I always wanted to be the Mayoress of Bulawayo.
So much so that I appointed myself Mayoress of Pauling Road !!
Then I also made a few more appointments - Tracey is Mayoress of Duncan Road, Jeannie is Mayoress of Qalisa, Veronica is Mayoress of Parklands, Nix the Mayoress of Kumalo, Rosemarie is Mayoress of Park Road and so on and so forth.
Its amazing how we have the smartest streets in Bulawayo even if I say so myself.
But I still do not get to sit in the Mayoral Box at the City Hall !! Oh how I remember with such envy, watching from the Commoners Benches, while the dignitaries were sitting way up high in the Mayoral Box slightly in front of the plush red velvet curtain !!
All of Bulawayo's major performances would be undertaken in the Large City Hall in the Good Old Days. The pantomimes, The Ballet (even the Bolshoi Ballet once came to Sleepy Little Old Bulawayo !!) Everyone in the main body of the hall would have their eyes fixed on the Principal Boy in Babes in the Wood or the Dame in Sleeping Beauty .... my eyes would be firmly fixed on the Mayoral Box !!
There sat Mayor and Mayoress Max and Sylvia Logan or Mike and Pat Constandinos or Bill and Una Kinleyside or Jurick and Tania
Goldwasser !! Hats and gloves too I do believe !! Sniff !!
I had MY hats and gloves all ready for action ... large flowery wide brimmed hats for the garden parties, pert little netty jobs for the opening of the Trade Fair ... long black gloves for evening soirees and short white functional gloves for shaking hands with factory award winners !!
Oh that Massive Gold Mayoral chain that I could have worn!!
I too could have had the door of that sleek polished black Bentley, opened for me by that elegant, if portly, chauffeur Mr Porter !! (Maybe it wasn't a Bentley, it might have been a lowly Austin Cambridge), but it shone and sparkled and it had a little pennant on the front bearing the Coat of Arms of the City Of Bulawayo !!
I use to practice in my mind descending from the opened door, cameras flashing, keeping my skirt down demurely a la Princess Diana !!
I would have been an excellent "opener of stores, fetes and charity events," I would have dispensed largesse with great pomp and ceremony !! How come nobody recongised my Mayoral talents !!
I sometimes wonder into the City Hall and glare malevolently at the large oil portraits of the past Mayors...
Most of the Mayoresses were there by virtue of the fact that their husbands were Mayors but although HeeHoo has been Chairman
of This and Chairman of That, sadly he never had any interest in civic affairs !!
But I remember once when there was a bachelor mayor elected to office !! Surely this would be my opportunity , me me me me !!!!
But not to be, sadly I am but the Self Appointed Mayoress of Pauling Road and must be thankful that I have my Deputy Mayoress
Stanni, waiting in the wings to take my place one day !!
JEFF WITTSTOCK
It is for a memorial service for the late Jeff Wittstock in Jhb on Mon 9 March.
E MAIL MARILYN POPE FOR MORE DETAILS
Gmsec @saflodge. co.zw
BOXSHALL-SMITH "TED"
Family, friends and colleagues are notified of the sudden passing of "Ted" Boxshall-Smith at Badplaas on 22 February 2009 in <
South Africa.
Funeral will be held on 7 March 2009 at 12pm Badplass Vygeboom Dam South Africa
Tel Ed/Swaziland 00 268 50 54159 (Home) Cell 00 268 6021886
TAYLOR, Jim, passed away in Reading after a long illness. Jim Taylor, for those few left in Zim who remember him was the founder and secretary of the Rhodesian Typographical Union, afterwards known as the Zimbabwe Typo Union. He was a man of great foresight, courage and, at times, daring. His care for others was always in the forefront of his mind and many, many Zimbabweans are better off, thanks to Jim Taylor, a man who stood a little taller than the rest of us.
Goodbye, my friend. MHDSRIP. -- Peter Botwright, Scotland
Dear Family and Friends,
I am delighted to be able to tell you that my new book: "Innocent Victims," has just been published by Merlin Unwin Books in <
the UK.
Innocent Victims is the story of how Meryl Harrison rescued thousands of animals stranded on farms during Zimbabwe's land invasions. In her sixties and with a heart condition, Meryl travelled with one or two young SPCA Inspectors and together they faced mobs of men who were often drugged or drunk and almost always armed with weapons ranging from sticks and stones to guns, knives and whips. Meryl drove thousands of kilometres to remote and abandoned farms; she and her colleagues went into "no-go areas" and faced war veterans, secret police, army and youth militia; they dismantled road barricades and went to places which even the Police said were dangerous and unsafe. There wasn't an animal too big, small, slippery or furry for Meryl and she rescued cats, dogs and goldfish. She and her team caught pigs, sheep, cows, goats and chickens. They saved horses and ponies, duikers and sable antelope and intervened on behalf of lions, hippos and ostriches.
For some the heart of Innocent Victims will be in Marmalade, the cat rescued from under the bath; for others it may be in Bokkie, the dog on Roy and Heather Bennett's farm who won an award for "his exceptional bravery and loyalty to his owner and his family and his courageous action that saved their lives." Or maybe it will be the little un-named piglet which Meryl popped onto the floor of her truck while mobs of men raged, shouted and threatened all around her.
All of the stories in Innocent Victims are the original first hand accounts taken from Meryl's personal diaries. Some of the rescues are gruesome and heartbreaking but others tell of great courage, ingenuity and joyous reunions. All tell of the extraordinary dedication and deep passion shown by one woman for the lives of many thousands of animals. Innocent Victims is the story of an unsung and reluctant hero in our darkest of times.
Innocent Victims can be ordered from my website: www.cathybuckle. com/innocentvict ims.php or from the publishers at: www.merlinunwin.co.uk .
Thank you for your support of my writing and for reading this letter, love cathy. 22nd February 2009.
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