THE STRANGERS IN THE BOX

"Come, look with me inside this drawer
In this box I've often seen
At the pictures, black and white

Faces proud, still and serene.

I wish I knew the people
These strangers in the box
Their names and all their memories
Are lost among the socks.

I wonder what their lives were like,
How did they spend their days?
What about their special times?
I'll never know their ways.

If only someone would have taken time,
To tell who, what, and when,
Those faces of my heritage
Would come to life again.

Could this become the fate
Of the pictures we take today?
The faces and the memories
Someday to be tossed away.

Make time to save your pictures
Seize the opportunity when it knocks
Or someday you and yours could be
The strangers in the box.

(Author: Pam Harazim)

Jeffreys Bay - Kwela Finalist Town of the Year 2015

YES FOR JBAY!

The people of Jeffreys Bay voted with their thumbs in the past week when the Our Times ran a survey on Facebook to test the response of readers.

The results are as follows; The YES won by 51 votes to 19. This represents 63% of respondents in favour of Jeffreys Bay being included in the Kwêla town of the year 2015. Interestingly - despite the small number of voters the survey generated over 500 comments as late as Sunday the 18th 23h00 cut-off time.

HENDRIK SPOORBEK SE LEGENDE ( En die opspoor van sy graf....)

Churchill-dam in droogte tye

Hendrik Spoorbek is gebore in Dortmund, Duitsland, as Heinrich Schörbeck, en het ongeveer in 1811 na die Kaap gekom as matroos of soldaat, maar het later gedros. Sy ambag was klip-dresseerder. In 1815 vind ons hom in Humansdorp distrik, want toe is die plasie aan die Kromrivier waar die bolope van die Churchill-dam is, aan hom toegeken. In ‘n droogte-tyd, wanneer die dam minder as 34% water het, is die grond weer oop, en kan mens daar gaan rondloop.

KEN ONS WERKLIK DIE MENSE NA AAN ONS?

Wanneer ’n mens lank genealogiese navorsing doen, weet jy dat jy soms op inligting gaan afkom wat dalk nie vir ’n familie aangenaam en aanvaarbaar gaan wees nie. Min navorsers het dan die vrymoedigheid om daaroor te skryf en dit word dus maar liewer uit ons navorsing weggelaat. Die werklik dapper genealoog mag moontlik besluit om die soort familieinligting waarna in hierdie artikel verwys gaan word in ’n notaveld in te skryf om dit sodoende darem nie heeltemal te ignoreer nie.