This weekend Howick High School hosted its inaugural girls’ 6-a-side Soccer tournament. 16 teams from the Midlands region, spanning as far as Hillcrest and Ballito, participated, including the Howick 1st, Howick 2nd and Howick U16 teams.
Competition was fierce and the football was of a high standard. Howick’s 2nd team were defeated in the Quarter-Final, and the 1st team went out in the semi-final. The Howick U16 team displayed tremendous skill, determination and courage, and were the overall tournament winners, lifting the trophy in the championship final.
The tournament was a resounding success and was concluded with the team draw for the 2017 MARITZBURG FA Cup which will be held at Howick High School on 26 and 27 August.

Photo above – 16 Girls’ Soccer teams from the Midlands Region participated in Howick High School’s first 6-a-side tournament this weekend.

News supplied by Howick High School.

Photo below from Left to Right – Howick High School’s U16 Girls’ Soccer team were the overall winning team of the tournament. Pictured here with their coach, Mr Scott Wheeler, trainee coach, Joshua Wheeler and Principal, Mrs Lauren Farquharson are team members Nicola Lawrence, Amanda Makhathini, Nandipha Zuma, Zithobe Mnyandu, Kalai Glover, Alex Candler and Laiken Austen (standing) and Beth van Onselen and Chloe Vermeulen (kneeling).

The annual matches played against local clubs Howick and Hilton have now both been played. These games are always most enjoyable and played in a spirit of friendship with much laughter and banter. Umgeni Waterfall lost both matches and look forward to next year when we hope to come out on top!

News supplied by Umgeni Waterfall Bowls Club.

Congratulations to Ricardo Parau and his great team on the relaunch of the fabulous SUPERSPAR GREENDALE. These specials are available to 1 August 2017.

RESULTS: The Tabs In Competiton on 12 July sponsored by Halfway Toyota Howick was won by the trip of Peter Burton, Jo Boonzaier and Grace Abrahams. The runners up were Colin Burden, David Mainprize and Marianne von Wieringen.The prizes were presentd by Margie Wheelwright of Halfway Toyota Howick.

Congratulations are extended to the club title winners Clark Logan (Men’s singles), Mark Taylor (Novice singles), and Barry Bedworth & Clark Logan (Men’s pairs). Thank you to the members who came along to support the players and to the ladies who so kindly provided the delicious lunch for players and spectators.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
Friday, 28 July: Annual match against Hilton Bowling Club. Team selections are posted on the notice board.
Wednesday, 09 August: (National Women’s Day) All day Competition Sponsored by J Leslie Smith Inc. UWBC Members and players from other clubs are invitedto support this event. Entries may be sent via sms or WhatsApp to Bernice Burden 071 164 3162.

News supplied by Umgeni Waterfall Bowls Club.

Your 8 - 9 year old will love to read these charming rescue stories, especially if he/she is an animal lover!

Find us at Shop 3/4, 3 Mare Street, Howick.

News supplied by Nuts About Books and Toys. 

Members of the community are invited to gather together on Tuesday 18 July at 12:30 at the Old Agricultural Hall, Falls Drive/ Morling Street to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s birthday by dedicating 67 minutes or more to his legacy.

Action steps will be taken to help improve the beauty of the Howick central business district, Howick Falls precinct and other identified areas.

Individuals, families, churches, businesses, government and community based organisations are encouraged to volunteer and partner together to help clean-up our charming town.

Participants are requested to bring black/ green bags, garden tools, gloves, and scrapers to remove illegal posters.

The wearing of Love Howick T-shirts will be wonderful. These are on sale at African Spirit (Old Agricultural Hall) and Oasis Church (70 Main Street).

Huge thanks are extended to the following for their kind offer of support:
- the Scouts, who’ll be adventuring down the Gorge Walk to the base of Howick Falls to trim vegetation and remove litter,
- Mediclinic Howick staff, who’ll be cleaning up a section of Main Street at various times,
- residents of the Ambers, and the Amber Valley estate and garden services team who’ll be cleaning up a section of Karkloof Road. The gathering time is 12:00 at the entrance to Yellowwood,
- Midlands Skip Hire, who’ll be removing bags of garden refuse and litter,
- Mike Cope of A1 Complete Garden and Tree Felling Services, Michael Kemp of Garden Squad and Guy Mortimer with their respective teams who have started trimming vegetation around Goddard Park and on the Gorge Walk in the Howick Falls precinct, and
- Alexander Goudemond, who’ll be taking photographs of community members in action.

Businesses are requested to please consider involvement with the above, ‘adopting a spot’ in front of their building/ premises to improve the frontage or any other initiative to make a positive difference and impact in the appearance of the town or the lives of people in Howick.

The sponsoring of litter bins, display boards, and a boom (to limit vehicle access to the grass area of Goddard Park), or the donation of large rocks to position between cement bollards in Goddard Park will be extremely helpful.

Monetary donations will be wonderful, truly appreciated, and wisely used. The banking details are: Love Howick (FNB Howick, Branch Code 220725, Account Nr 625 938 075 75: Ref: Love Howick).

May the community of Howick become known as a kind and caring community of our beautiful country.

Inquiries: Rob Askew
Love Howick volunteer co-ordinator
Tel: 081 762 7788
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

News supplied by Love Howick. 

Join in on the launch of the definitive historical novel 'Men of the Mendi' by Brenda Shepherd at The Howick Agricultural Hall. 

It is the first day of a two-day Meandering the Midlands cycle tour and thankfully the Dargle mist and rain had turned and instead we were greeted with clear blue skies and a gorgeous wintery light with which to explore the Dargle Valley.

Christiano and Simone our German visitors stood gingerly aside, not a bicycle, but a handsome black Friesian horse. The Midlands is fast being discovered as a place offering cycle tourists not just trips focused purely on the bike and the end destination, but rather journeys filled with unique cultural and natural experiences. One of these forms the start to our trip, a ‘horseplay’ session masterfully facilitated by well-known horse guru/whisperer, Carlene Bronner. Unlike the simple react and response mechanisms of a bike, our guests will spend the next hour discovering the art of horse communication using subtle body gestures as a cue for gentle persuasion. Although the couple confess that they were not familiar with handling horses, it was amazing how with new found respect and understanding they quickly eased into the experience and had their horses eating out of their hands (admittedly the tuffs of green grass may have helped).

After an enriching horseplay session and a hearty farm-cooked breakfast, we saddled up our bicycles and headed for the Nelson Mandela capture site using quiet country back roads. As a local South African, who has pored through each page of the “Long Walk to Freedom”, I felt well versed in the life and times of our Tata Madiba and was rather surprised that the museum tour at the capture site could offer such fascinating insights into the life of our great stateman. Brilliantly guided by the enthusiastic Ayanda, under no circumstances were we allowed to ride down to the impressive sculpture of Mandela’s face, “after all” Ayanda quipped, “it’s not called a long walk for nothing”.

With time ticking on, we then made our way through a network of forest paths to the renowned Caversham Mill restaurant overlooking the Lions river. Tucking into a well-deserved signature trout dish, we marvelled at the thought that once this great valley was a royal Zulu hunting ground abundant with lions and elephant. On shooting the last lion of the region, this river was ironically named Lions River.

That afternoon after climbing up the back of the Lidgetton hills, we were rewarded with panoramic views of the Dargle valley. Authentic Italian wood-fired pizza washed down with local Lions River craft beer at the well regarded Il Postino pizzeria provided a fitting end to our day. Delicious!

Our final day presented a welcomed opportunity to warm up tired legs with a morning stroll through the pristine Dargle mist-belt forest lead by its passionate and knowledgeable custodian, Barend Booysen. With Barend’s charming stories of Zulu myths, local legends, and impressive botanical knowledge of these indigenous trees, the secrets of the forest was revealed. It was an inspiration to how a group of Dargle landowners had taken stewardship into their own hands through the formation of Biodiversity Stewardship. Short term gains in destructive cattle farming and other agricultural practices needed to be sacrificed for the long term survival of these rich and biodiverse forest and grasslands.

“For me the highlight of the walk was spotting the elusive Samango monkeys playing in the Cape Chestnut trees”, beams Simone. Samango Monkeys are the only true arboreal monkeys left in South Africa. Unable to adjust their livelihoods to the rapidly changing world, if we lose these precious pockets of Afro-Montane forest, the Samangos could disappear with them too.

After a morning walk we headed with our bicycles out to the cycling mecca of the Karkloof Valley. A network of world class trails, we selected the well-marked 15km Falls loop that swept us through the forest on immaculately sculpted paths to the iconic Karkloof waterfalls. The beautiful falls in full flow after recent rains provided the perfect backdrop to our final picnic spread of local Midland’s cheese, cured meats, artisanal bread and cold beer. “When we signed up for a bike tour, we did not know what to expect” remarked Christiano. With all the cultural, ecological and historical diversity the Midlands has to offer, as the Spekboom Tour’s logo says, “expect the unexpected”.

News supplied by Julia Colvin - www.spekboomtours.co.za

Congratulations to Sarah Macaskill (Grade 5) of Howick Prep School who was awarded a distinction in her Grade 1 Violin examination from the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music and Dani Martens (Grade 4) who achieved a Silver award in her Level 5 Artistic Gymnastic examination.

Well done to both Sarah and Dani.

A photograph has been attached: (L- R) Sarah Macaskill, Danni Martens. 

News supplied by Howick Preparatory School.

Looking forward to our next MARKET THROUGH THE HOME in Howick.

Come and browse awesome goodies in a unique home setting and support Sunfield Home and Foshim at the same time. Free entry. Bring your friends and have complimentary tea in the garden with them. Debit and credit cards welcome as well as Zapper.

See Gifts at Wear on FB for some idea of what's on offer.

A Lythwood wedding is not one of those sausage-machine weddings, where the venue owners try to squeeze as many weddings into a weekend as possible. All while charging you for every little ‘extra’. Whether you are planning an indoor or outdoor wedding (we have a variety of options), we don't pile on the extras. Just an affordable, simple, easy to budget, all-in package price.

At Lythwood, your wedding day is yours. Reserved for you and your guests. No “you and your guests have to be out of the Chapel by 2:30pm because we have another wedding starting at 3:00pm”. Or, as in the case of many other venues where the reception hall turns into a pumpkin at midnight, we don't have cut-off times.

We also give you access to our powerful, interactive, stress-relieving wedding planning tools. Tools that will help you take care of all the time-consuming tasks, such as sending out invitations and tracking RSVPs. Taking the confirmed guest list and feeding that into who has special food requirements. All the way to helping you plan your table seating arrangements. You can even create your own personal wedding website and share all your plans with your friends!

And, of course, our dedicated Wedding Coordinator, Danelle, will be there to hold your hand every step of the way so you'll be free to enjoy your wedding.

So, what is our special offer you ask?

If you book your wedding to take place at Lythwood on any day in January or February 2018 we will give you a full 15% off on any of our wedding packages!

This offer is subject to availability – that means it's first come, first served! So, we suggest you apply right now to avoid disappointment... just complete the form (it's quick, we promise!) and we'll contact you to discuss your dream wedding.

I don't want to miss out... take me to the form!

Beautiful Open Plan living priced from R1 250 000. Designer 52m2 units R1 250 000. Designer 70m2 units from R1 650 000. Fantastic open-plan kitchen.

Don’t snooze you will loose…Contact Tiffiny Hancock +27 (0)74 444 9694 or Debbie Jones +27 (0)82 557 0107.

Official launch 16 July 2017. Come visit us at Harcourts Ambers, Yard41, 10am-4pm.

News supplied by Harcourts Ambers.

Dynalogic Cloud Backup Solutions – Protecting against WannaCry ransomware - The Worlds Newest and Greatest IT Threat !! - Dynalogic Cloud Backup Solutions provides 100% protection against viruses, trojans, ransomware or otherwise. Because your data is encrypted and compressed before backup, our servers are not vulnerable. In addition to this, with our default configuration, new or changed data is backed up within a 15 minute window!!

Contact Dynalogic Computers on 033 330 3005 to discuss your business needs. www.dynalogic.co.za.

Choose a reputable tyre dealer who has your safety and budget foremost in mind – a tyre dealer such as Juleo’s Tyres. 

Visit Juleo's Tyres at 4 Campbell Road, Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 3290 or contact them on +27 (0)33 330 8418.

RESULTS: The Tabs In Comp sponsored by Greendale Superspar and Giovision was won by the four of Rita Aitken, Alan Wells, Colin Brown and Denise Rocher. The runners up were the trip skipped by Brian Ellison, with lucky draw vouchers from 68 on Main being won by Stella Gardiner and Peter Burton.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
Tuesday, 25 July: Tabs In Comp sponsored by J Leslie Smith Inc. Tabs in by 08.45
Friday, 28 July: Annual match against Hilton Bowling Club. Availability list is posted on the notice board.
Wednesday, 09 August: (National Women’s Day) All day Competition Sponsored by J Leslie Smith Inc.

News supplied by Umgeni Waterfall Bowls Club. 

Howick Prep School’s Deputy Principal, Mr Bonzo Miller, retired last Friday after dedicating 40 years to the teaching profession.

Bonzo started his teaching career in 1978 at Thornhill High School in Rhodesia where he taught before emigrating to South Africa. On arriving in South Africa Bonzo was offered a teaching post at Michaelhouse where he taught from 1980 – 1993. Whilst at Michaelhouse Bonzo taught Geography and was appointed as Housemaster of East House and Head of Department of Physical Education.

In 1994 Bonzo applied for a Grade 7 teaching post at Howick Preparatory School where he taught for the next 24 years before his retirement last week. During his time at Howick Prep Bonzo was appointed as Head of Department in 2001 and as Deputy Principal in 2009. Bonzo was passionate about his sport and coached many successful Howick Prep rugby and cricket teams and also served on the Midlands Primary Schools Rugby Committee for more than 20 years.

A lunch was held at Howick Prep School last week with 100 staff, past staff and family members in attendance where a certificate to recognise the 40 years of dedicated service that Bonzo so unselfishly gave to so many children over his teaching career was presented to him by Principal Grant Maartens. In attendance at the luncheon were Pat Bastow (ex Deputy Principal) , Margie Hamilton (ex Deputy Principal), Justin Miller (Bonzo’s son) and Brenda Hathorn (Bonzo’s sister)

Photo L – R: Pat Bastow, Margie Hamilton, Bonzo Miller, Justin Miller, Brenda Hathorn.

News supplied by Howick Preparatory School.