily work from Mon to Fri. Call her on 076 015 9814. For reference sms Paolo on 079 572 5915.

Domestic worker available on Tue, Thur and Sat in and around Irene. She has an excellent work ethic. She does washing, ironing, dishes and cleans the house very thoroughly. I would highly recommend her as she is punctual, hard working, takes initiative and does not have to be supervised. For a reliable reference please call Catherine on 082 462 7366, or call Gloria personally on 079 377 4337.

Elizabeth is looking for work on Mon, Wed and/

29

PLEASE NOTE: Domestic worker ads will only be placed on a first come, first serve basis. Domestics with a reference will take preference. There is limited space for these ads in our small cries section and the number of place-ments will be at the publishers discretion.

or Thurs. She likes kids and animals. She is hard working and reliable. Please contact her on 079 772 2607.

Beauty is looking for a full time or part time job. Please call her on 076 119 5886.

Buyile Sithole is looking for domestic work in Irene for Wed. She is honest and reliable. Please call her on 072 351 0224. For reference call Tracey 082 460 6007.

Shelter Mngcwabe is looking for full or part time work. 074 2190170. Reference 084 943 0584.

Precious Rupande is looking for full time domestic work. She has 6 years experience and can stay in or out. Reference Angela 073 486 7289. Please call her on 084 075 1179.

Victoria is a Malawian looking for domestic work. Please call her on 084 953 9919.

Simo is looking for stay in

or part time work. Please call her on 071 129 0922.

Wilheminah is looking for 2 days domestic work, Mon and Fri. Please call her on 082 671 2396.

Eny is looking for domestic work. Please call her on 078 058 8673.

Smangele is looking for domestic work on Tues and Thurs. 076 554 4060 or 072 411 8990. Reference 082 555 4060.

Gardeners

James is looking for work on Mon and Wed. He is hard working, honest and reliable. Please call him on 060 349 5213.

Looking for a full time job in Irene. Am presently living in Wellington Road. I am Zimbabwean with working papers and speak English. Please call Fine Masimo on 074 642 4842.

Stewart is a Malawian looking for work. Please call him on 084 872 6799.

Koos is looking for a gardening job with a place to sleep Mon to Thurs. Please contact him on 076 482 3685.

General

Smildon can do all types of blinds. Can also repair and recondition as well as install. He has references and experience. Please contact him on 061 931 1491.

Wanted

I am looking for a one or two bedroom cottage in Irene from 1 Sept. Please contact Tania on 082 797 9805.

I need to build a few steps in the garden, where we have a change of level. For this, I need a small quantity of bricks. Perhaps someone who has been building has some left over bricks which they could sell me? Lisle Caromba 082 784 0231.

30Important Telephone

Numbers EBS

24hrs Control Room:

012 667 6337 or 071 576 5904

EBS Irene Manager (Dawie): 071 476 4110

ILA members without alarms should phone the EBS 24hr Control Room for assistance.

ILAIrene Village Manager - Jan Swanepoel: 083 607 6600

e-mail: [email protected]

ILA Administration Accounts (Veronica): 071 657 9547

(Alyson): 072 714 3740 Fax: 086 776 7452

e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]

Street Lightse-mail: [email protected] tel: 012 358 9999

Tshwane Metro Emergency Services

Power Failures: 012 358 2541 Water Supply: 012 358 2111

Ambulance/Fire: 10177 Metro Police: 1 0111

Important Telephone Numbers

EBS24hrs Control Room:

012 667 6337 or 071 576 5904

EBS Irene Manager (Dawie): 071 476 4110

ILA members without alarms should phone the EBS 24hr Control Room for assistance.

ILAIrene Village Manager - Jan Swanepoel: 083 607 6600

e-mail: [email protected]

ILA Administration Accounts (Veronica): 071 657 9547

(Alyson): 072 714 3740 Fax: 086 776 7452

e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]

Street Lightse-mail: [email protected] tel: 012 358 9999

Tshwane Metro Emergency Services

Power Failures: 012 358 2541 Water Supply: 012 358 2111

Ambulance/Fire: 10177 Metro Police: 1 0111

SOMETHING BUGGING YOU?

Tel: 012 656 1341For all Pest Management Solutions

Joanne FischerCell: 076 373 0124Office: (012) 667 2167

[email protected]

Irene Area Agent

To advertise in the Irene Town

Crier please contact Tracey on 082 460 6007

www.LegacyHotels.com

Secretaries Day Lunch

CENTURION LAKE HOTEL | 1001 Lenchen Avenue North, Centurion | Tel + 27 12 643 3650For Bookings contact Kim Dupuy on 012 643 3650 or [email protected]

Show your appreciation with a special lunch

3rd September 2014R185.00 Per Person• Welcome virgin cocktailPre order a special gift or flowers when you make your booking

StarterSmoked salmon & cream cheese parcel

ORChicken liver parfait with melba toast & onion marmalade

Strawberry sorbet

Main Course Spinach & feta stuffed chicken supreme served with

fondant potato & seasonal vegetablesOR

Poached salmon with asparagus & a dill hollandaise

Dessert Warm chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream

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Irene Town Crier July 14

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