|
MATRIC 1975 - 30th ANNIVERARY CELEBRATION
On Friday 2 September 2005, the matrics of 1975 held a 30th anniversary reunion at the SP hall. It was in the form of a dinner dance, with the SP jazz band and Richard Caesar’s band in attendance.
1975 – in many ways this was the last year of the old order. This was the year before the Soweto uprisings, which ushered in a new spirit of defiance and consciousness; the year before the oppressed masses rose up and began to flex their muscles; the year before South Africa embarked on its inexorable path to freedom.
It was also the year before the official launch of TV in South Africa; the year before Michael de Morgan, Adrian Steed and Riaan Cruywagen became household names (and faces); the year before The Villagers, The World at War and Pop Shop with David Gresham started destroying the art of conversation and reading. Yes, the SA government had finally agreed to let loose the devil in the black box (to divert our attention from the total onslaught?) and South Africa was about to be transformed. Those were the days – we would watch the test pattern in amazement, watching the seconds tick by. Rod Stewart was ‘Sailing’
 
Arriving ... Richard Engel (with Anthony Staak) ..... and Cyril Martin.
And … it was the year a group of SP students, most of whom had started in 1971 with Mr Hepburn at the helm (Why did he have such a soft spot for the Wards? We were always told, especially before the inter-house or inter-school, that we should not do anything unto Ward – remember?), bade farewell to SP, with Mr Moerat set to begin his stint as principal. Mr Ravens, Mr Coker, Mr King, Mr Murphy, Mr Arries, Mr Bezuidenhout, Dr Rive, Mr Scott, Mr Prince, Mrs Petro, as well as the late Mr Thebus, Mr Schultz, Miss Haggis, Mrs Moses, Mrs Steenkamp and Mrs Wessels, and many others, all played their parts in shaping this group of students. Azalea won the inter-house at the start of this period, and again at the end, and would not do so again until 10 years later. These 93 matriculants parted ways at the end of 1975, many of them never to see each other again, until …
 
Mr King, Mr Moerat and Essack Mohammed (sans red hair) Anthony Staak, Barry Saunders, Wendy and Roger Arendse and Lindsay Curry
Thank goodness for name-tags. What would we have done without them? For those sleek heads of black hair had turned silver, the profuse mops (including the red) had given way to bald patches, and those lean athletic figures had begun to fill out just a touch. But those were just a few. Many others were instantly recognizable – the pretty girls had turned into beautiful women, and the cute guys into handsome (and distinguished) gentlemen. (And no, we shall not mention the word ‘middle-aged’.) We were also honoured to have with us Mr Moerat, Mr and Mrs Murphy, Mr King, Mr Coker, Professor and Mrs Ian Scott and present principal Mr Brian Isaacs.
 
Mr King, Mr and Mrs Murphy Mr Fred Coker, Washiela (Arnold) Maged, Desmond Smith
 
Judy Samuels, Mr and Mrs Isaacs, Cyril Siham Amos, Kim, Moegsina Gomez, Ashraf Grimwood
The evening got under way with an opportunity for all to socialize while sipping something cool and watching the Powerpoint slide-show compiled by Muhdni Grimwood, brother of Ashraf, from 1975 photos sent by various people. Did we really look like that? There was Mr Scott, with his brown suit and long hair – and here with us this evening was Professor Scott, with much less hair - and most of it grey. After a while the school bell rang – there was Gary van Dyk, our MC for the evening, ringing us to our tables so that the official proceedings could begin. The official welcome was done by Athletics captain and prefect Cyril Martin, who stated that SP could certainly hold its own in comparison with any other school in the Western Cape. He also showed us his running spikes, which still held pride of place in his home.
SP’s jazz band then entertained us for a while – a group of highly talented present and recent past students, one of whom is Dylan Staak, son of Anthony and Wendy (Cairns). Other familiar surnames in the band are Powell (Brett, son of Stephen) and Isaacs (Chad, son of Mr Isaacs). The keynote speech was done by Mr Moerat, who reminded us of some of the history of the school, and some of the greats who had gone before us. He also surprised many of us by recalling some of the incidents of the ’71 – ’75 era, and mentioned the names of those who had never given any trouble, and those who, much to their embarrassment now, had. Mr Moerat was given a standing ovation after his speech (and it was not just so that people could stretch their legs after one of his famous ‘short’ assemblies).
|
Mr Moerat and Gary van Dyk
|
And now for a short assembly
|
|
|
Richard Caesar and his band
|
Roger, Moegsina and Gary
|
|
Other speeches were made by Mr Isaacs, who spoke about his vision for the school, Quinton Summers, Chairman of the Alumni Association, and Moegsina Gomez, Head Girl in 1975, and Convener of the committee which had driven the reunion. (Other members were Gary van Dyk, Glen Knowles, Alvin Haupt, Roger Arendse, Lindsay Curry, Ashraf Grimwood and Barry Saunders.) In between these speeches we were treated to mouthwatering fare by Baron’s Caterers, who had also done the décor – and most beautifully. We were also privileged to be able to listen to the highly professional and accomplished Richard Caesar and his band. Live jazz at its best. Holding all of this together, in his own inimitable way was media personality and jazz aficionado, Gary van Dyk. He certainly kept us entertained with his witty comments. What will stay in our memories for a long time was his ‘ribbing’ of Mr Coker. Gary had made reference to the four houses, whose flags were on display on the stage, starting with Mimosa. After he had mentioned each one, Mr Coker asked, ‘What about Mimosa?’ At this, Gary immediately launched into an impression of Mr Coker, which brought the house down. ‘No, my boy, were you shleeping? You musht pay attention!’
A highlight of the evening was the group photo of the 1975 matriculants. After the photo had been taken, the group, led by Gary, launched into a hearty rendition of the school song – we could even stay in tune after all these years! The SP spirit was alive and well!
When the evening wound down at about 1am (we could have partied longer if we wanted to!), everyone went their separate ways, some having exchanged phone numbers – or business cards, some perhaps never to see each other again. Whatever the case may be, for those 5 or so hours, some people who had hardly, or never, spoken to each other at school, perhaps because of some clash or difference of opinion or simply because they were in different classes and never crossed paths, had had a chance to make up for lost time or simply to make up. And so we went our separate ways – separate, but re-united in that wide, warm SP family.
Photos were taken by David Forgus. (A CD of all the photos taken can be ordered from David at 021-7127976 or 0824690718.)
|
