The Western Province Bowling Club was packed to near capacity when Old Greys Cape Town held their annual event with more than 180 Old Greys present. Guest host, Springbok Coach Rassie Erasmus, was accompanied by two of his staff Annelee Murray and Rene Naylor. Annelee hails from Cradock and is an Old Collegiate girl and Rassie has of course his roots in Despatch. As he said, “Despatch is only a stone’s throw to Port Elizabeth!” Annelee has managed the Springbok team for numerous years and Rene is well known as the physiotherapist whom we see on the rugby field. Present from The Grey contingent were Rector Chris Erasmus, Grey Junior Headmaster Grant Butler, Old Greys’ Union President David Hurr and Vice President Mike Swanepoel.
It was a magnificent evening. Complimentary beers were on hand on arrival, snacks were placed on the tables, and pastry starters followed before all enjoyed the main meal of a delicious lamb-filled roll from the buffet table. At a later hour mini boerewors rolls ended the evening. It was no sit-down type dinner event. This format was adopted years ago by the local Old Grey Committee to allow free and easy movement certainly added to the spirit of the evening. All the generations were present, the oldest being Mike Hoard ’60 and the youngest Chum Barnes ’23, who were each gifted a good bottle of Oak Valley Fountain of Youth wine to note their presence. Amongst the attendees, the Class of 1966 was particularly well represented. It is this class that was instrumental in playing a vital role in establishing a full-time Old Greys’ Union office on The Grey Campus in 2006. The raffles attracted huge interest, there were numerous lucky draws and Dr Darren Green ’95 (His Master’s Voice) later auctioned off a selected number of high-end auction items which included a week’s accommodation at the Beacon Isle in Plettenberg Bay and a signed Springbok team rugby ball from the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The proceeds exceeded expectations!
Darren, the ever-masterful Master of Ceremonies, welcomed all and introduced John Featherstone ’67 (Past Chairman of the local branch) who thanked all the sponsors who so generously made the evening affordable and a great success. Chris Erasmus and Grant Butler followed and gave their brief resumes on The Grey Schools. It is always good to hear from these gentlemen and know that Grey is in safe hands. Grant invited all present to visit Grey Junior when next in the City and to ‘bring along their marbles – even those who did not have any!’. Dr Chris Hofmeyr ’87 is the Chairman of the Old Greys’ Union Committee in Cape Town and it was thanks to him that we were offered the rare opportunity of having Rassie to address us. He heartedly thanked the famous coach from the stage together with Annelee and Rene. We could not have wished for bigger celebrity names to be present and it is going to be a hard act for the local committee to raise the so-called bar! Well done Hoffie – we are eternally grateful for your influence.
The highlight of the evening was a Question & Answer session chaired by Tank Lanning, a well-known rugby personality and Bishops Old boy. He handled the occasion with aplomb and posed to our honoured guests several questions and opinions. The ladies were very forthcoming and were in no way overshadowed by Rassie! We heard of some amazing stories and Rassie spoke and answered in his special brand of humour – we could have been back in Despatch! Annelee arrived with a strapped foot having undergone a procedure but nothing was holding down this Old Collegiate girl! Rene spoke of one or two embarrassing incidents on the field but it was all in good fun. The panel openly addressed a number of questions from the audience – there were no secrets to hide for those still have to be contrived by the most shrewd of rugby minds!
Organising an event of this magnitude entails a lot of effort and the local Committee has been fortunate to have been able to call on Candy Bubb who is an accomplished events planner. There is so much to ensure that all flows smoothly and it goes off like clockwork. Thank you Candy for once again making this annual Old Greys event a real hit!
-Ian Pringle