SOCIAL MEETING – 10am WEDNESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2018Christmas Tea - details below

1

Legacy Life Christian Centre Glenroy Road,Sherwood (off Kabega Road - behind the small Total Service Station)

041 365 4671

SAARP SOCIAL CLUB

PORT ELIZABETH WEST (PEW)

COMMITTEEChairman/Outings: Lynne Crothall - 041 3654671, zs2mm@telkomsa.net

Vice-chairman/Treasurer: Andrew McMorland - 041 3794599 ajmcmor@gmail.comSecretary: Mandy Bauer - 041 3794835, marielou@basicallybears.co.za

Membership Secretary: Ina de Bruyn - 041 3608104, inadebr@cjweb.co.zaFundraising: Milly Larkin - 041 3684838, rlarking@telkomsa.net

Members: Alan Hancock 083 450 4901, alanhancockcolleen@gmail.comAnita Wilson 041 360 5305 anita.bill.wilson@gmail.com

Refreshments: Anita Wilson 041 3605305

PLEASE NOTE! R5 ENTRANCE FEE WHICH INCLUDES TEA AND EATS (PLEASE HAVE CHANGE)

(refreshments precedes the meeting)SUBS PAYMENTS MUST BE EITHER PAID AT A SOCIAL MEETING OR DIRECTLY INTO OUR BANK ACCOUNT

BANKING DETAILS: SAARP Social Club PE West, FNB Newton Park Branch - Branch Code 261050, Account Number: 74107119626When paying subs directly into our FNB account, please either phone or e-mail Lynne Crothall

to advise of payment as FNB do not enter a name or reference on our Statement. Internet payments do have the payee details on the statement so those we can pick up.

VISITORS PLEASE TAKE NOTEAccording to club rules, visitors may only attend two social meetings and thereafter will have to join the club

to attend further socials

FORTHCOMING

9 JANUARY 2019SOCIAL

Entertainment to be advised

FEBRUARY 2019OUTING

Details at January Social

At our last social Hilary Theron gave us a very interesting talk on recycling with suggestions of what one can do with things that we normally throw away, she brought a lot of articles made from waste material.

Christmas Lunch: 163 members and friends enjoyed a super Christmas lunch at the German Club with some very happy winners in the many lucky draws.

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SPONSORS

TEA DUTYThe Committee and some volunteersto be on tea duty at December Social

Lynne to advise who will be on duty in January

SOCIAL MEETING AND CHRISTMAS TEA 12th December•No entrance fee

•No raffle tickets to be sold•R400 attendance draw with lots of lucky draw prizes

•Music & Song entertainment by Rienet StrydomBring & Share, left-overs to

be donated to various children's and retirement homes.MAKE SURE YOU ARE THERE! The Chairman & Committee wish all

our members, sponsors and friends a very happy Christmas and a wonderful

New Year. If you are travelling over this period we wish you a safe journey, please be careful as we would like you all back safely in the New Year.

Your suggestions for speakers orentertainment at our socials always

welcomePlease pass details to one of our

committee members

2

Prize Winners at NOVEMBER SocialClub 400 - Thanks to Warwick for extra R200pm R 40 – Andy McMorland R 80 – Elmine Smith R120 – Zodwa Gxolo R160 – Mpumi Mangwana

RafflesSunridge Superspar: Esther Botha, Ina Lotter & Pumla BomvanaCafé Capellini: Patricia Jali & Iris NikeloSeal Water Tech: Margo Schuin & Val HeathRays Car Wash: Trish WatsonSpargo’s: Rene JanosekIna De Bruyn Sewing: Rosemary Solomon & Elaine Ayerst

ALL WINNING VOUCHERS ONLY VALID FOR 3 MONTHS

DECEMBER 13 Zanele Hlalukana14 Alan Lerwill Denise Coetzer15 Rhona Whitehead16 Nomafrench Ganjana David Van Wijk17 Bernice MacGregor18 Louise Williamson19 Arnold Bouman Viola Fourie20 Andra Nuttall22 Joan Pereira23 Miselwa Tyanase24 Mavis Morgan Wendy Gillies Christina Springett28 Constance Mankonti30 Denise Barman31 Ken Simpson

to the following members

JANUARY 1 Sekelwa Xotyeni 2 Andrew Hiscock 3 Mariet Lamprecht Dykie Dijkstra Johan Terblanche 4 Bennie Botha 5 Cynthia Parker Peter Giddy Alexander Murray 6 Margo Schuin 7 Mpumi Mangwana Dorothy Tsotsobe

PENSIONERS 10% DISCOUNT EVERY TUESDAY

PLEASE SUPPORT

OUR KIND SPONSORS

Seal Water TechSpargos

Restaurant

Body Wellness Massage Therapyto rejuvenate,

de-stress and get pampered byLofaine 071 571 7101

ALTERATIONS AND SEWINGFRAMESBY EXTENTION

Ina De Bruyn - 041-3608104 / 082 4058 522inasewing@awoko.co.za

SunridgeSuper Spar

3

•HIKING: - For information about walk, braai etc please contact the leader of the day on the hiking schedule belowOnly one (breakfast) walk left for a year of great weather, participation and little rain interruption. Van Stadens reminded us of the loud, noisy baboon residents across the river. The Pine Lodge / Recife walk was completed clockwise, a good choice. Some bush needs cutting. Thorneycroft remains magnificent on a clear day. Nanaga with a truck stop addition is looking so commercial now. Maitlands remains a superb effort-walk with plenty of bush growth and some ticks about. The Bridal Path ground cover has recovered remarkably after the fires. Unfortunately the slippery boardwalk down to the Sardinia Bay beach resulted in fracture injury to one of our newer members. We wish a full, speedy recovery to her. Any of these slippery, sandy beachfront boardwalks can only be used with great caution and handrail support. We were fortunate to have the help and strength of a members' grandson with us ! In fact we encourage younger family members to join our outings, they can be so refreshing. ALAN HANCOCK

EACH ONE OF US SHOULD CARRY THEIR NEXT OF KIN CONTACT DETAILS, MEDICAL AID CARD AND MEDICATION FOR SERIOUS ALLERGIES.

HIKING SCHEDULE: 13 DECEMBER to 3 JANUARY 2019 DECEMBER START TIME WALK LEADER HIKE INFORMATION FOLLOWED BY LOCATION COST P.P.

13 1100 Allan YEAR END BRAAI Braai V.P. Bowling Club R5 for venue 0834504901 or braai

JANUARY 3 0600 Allan / Lynne SACRAMENTO Champagne Sappershoek R5 for venue 0834504901 CANNON Breakfast Gas Stoves or breakfast

•DARTS: Contact: Dave and Pat Nelson, phone 072 266 8391 or email davepatn@axxess.co.za We play every Wednesday morning at 10am at the German Club, except for the 2nd Wednesday of each month when we have our monthly social. The German Club still do pensioners lunches at R70 per person, these include a pudding with the main course, so please support them.

PLAY FOR FUN - WHATEVER YOUR EXPERIENCEOur social sport programme is for our members to enjoy the

various activities organised for them•10 PIN BOWLING - MARGO SCHUIN

Our top players again were John and Mary Giddings with 161 and 159 respectively. Champion couple !!!

Many of us have been fortunate to win the Bay West Bowling Alley Voucher of 1 free game so we are all delighted. Come and join us and you could be one of the lucky ones.

We are having our Prize Giving Brunch on Monday 10 December and are looking forward to having our Lighthouses group join us for a game and then the brunch. Please be there by 09h40 so that we can get you all on the lanes.

Those of you sitting at home feeling lonely, come and join us for an hour of fun:-We play every Monday. Arrival time is 09h40 and play starts at 10h00. We are normally finished by 11h00.

For Lighthouses contact Bobbie Long on 071 227 7035 Cost is R15 per gameFor Bay West contact Margo Schuin on 083 553 3415 Cost is R20 per game & R5 for parking

You don’t have to phone, you can just show up make new friends, have a lot of laughs and enjoy a really special morning – you could even win a free game.

I wish you all a blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with health, love, laughter and happiness.

BREAD TAGS & PLASTIC BOTTLE TOPS FOR CHARITYNB: ASHLEY SAID THAT IF YOU CAN DRINK THE

CONTENTS OF THE CONTAINER THE TOP COMES OFF, THEY CAN USE THEM.

Please save your bread tags and bottle tops and bring them to the social meetings or give them to Lynne.

PLEASE SUPPORT

OUR KIND SPONSORS

EDITORIAL, LAYOUT & DESIGN BY LYN MARSH lynmarsh@mweb.co.za

TOP AGENT @ IPC 2013/2014

Thinking of scaling down or just need adviceOn ValuationsFinancial implicationsFull service to transfer and beyond

For this service, phone ROB LOPES 083 4400508

COPIES OF THIS NEWSLETTER KINDLY DONATED BYROB LOPES OF IPC INDEPENDENT

4

Origin of the Christmas TreeThe Christmas tree today is a common custom to most of us. There are

many interesting connections to ancient traditions such as Egyptian and Roman customs, early Christian practices, and Victorian nostalgia.

However, most scholars point to Germany as being the origin of the Christmas tree.

One of the earliest stories relating back to Germany is about Saint Boniface. In 722, he encountered some pagans who were about to sacrifice a child at the base of a huge oak tree. He cut down the tree to prevent the sacrifice and a Fir tree grew up at the base of the oak. He then told everyone that this lovely evergreen, with its branches pointing to heaven, was a holy tree - the tree of the Christ child, and a symbol of His promise of eternal life.

In the 1840s and 50s, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert popularized the Christmas tree in England. Prince Albert decorated a tree and ever since that time, the English, because of their love for their Queen, copied her Christmas customs including the Christmas tree and ornaments. An engraving of the Royal Family celebrating Christmas at Windsor was published in 1848 and their German traditions were copied and adapted.

Another story about the origin of the Christmas tree says that late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope that spring would soon come.

Another legend that has not been proved is that Martin Luther is responsible for the origin of the Christmas tree. This story says that one Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through the snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of the snow glistened trees. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moon light. When he got home, he set up a small fir tree and shared the story with his children. He decorated the Christmas tree with small candles, which he lighted in honour of Christ's birth.

Research into customs of various cultures shows that greenery was often brought into homes at the time of the winter solstice. It symbolized life in the midst of death in many cultures. The Romans were known to deck their homes with evergreens during of Kalends of January 15. Living trees were also brought into homes during the old Germany feast of Yule, which originally was a two month feast beginning in November. The Yule tree was planted in a tub and brought into the home. But there is no evidence that the Christmas tree is a direct descendent of the Yule tree. Evidence does point to the Paradise tree however. This story goes back to the 11th century religious plays. One of the most popular was the Paradise Play. The play depicted the story of the creation of Adam and Eve, their sin, and their banishment from Paradise. The only prop on the stage was the Paradise tree, a fir tree adorned with apples. The play would end with the promise of the coming Saviour and His Incarnation. The people had grown so accustomed to the Paradise tree, that they began putting their own Paradise tree up in their homes on December 24.

Whatever legend you wish to pass on, remember that Christmas is the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The origin of the Christmas tree can't change that fact.