What’s Up with the Old Scholars

REUNIONS 2010 If you have any information about forthcoming reunions then please send details to Barbara Love at WKS at this email address wkspro@wartburg.co.za so that we can update the webpage.

This years’ Golf Day was like many previous we have hosted ~ a huge success! A maximum capacity of golfers and sponsors made for a most successful day out on the course as well as for the school!

Both the morning and afternoon tee-offs were well supported with many sponsors choosing the ‘Exclusive Hole’ rights for the day, to advertise their companies to the fullest!

We extend a huge THANK YOU to all sponsors! Your support is greatly appreciated! To the parents and Old Scholars of the school, who helped with sourcing sponsors, donating money, food supplies or helping on the day at the golf club ~ a very BIG thank you!! Team effort and parent support is essential for these functions to be a success and the stronger the Wartburg-Kirchdorf School ‘team’ is the more our children will benefit!

We raised in excess of R66 000.00 and the new security entrance and upgraded parking area are already evidence of where these funds are going! The new drop off system will benefit all learners as the security at the school is increased.

Thank you, once again, to everyone who has been involved in making this 2009 Golf Day the success it was!

Raffle - 1/2sheep: Ruth Jacobs, 1/2 Sheep:Mark Webber, Milestone Furniture: Vaughn Basson

Agri-Trans, All about Bolts, AMT Services, Armstrong Motors PMB, Avi-Pharm, Barloworld Equipment CAT, Builders Depot (F&T), C Freese, C&S Build It, Casper’s Auto Electrical, CFP Tyres, Chemiphos, ColorCrete Paving, D Kassier, Dalton Brokers, Datcentre PMB, deHeus/Nutrex, Dr R Rencken, E Hohls, Emanzini Private Game Reserve, Estorf Engineering, EW Eggers, EW Schulz, F.E.S., G McEwen, GAP Chemicals, Got Salt, GR Motors, Hayter & Bauer Management, Hillermann Bros, V Uhlmann, H Wortmann, H Habermann, Illovo Noodsberg, Indaba Training, Industrial & Chain Saw, Irrigation & Drainage, Italia Engineering, Junges Garage, Kumon/H Schroeder, L Freese, LNT, M Farming, Magnum Stores Dalton, Manline, Mascor Dalton, Mascor Greytown, Meadow Feeds, Meister Meats, Mitchells Accounting, Omnia Fertiliser, On Tap, P Straeuli, Plastic Extrusions, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, PS Sheet Metal, James’ Signs, R Fortmann, R Klipp, R Uhlmann, Raffia Tufbags, Rays Electrical, East Coast Power Steering, Reapers, Rencken Farming, R Naidoo, Rozies Agencies, Rudi’s Electrical, SA Fire, Sabat Batteries, SBS Brick & Block Sales, Schulz Wiesinger O’Dwyer, SMG PMB, Southey, Span Africa Steel Structures, Standard Yoke & Timber, Straeuli’s/Adcocks Travel, Sunshine Seedlings, Supa Quick Dalton, Tarboton Ross & Holder, Tennis+, Terramove, The Plant Factory, Trans Natal Minerals, Treated Timber Products, Trellidor, Tyre Core, UCL Co Ltd, Umgeni Livestock, Walter Meyer Agency, Wesbank PMB, Willard Batteries, XTEC PMB, Quality Meats, Belgotex Floor covering, Pannar, Jackson Sports, Biltong Man, Empeeco, Thies Trust, NAA, Cathedral Peak Hotel, Bridglee Coffee Shoppe, New Hanover Hotel, Milestone Furniture, SwissAir, TAI Insurance, Budget Car Hire, Defy Appliances, Timeless Interior, Bearing Man, Breland Spar, Nampack Sacks, Tristar Plastics, PG Glass PMB, Hulletts Alumin, Pronel, aQuellè, Waltons, Argyle Poultry, Edelnet, H Köhne, Homebase Guest Lodge, Variquip, IT Solutions, Video Shop & Number Plates, First Impression Labels, UPE, Johnson’s Outfitters PMB, NMF Dalton, Mac Fluid, Moffat Optical, Tops @ Wartburg, Schnell Meats, Noodsberg Country Club and JE Living.

On Saturday, 26 September, 2009, nine post Matric pupils gathered to celebrate a Golden 50-year Reunion! Two past pupils were unable to come due to prior commitments and four class friends had passed away. (We were fifteen in our class). Those folk were missed but fondly remembered by us all. We were accompanied by our spouses, where possible, and a total of 20 people gathered together.

At 2:00 pm we all met for afternoon tea and coffee at Hugo Schröder’s home. This was followed by a visit to the new School, (new for us because we attended High School at the Old Primary School buildings). At 3:00 pm. we were met by Mr Baxter, the current Principal and Mrs Love, the PR for the School. There are a number of old and new photographs displayed in large frames around the School corridors in the Administration block. We had fun looking at some of the old school buildings and remembering some of the faces too. So much has changed since we were last at School! We were given a photo journal that celebrated 125 years of Education at Wartburg Kirchdorf School by the School Principal, a wonderful treasure indeed.

Sadly we could not get to see inside the Hostel as they had closed for the School Holidays. That did not stop us from reminiscing with one another as some of our fondest memories are from the wonderful time we spent together there.

Next was a visit to the Old School, which is now called Georgenau that caters for children who were previously at farm schools in the area. The Headmaster, Mr Masikane, kindly met with us and allowed us to look around the school and reminisce. We recalled sitting in various classrooms and the antics that we got up to. How sad that the Science Laboratory has gone. We were all saddened, however, with the general state of decay and deterioration in the school.

Perhaps this sense of loss put us in the right mood to visit the Cemetery where we had a moment of silence for our Head Boy, Hilmar Schutte, who died in October 2008, our past Principal, Mr Richard Schutte as well as our school friends who have passed away.

We then met at the Wartburg Orion Hotel for drinks where we laughed and talked and caught up on news and events in our lives over the last 50 years. It was amazing! Our Head Girl, Bruni Kassier, had arranged a splendid meal for us and decorated the dining hall beautifully with flowers, candles and golden 50’s. Mr Straeuli found us and we all enjoyed his company and speech. The food was delicious and we had a great time chatting until late.

On Sunday morning, we met for breakfast and a picnic which we all enjoyed. As people left for their journey home it was hard to say goodbye. We all acknowledged what a privilege it was that we received such an excellent education at a school where integrity and hard work were instilled in us!

Our 50 year reunion was a very special experience for us all and one that will leave many fond memories. The Class of 1959 would like to thank Bruni Kassier for motivating us to come and organising such a special celebration for us to enjoy.

Lynette Mason

30 YEAR REUNION NEWS

36 class mates and 9 staff members met at Heinz Wittig’s home in Wartburg on Saturday 31 October. We believe that this is the largest group of Old Scholars to meet at a reunion for a number of years. It was interesting to note that some of the folk had not been to Wartburg since they left school. It certainly was a multi-national meeting with people from as far afield at USA, Germany, Botswana, Gauteng, Pretoria, Newcastle, Durban, Pietermaritzburg as well as Dalton and Wartburg joining us with their spouses and children on the day for a time of reminiscing and reflection.

Looking at the nine teachers that arrived we were all amazed at how young they all looked. They were ‘oldish’ 30 years ago and they are still ‘oldish’. Did they stop aging when we left? Most of us hadn’t seen the teachers since December 1979 when they were the authoritarian champions and were Mrs Jones and Mr Gräbe Sir!! I am sure that they barely recognised some of us. Perhaps it was the customary additional 20kgs that had somehow attached itself to our hips or maybe the greying hair and the 30 or more wrinkles that now showed on our faces. As we have matured we have come to realise that Educators are not in a profession, they are following a calling because they do it for the love of children. Thank you. We salute you for the lasting footprints you left in our lives. What we have come to realise, and especially those of us with children in the high school, is that we had the BEST educators and Wartburg Kirchdorf School continues to employ the BEST educators. We thank all those wonderful teachers for joining us and giving our reunion the depth that it had.

The day started with a 30 minute session of “Wow you haven’t changed” “Who’s that” “Look at you…and you were our teacher”. Ingbert Hillermann (Head Boy 1979) welcomed the guests and Mr. Geoff Baxter welcomed the Class of 1979 back to Wartburg. Mr. Werner Straeuli addressed us next and then it was time for lunch.

Straight after lunch Bob, the driver (alias Ingbert Hillermann), (Do you remember the bus driver?), hooted, alerting us all that the bus was leaving and we were heading to School on the WKS School bus. This was a relatively quiet trip as everyone was deep in thought and quietly explaining to their off spring that “Yes we actually did this every day – twice ‘nogal’”. “Wow you were ‘soooo’ lucky” was the response. The photo shoot was up first and this proved to be quite hilarious. We tried to seat everyone as they were seated 30 years ago on the tiered seating.

Barbara Love, the Wartburg Kirchdorf School PRO, took us down memory lane with a power point presentation highlighting and comparing the old and the new and how things have changed in the past 30 years. After this step back in time we went to the Hostel. The transformation here, especially in the bathrooms, was unbelievable. The School and Hostel visit left us proud of our heritage and amazed at the changes that we saw. Our High School stay seemed only a few years ago to us – so much had changed and yet the same principals, where a strong sense of purpose and good ‘old fashioned’ values that were nurtured and instilled in us, are still being nurtured amongst the present students today. I guess those morals and values that we grew up with have not changed much at all. We realised what a privilege it was to have spent our formative School years at such a wonderful School and the positive impact it had in all of our lives. The trip back was dead quiet. Most of us were deeply touched emotionally by this reunion.

Back at the Wittig’s we were treated to warm Butterkuchen and coffee. The conversations carried on and the topics varied and the time flew by. It was time to depart to the Noodsberg Country Club for supper.

Pre-dinner drinks flew by and soon we were seated for our meal. Doctor Wilhelm Weber, our very own class pastor, started the meal with a prayer and we all sang the “Komm Herr Jesus”. Wilhelm got us singing in three different groups and Mr Lutz Kohrs would have been very proud of the Class of 1979! The yakking never stopped. All our kids were seated at their own end of the table and they bonded amazingly. The stories got bigger and better as the evening got longer and the amazing thing was…no one was too phased about who had become what. There is no comparing and no looking up or down, we’re just one big happy “class of 1979” and that is all that mattered. We are all 20kg’s at least, heavier than 30 years ago (Some ‘skraal’ individuals never quite got the message about the weight thing…...Thinner than a beanstalk these lucky people still are), we all have wrinkles around the eyes, we’re all grey, bald and you know what it didn’t matter!! No one noticed because it is not important anymore!!

We had a very interesting time at the Dinner Table. Everyone gave a brief/or not so brief life history. This story time took at least an hour, with plenty of laughing, emotional moments, reminiscing and comments from the peanut gallery. By then we were all ready for dessert and coffees.

After a very late night - 3am for some of us, we said our final goodbyes with an unspoken promise of, “We’ll keep in touch!” We can’t wait until we meet again.

Fondly

Ingbert and Elona Hillermann

25 YEAR RENUNION NEWS

I was privileged to share a little of my Matric memories at the Cheescake and Evening Gown extravaganza at Wartburg Kirchdorf School where some of my classmates got together to celebrate our 25 year reunion. There were over 240 ladies who came to enjoy a Matric fashion show fundraiser. It was a wonderful experience.

I must admit up front, a fair amount of fresh research and jolting of memory had to happened in order to prepare for today. The school magazine was my saving grace and primary source of reference since my class mates and friends are experiencing an early onset of Alzheimer’s. Whether this is because they are really shocked and disturbed by the thought that they have been out of school for 25 years, or if the memory loss is stress related no one is prepared to reveal!

Well - 25 years ago on the 13 October we entered “the perfumed gardens of Buddha” through those doors to enjoy our Matric dance. – Feeling excited, ever so elegant and very grown up!

I discovered in the School Magazine that the Grade 11’s or Std 9 pupils had collected R2 700 for our big event! The girls wore knee length dresses and the boys looked very dashing in their suits.

I would like to encourage these young Matric ladies to wear their gorgeous outfits often over the next few years, because an amazing fact of life is that when you leave something hanging in your wardrobe over a period of time, the next time you want to wear it you discover it has shrunk at least 2 sizes!!!

Some interesting information about the year 1984:

The Wild Life Society and Photographic Club were started. We had to pay a membership fee of R5 to join the photography club!

The Wartburg High’s Eye – the pupils’ newspaper was first published.

1983 and the start of 1984 saw us in a severe draught which meant that our swimming season in 84 only started in late February. Yet the cricket season later on in the year was a very wet one!

The rugby season was plagued with injury. More about this later!

The 1^st hockey team played a total of 21 matches (won 11, drew 4, lost 6).

Karen Maree, was our school’s Hockey captain and was selected for the South African Schools’ Team – she later went on to captain the South Africa side. We are so proud of you Karen!

The Hockey and Rugby teams toured the Eastern Transvaal. Our first stop over to the E. Tvl was Dundee. We arrived just in time for their end of term “sokkie” – when asked to dance the question was “vas of los” – needless to say it took us a while to understand what was meant by this phrase. On this tour 5 of our boys had to be taken to Nelspruit Hospital for treatment with one of them having to stay in over night.

19 of us attended the Wartburg – Kirchdorf Schools from Class one to Matric.

We as the class of 84 would like to think that we were the best pupils EVER – which other class had George Orwell’s, 1984, as an English set book and Pink Floyd’s “ We don’t need no education “ as the class song!?

Despite all the headaches we caused our teachers and parents we are most grateful for the many opportunities that were given to us. We enjoyed our school life and even had a Matric after party.

To the class of 2009 I would like to say: Remember you are the author of your own life story. Who you will become in the next few years will depend on whether you take God with you on this journey, whether you consult Him in the decisions you have to make and whether you keep in constant conversation with Him. It will also depend on the books you read, the people you meet and the choices you make.

In closing I would like to read to you from Deuteronomy 31:8

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid and do not be discouraged.Soon the start of a brand new chapter in your life’s story begins. It is a part of the story which you do not have to fear because you will have God who will go before you!

Thank you.

Petra Wiesinger

20 YEAR REUNION NEWS

What a task it was to find everyone, but thanks to email and facebook, the majority of the class was tracked down.Our reunion was held on the 5 September 2009 at the Noodsberg Country club and the turnout of our class was surprisingly good considering most now live out of the country. A family day with loads of laughter and fun as we reminisced about our classes and the good ol’ days back at WKHS.

It was wonderful catching up with old friends (as adults now) and lovely to realise that after all this time, nobody has changed at all!

The biggest surprise was that we couldn’t get over how quickly 20 years goes by and an overwhelming response to our next reunion being in 5 years time, why wait another 20!!

Class friends who made it: Liesel Crogan-Black, Cornelia Kersenfischer, Stefan Ringelmann, Manfred Gebers, Craig Wright, Neil Dobeyn, Graeme Wright, Carol Engelbrecht-Wunderlich, Laetitia Wortmann, Peter Deppe, Birgit Schirge-Kuhn, Jacqui Fortune-Klipp, Petra Hohls, Lindy Hedgcock-Lavers, Catherine Keightley, Ingrid Elliot.

Lindy Lavers