Moving day

After a quick discussion in the morning, the Franz and Taljaard families decided to move house yesterday.

The Taljaard household was packed and moved from Port Alfred to Ocean Avenue, with their furniture and boxes being moved from the Industrial Area store.

The Franz household packed and moved from Ocean Avenue to Parker Road, and their furtniture was moved into the now emptied Industrial Area store.

A logistical nightmare for most but not for these interpid families, taking it in their stride and managing to complete all the moves before sundown. An impromptu housewarming party was held to celebrate at the Parker Road house - we were very limited on the booze front but managed to cope despite a certain mishap with a bottle of vodka and a bottle of rum!

Good time with great friends!

Not actual moving photo!

Raid to Adelaide 194!

It was all planned. On-board beverages, snacks, a borrowed car to ensure maximum space per square foot...

Jacques, Guillym and Alan all hopped into the Avanza and left Kenton at 5.00pm, or thereabouts. Arrived in Grahamstown and picked up Fabrizio and Ockie and we were off! After a necessary stop on Dikkopflats roadside, we arrived in Adelaide around 7.15pm.

Met by Hennie, Scott, Dassie and Chris from Adelaide 194, we joined their meeting at their clubhouse. With the food and beverages flowing, we enjoyed being able to listen to the way they run their meetings and projects, with many ideas being swopped and compared.

After the obligatory stop at the Midgley's Hotel after the meeting, we drove back (most slept...) and another visit is under the belt! We even managed to raid their Toilet Seat Trophy and Grahamstown 11's Mullet Award.

Good times!

Good-bye Michelle!

On Thursday night the Ladies all got together at the Goat Shed, near Kenton-on-Sea, to officially say good-bye to Michelle Pullen. Michelle's husband Richard became a 41'er this year, and it is a tradition in Alex/Kenton 210 for the Ladies to host a dinner to say good-bye.

A collage of photos and messages was handed over during the welcome by Daleen du Toit, after which Marliza Potgieter toasted Michelle in a speech.

The Ladies also gave Michelle her gift of a braclet with a small silver cross engraved with "proud 41'er x".

Raid on 195

Last night saw Jacques, Guillym and Alan driving to Port Elizabeth to visit the Round Table 195 Zwartkops meeting.

The on-board refreshments were a hit with the passengers, as was the brief stop at a fast-food outlet to ensure we were all sufficiently ready for anything that the sergeant could throw at us. After navigational issues in finding the Clubhouse (who knew there were so many identical streets in that area) we arrived in time to enjoy some fellowship before the meeting.

Unfortunately, two of the three trophies we were there to collect managed to find their way into the Round Table 208 Thornhill vehicle before we could grab them, but we will be getting them back on Alan's official visit next month.

A great meeting followed, with the Kenton guys yet again adding our own flavour to the proceedings, including reminding the guys of the finer points of Table etiquette...

A good drive back with some tunes (thanks to the mixed CDs we have finally added to the raiding vehicle) saw us in bed by 1am. Some of Daleen's travel sleepliness has worked it's magic on Jacques though, with our conversations often interrupted by his head-banging (we assume he kept waking himself up and it wasn't the music he was reacting to).

Area Chairman

This weekend in Thornhill saw Alan Malan from Alex/Kenton 210 being inducted as the Area Chairman for the Eastern Province Area.

Alan is a second-generation Tabler from the Club, with not only his father but also four uncles all having been members of 210, and continues the Club's great tradition of leading by example.

Alan is the fifth Area Chairman to come out of Alex/Kenton 210, with the Club also boasting a Past RTSA President and a Past WoCo President in it's history.

Seen here is Alan and Marliza Potgieter, 41'er Johan's wife.

Alex/Kenton 210 sweeps the board

This last weekend in Thornhill saw Alex/Kenton 210 winning most of the trophies on offer.

The Travel Wheel is a wooden wheel-shaped trophy, sporting a inner wooden spoke for each Club in the area. It is awarded to the Club with the most representation at the functions of the Area Conference, worked out over the distance travelled.

The Travel Shield is a wooden shield-shaped trophy, which is awarded to the Club with the most respresentation by the Ladies at the functions of the Area Conference, worked out over the distance travelled.

The Albert O'Callaghan Trophy is an engraved glass vase, which is awarded to the Club which convened the Area's Project of the Year - this was awarded to Alex/Kenton 210 for our Kenton Capers 2012.

The Middleburg Public Relations Award is a pewter mug on a wooden base, and is awarded to the Club with the best Public Relations during the year, combined with their PR presentation at the Conference.

The Steek-jou-dood Trophy is a set of Kudu horns on a wooden plaque which is awarded to the Club which wins the Inter-Club competition at the Area Conference.

The Slapgat Trophy is a wooden plaque with a buck-tail mounted on it, which is normally given to the Club which needs a performance boost, but was given to Alex/Kenton 210 with tongue-in-cheek and a pinch of salt.

Special mention was also made by the Area Secretary on the consistency of the minutes, as well as by the Area Trunk Tales Editor for the photos and editorial reports submitted.

All-in-all it was a fantastic weekend for Alex/Kenton 210!

Social Life

In Alex/Kenton 210 we have two floating social trophies, namely the Social Cross and the Social Pot.

The Social Cross is a wooden depiction of our logo, the Diaz Cross, and comes with a small leather-bound book in which a short story of how the recipient received and passed on the cross is written. There are many theories as to how the Social Cross must be moved, but the origins are far simpler - the need arose when the Club started for all the members to get to know one another better. The trophy was adopted to encourage Tablers to invite people they didn't know very well into their homes for a meal, and encouraged social fellowship in the Club.

The Cross these days can be moved at any function (from a cup of coffee, a quick beer at someone's house, a meal out, or a five-course dinner at your house) as long as you have the following mix: you, the Tabler you are giving the Cross to, the Tabler you got the Cross from, and a witness (and all their wives, girlfriends or partners).

The Social Pot is a galvinised black cooking pot on a wooden base, and is much less complicated. Again, the need arose in the early days of the Club for a social event to take place on a regular basis to encourage social growth, and each Member was designated a month of the year to hold a social event for the whole club, and provide food at the meetings held that month. These days we are a lot more active socially, but the Pot does seem to take it's time to move around. The meals at the meetings have been re-introduced and are a great hit!

Of course, with both these trophies it's not always disclosed when you are the recipient, with many a Tabler finding a hidden treasure in their cooler-box, wife's handbag or spare wheel space in the boot.

What's in a name?

A lot of people ask why some of our older banners and regalia, including the Chairman's Chain of Office, state Round Table 210 Alexandria, but we are now called Round Table 210 Alex/Kenton.

Two Clubs were initially started in 1976, namely a Kenton-on-Sea Club and an Alexandria Club. They went through all the motions of chartering their individual Clubs, had their meetings and even started projects. It was then decided that the Kenton members would all transfer to the Alexandria Club and Round Table 210 Alexandria was chartered.

The meetings took place in the back rooms of the old Alexandria Hotel, until a Clubhouse was leased from the Municipality on a 99-year lease on the Middle Beach Parking area in 1983. Unfortunately this lease was cancelled after 1994, after which a five-year lease renewable every five years was signed.

In 1987, it was decided that as most of the members of the Club were actually from Kenton-on-Sea, and seeing as how the Clubhouse was there, the Club approached The Association of Round Tables of Southern Africa and successfully had our name changed to Round Table 210 Alex/Kenton.

Our logo depicts the name change, as well as the Diaz Cross near Kwaaihoek.

Area Conference!

This weekend is the Area Conference in Thornhill (Loerie actually) and will see almost the whole club travelling down for the weekend.

An Area Conference serves three purposes: all the Chairmen and Exec Members get together to report back on their Club's activities and to plan for the next quarter; it's a great opportunity to travel to parts of the country you wouldn't normally; and it gives everyone a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

Alex/Kenton 210 has not always been a travelling club, but over the last few years we made an effort to travel together and stay together. The best friendships are made when you stay together!

This weekend is the Annual General Meeting, which finalises the past year and plans for the next. Marco Taljaard is also being inducted at the Meeting on Saturday.

Kenton Primary School Donation

Round Table 210 Alex/Kenton donated a desktop computer and two printers to the Kenton-on-Sea Primary School yesterday. This school is the life-blood of the community and is a very deserving recipient.

The Cruise

In honour of Este's birthday, she and Rudi hired the barge from the Sandbar Floating Restaurant on Saturday, and we headed up the Bushmans River.

It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful the river can be, and the slow steady speed we were travelling at was perfect for catching up with friends, and meeting new ones. We went up as far as the Ghio Bridge, where the boat stopped, for those brave souls who wanted to, to swim. A slow return brought us back to the Sandbar just before the sun began to set, and it was then off to Este's parent's house for her Father's birthday celebrations. A wonderful day out!

Annual Raft Race

The Annual Raft Race takes place on the Saturday morning on the last weekend of January each year, and sees most of the Clubs in the Eastern Province Area travelling to Kenton-on-Sea to race their rafts down the river.

The race follows the tides, running either from the Kariega bridge to the Kariega slipway, or slipway to bridge. The rules are simple: no engines, no boats, and RT210 Alex/Kenton as the hosts may not win (not that we normally stand a chance...).

This year we had great fun building our amazing raft - the Stingray, and despite it's great potential, were pipped at the post! This project is an amazing "gees" builder, with everyone loving the experience, despite it all being over in about fifteen minutes.