I feel very privileged to have been able to swim the 8 miles for the 3rd time for cancer awareness. This year there were 11 of us 'swimchix" who swam and raised money for cancer – we still waiting to confirm the final total but it should be close to R150 000.

The dam conditions were very favourable and the weather great, ensuring 8 wonderful crossings. This year all the charities had their own tents for refreshments and we were very well catered for, helping us keep up our strength.

There were a few delays with the start of some of the races, which works in our favour as it gives us a little more time to relax in between races and to chat and catch up with our friends and fellow swimmers. The atmosphere was very festive and relaxed with all the 8 milers giving of their best, but still enjoying the swims.

We were all saddened to hear about a swimmer drowning and our thoughts are with his family.

News and pictured supplied by Janet Viedge

Howick Prep School is very proud of both Chloe Morton and  Jade Harty who have been selected to represent Midlands Girls U/13 Tennis. Both Chloe and Jade are still only in Grade 6 and will be representing Midlands in the Provincial tournament which will be held over the weekend of 27 February. 

Pictured:  Chloe Morton (Left) and Jade Harty (Right) on the Howick Prep School Championship courts.

Two well-supported, sponsored competitions were played this week. The Halfway Toyota Howick competition took place on Wednesday. Prizes were presented by Margie Wheelwright of Halfway Toyota Howick to the winning team of Bernice Burden, Tim Waring and Margie Holl.

Saturday was an extremely colourful day with all players entering into the spirit of the day and arriving in something red for Valentine's Day.  There were red shirts, red hats, red trousers, red bandanas and one brave bowler even sported red underwear. The competition, sponsored by The Lawnmower Shop, Giovision and Greendale Spar was followed by prizegiving and a braai. The overall winners of the competition were Barbara Brook, Tim Waring, Marianne van Wieringen and Helen Emberton. In addition to the chickens received by the winners, drawn prizes were also presented to some lucky players.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Our next sponsored competition will take place on Wednesday, 25 February. The sponsors are J Leslie Smith and The Health Nut.

A reminder: On the 7th and 8th March, Umgeni Waterfall will be hosting a group of 55 tourists from the UK. Members of Hilton and Howick Bowling Clubs are invited to join our members for the day on Sunday, 08 March to show the visitors true KZN hospitality. Please check notices on your respective club boards.

CLUB DUTIES for the week commencing 21 February:
Tabs Duty: Graeme Cameron, Margie Holl
Refreshments: Brian Ellison

Pictured: Participants in Wednesday’s competition together with Margie Wheelwright of Halfway Toyota Howick.

The Cookhouse
Convenient Cuisine
by Nicolson's

Valentine's Day is upon us once again!

It is indeed a time for love, & if you don't 'Love' cooking, pay us a visit, pick up a readymade meal, & you will have all the time in the world to direct your love toward your Valentine!

Guess what?
We are doing another promotion!
Jonty has made his 1st batch of boneless beef 'Osso Bucco' & we are giving away a single portion with any 4 portion meal purchased.

We have 50 portions in our freezer & so it' first come, first served while stocks last.

If we don't see see you soon, have a happy & loving Valentine's Day!

News supplied by The Cookhouse by Nicolson's.

This week rain stopped mid-week play. The monthly tabs in competition sponsored by J Leslie Smith, due to take place on Wednesday, 28 January, had to be postponed. This competition will now take place on Wednesday 04 February.

On Saturday 31 January our men played against Mooi River in the NIBA 3rd League. Both clubs played well with Umgeni Waterfall winning with 29 shots to 10 on one rink and Mooi River winning with 22 shots to 15 on the other rink.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
The tabs-in Competition sponsored by Halfway Toyota Howick will take place on Wednesday,11 February. Members and visitors are encouraged to come along and enjoy an afternoon of outdoor activity.

On Valentines' Day which falls on Saturday, 14 February a fun format tabs-in competition with drawn prizes will be played. This is sponsored by The Lawn Mower Shop, Giovision and Greendale Spar. Players are requested to wear something red.

Visitors are most welcome to play in all our sponsored competitions. Tabs must be in by 13.45 for play to commence at 14.00.

CLUB DUTIES for the week commencing 07 February:
Tabs Duty: Trevor James, Graham Sharp
Refreshments: Colin Burden

Regular Tabs In times are Tuesday, 08.15 (Casual dress);
Wednesday and Saturday, 13.45 (Bowling attire).
Visitors and new members are always welcome. Coaching is available on request.

Henry relocated to Howick from Richards Bay five years ago with his wife Adri. While living in Richards Bay he owned a home industry business which was his passion. In his fifth year as a happy Pietermaritzburg resident he decided he would like to once again own his own business but could not find a suitable one in the Midlands. His search for buying a business lead him to Pretoria, where he was about to sign on the dotted line when he received a call to say the Grapevine was on the market. Within an hour he was on his way back to Howick.

Henry is still learning the operational systems and all he needs to know but is already convinced he is in the right place. No big changes are on the cards and before any are introduced he will bounce them off his existing clientele first. Customers can expect the same standard of quality and members of staff along with Henry's wife who will be assisting with the administration and front desk tasks.

News supplied by Grapevine.

Howick Prep would like to welcome all our new staff, pupils and parents. Mr. Steyn joins the staff as H.O.D of the Intermediate Phase. We also welcome Miss Tegg who joins us from St Nicholas, Mrs. Kelbrick who joins us from St John's and Miss Arntzen who comes to us from Stellenbosch University. This year sees us introduce the teacher Internship programme fully into the school and we welcome Miss Hattingh, Miss Piater, Miss Fisher and Miss Jensen as our first intake into the programme.

The School has been very busy over the holidays with various projects which have been completed. All classrooms have been fitted with desktop computers, projectors and whiteboards. Our School network and internet has also been extended to all classrooms. This will ensure that our teachers will be able to teach using the latest technology in their classrooms. The administration / reception block was repainted and the cricket nets all renewed. This year's projects will include the painting of all classrooms as well as the upgrade of the School Hall and the security fencing around the School.

The above photograph is of our new Grade 1 and Grade R pupils hard at work on Day 1.

This has been a relatively quiet week for our club. The Men's League team had a bye and the Ladies' League match against Maritzburg West had to be abandoned due to a thunderstorm and heavy rain which made the green unplayable.

EVENTS THIS WEEK
Our next sponsored competition will take place on Wednesday, 25 February. The sponsors are J Leslie Smith Inc and The Health Nut.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
A reminder: Members of Hilton and Howick Bowling Clubs are invited to join our members for the day on Sunday, 08 March when we host 45 bowlers from the UK. This is a social event. There will be three sessions: two in the morning and one after lunch. Kindly check notices on your respective club board.

CLUB DUTIES for the week commencing 28 February:
Tabs Duty: Lionel Keeling/Colin Burden
Refreshments: Tim Waring

Regular Tabs In times are Tuesday, 08.15 (Casual dress);
Wednesday and Saturday, 13.45 (Bowling attire).
Visitors and new members are always welcome. Coaching is available on request.

Pictured:  Valentine’s Day Competition sponsored by The Lawn Mower Shop, Giovision and Greendale Spar.

Come enjoy a sublime evening of original performance poetry and music by Croc E Moses with the opening acts by Vukani and Shomon.

Imagine a drummer turning to poetry. That's Croc E Moses. Mysterious, clever fool. Born in sub-arctic Canada, he has now been based in Swaziland and South Africa for more than half his life. His performance is rhythm driven. It is word music, the music of word, talking song.

Vukani is a poet who writes about the meaning of life, human history and destiny.

Shomon and music are synonymous – she transports her audience into another dimension, usually with goosebumps!

Good leaders, some experts say, are creative rather than reactive. In other words, they anticipate future demands and trends, and make new products or tailor the ones they already have to suit that future.

For many reasons things are changing very rapidly, these days. That's why it's more important than ever to be able to understand how those changes will affect your business and establish ways to take full advantage of those changes.

Are you creative or reactive? Test yourself.
If you want to advance quickly in the business you work for or accelerate the progress of the business you own, you've got to become much better at starting things, and at making things new or making new things.

In an article entitled The Secret Life of the CEO, in Fast Company magazine, Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) wrote that the best leaders don't focus as much on beating the competition as they do on making their own products and services better than they were before.

Creative business leaders are always asking themselves the following questions:
• What do potential customers really need, now?
• What worries them?
• What causes them pain?
• What would they be eager to buy?"
• How can I make our current customers happier?
• How can we make the products we sell them better?
more useful?
more valuable?

Do you ask yourself these questions? Regularly? And if you do, do you come up with not just good, rather great answers, answers that can advance your business? Test your creative skills against the following checklist printed in a recent issue of Executive Leadership.

Are you:
• internally driven
• focused on the work, not politics
• goal-oriented around, rather than crisis-centred
• a good relationship builder

Do you:
• make full use of your strongest talents
• set aggressive long-term goals

The above characteristics are those of creative leaders. Here are the traits of reactive leaders. They generally:
• are motivated by external factors like money and power
• are focused on corporate politics, not the work
• allow their time to be dictated by what's in their inbox
• ignore their strongest talents in favour of 'good management'
• plan in one- to five-year increments
• believe nothing is sacred and relationships are expendable

How many of those reactive characteristics apply to you?

How would you grade yourself?

The best leaders are indeed long-term oriented, people-friendly, loyal, eager to provide better products and services, and unconcerned about where they stand in just about any pecking order...either in their industry or within their business.

And that's something to think about.

News supplied by ActionCOACH Business Coaching.

The romantic scent and vibrant colours of Valentine’s Day filled the classrooms at Howick High School on Friday as the Grade 11 Fundraising Committee delivered roses to sweethearts and friends.

Pictured:

Standing, Left to Right: Lily Jordan, Hawa Chandlay, Yadna Brijmohan, Preston Govender, Thomas Bull, Cara West, Kirsten Fourie, Nathan Mellet
Middle, Left to Right: Claire Etherington, Rachael Dolbey
Seated, Left to Right: Zama Gqiba, Zinhle Gwala, Minenhle Makathini

The LFE initiative was started in Glenwood, Durban in 2013 by Graeme and Zelda Schewitz, owners of BP Moore Road service station in Glenwood. They started the initiative with local community schools like DGHS (Durban Girls High School), Glenwood High School, Open Air School, Penzance Primary and several NPO's and creches in the local area.

The Trust was set up to raise funds for South African Education. Education is not confined to the classroom but everyday life skills from assisting street kids to integrate into everyday society or helping people with HIV accept and learn to live with the HIV virus. The Trust was not focused on only formal education but a more holistic approach and it is for this reason that we have beneficiaries from all walks of life.

We had several NPO's at the launch i.e. S.P.C.A. Pietermaritzburg (Angela & Franci); The Sizabantwana Project (Carol, Hlengiwe & Nosipho); Rural Women Movement (Sizani); Funda Nenja (Heather, Sandra & Joan); D.U.C.T (Duzi uMngeni Conservation Trust – Pandora). We also had the donor LFE service stations present: BP Quarry Service Station (Hilton), BB Motors - Engen (PMB), BP Raisethorpe (PMB), Dusi Motors - Engen (PMB).

The service stations are the donors to the trust and the Trust in turn donates 10 cents per litre purchased by our approved beneficiaries supporters of the trust. The vision is to build a LFE donor network of service stations across South Africa willing to support South African Education.

The Trust has been developed in order to create a sustainable source of funding for Education and one that will not disappear as fuel is an everyday necessity and once the beneficiaries start supporting the Trust by using LFE sites then there is no reason the funding should ever be reduced or stopped.

LFE Trust wants to encourage all of South Africa to view our website at www.litresforeducation.co.za and check out our video on how easy it is to become part of this wonderful educational initiative. Schools, NPO's and PBO's can apply online to become an LFE beneficiary. Motorists can sign up online and view their closest LFE service station.

For any questions please email us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact Ria Scholtz on 082414 4684.

Driving Education one Litre at a TIME!!!

The LFE Team

A Fun Monthly Tabs-In Competition sponsored by J Leslie Smith Inc was played on Wednesday, 04 February in fine weather. Our thanks are extended to them for the eats and prizes which they provide every month.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
The monthly Tabs-in Competition sponsored by Halfway Toyota Howick will take place on Wednesday, 11 February. Members and visitors are encouraged to come along and enjoy an afternoon of outdoor activity and an opportunity to win a prize.

On Valentines' Day, Saturday 14 February, a fun format tabs-in competition with many drawn prizes will be played. This is sponsored by The Lawn Mower Shop, Giovision and Greendale Spar. Players are requested to wear something red.

Visitors are most welcome to play in all our sponsored competitions. Tabs must be in by 13.45 for play to commence at 14.00.

On the 7th and 8th March, Umgeni Waterfall will be hosting a group of 55 tourists from the UK. Members of Hilton and Howick Bowling Clubs are invited to join our members for the day on Sunday, 08 March. Please check notices on your respective club boards.

CLUB DUTIES for the week commencing 14 February:
Tabs Duty: Tim Waring, Mabel Tully
Refreshments: Ray Bester

Regular Tabs In times are Tuesday, 08.15 (Casual dress);
Wednesday and Saturday, 13.45 (Bowling attire).
Visitors and new members are always welcome. Coaching is available on request.

 Pictured: All the players who participated in the competition sponsored by J Leslie Smith Inc. with Crystal Dellar of J Leslie Smith.

Announcement from State Vet:

In 2012 there was a serious outbreak of canine rabies in the Okhahlamba area. This led to a spill over into the jackal population (See concentration of cases in the northern corner of map) with a number of other wildlife species becoming victims (Caracal; Baboon; Dassie). Following an intense vaccination campaign amongst the local dog population, the disease disappeared and has not been seen in the Canine population since!

It was however suspected that we had not seen the end of the jackal cycle, and so far in the January 2015 we have had 3 jackal cases (2 in Estcourt near Wagondrift dam and now 1 near Nottingham rd) This represents a movement of nearly 130Km from the original outbreak, and I believe we can consider the whole of this midlands area now a potentially endemic Jackal rabies area.

Howick Hospice is rising to the Challenges of 2015 as it partners with our Howick community

Towards the end of 2014 the Board and Management of Howick Hospice Association were preparing from January 2015, to reduce both the palliative care services offered to our community, and staff salaries by 20%. In spite of having held extremely well supported events and having sent many proposals to different corporates, pharmaceuticals, financial institutions and businesses both national and international, our efforts to secure income for our organization were not meeting with much success. This cutback was a bid to enable the organization's continued sustainability in the face of depleting financial resources.

It soon became apparent however, that such is the dedication and commitment of our Howick Hospice staff to our community, that instead of using the 20% reduction in hours to find supplemental income, our staff members were continuing to work for Hospice from their homes; this dedication and commitment to care in spite of the fact that we are not in a position to pay our staff market-related salaries in the first place, and now were preparing to cut them by 20%! It also became apparent that after our article in the Village Talk, our community was rallying around us; holding events during the festive season at which we were beneficiaries, donating wonderful items for our Charity Shop, and putting money directly into our bank account.

So today I am delighted to be the bearer of the news that our Board, in support and recognition of the dedication of our staff and the outstanding commitment and generosity of our community, is taking a huge leap of faith by allowing our organization to continue as it has been in the past, open 5 days a week 08.00 – 15.30 (Shop 08.00 – 15.00) with staff members working their usual hours. Financially, we are still not out of the woods but our organization will continue to offer the palliative care and support that is critical to those suffering from a life threatening illness and reduced life expectancy, and their families. To those of you who have already partnered with our organization, a huge thank you, and to those who will still do so, your contributions will be much appreciated! I, as General Manager, continue to appeal to businesses within our community to pledge via debit order or EFT, R150 per month, and individuals, R50 per month to Howick Hospice Association. I trust to be continuing to visit within the community to share the passion that we in Howick Hospice have for palliative care and to ask you to share with us what ideas you might have for us for income generation. We are all in this together! And as you continue to support us, so you enable us to be there for you when you need us the most!

Sharon Alva-Wright

This has been another good week for Umgeni Waterfall Bowling Club. Determination led to winning ways. On Saturday, the men playing in the NIBA Third League beat Howick 5-0; and in the Ladies' Premiership League Umgeni beat Maritzburg 5-0.
On Sunday, Colin Burden and Clark Logan played two games in the NIBA Open Men's Pairs Playoffs and won both. They go on to play in the semi-final which will take place on 7 March at Lynnwood. As someone commented: Well done Team Umgeni.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
The monthly tabs in competition sponsored by J Leslie Smith, will take place on Wednesday, 28 January.
The competition on Saturday, 14 February (Valentines' Day) which is sponsored by The Lawn Mower Shop, Giovision and Greendale Spar will have a fun format with drawn prizes. Dress code will be RED. Regulation shoes must be worn. Players are requested to wear something red. (Your heart on your sleeve?)

Visitors are most welcome to play in all our sponsored competitions. Tabs must be in by 13.45 for play to commence at 14.00.

CLUB DUTIES for the week commencing 31 January:
Tabs Duty: Mavis Robson, Mike Cain
Refreshments: Graeme Cameron

Regular Tabs In times are Tuesday, 08.15 (Casual dress);
Wednesday and Saturday, 13.45 (Bowling attire).
Visitors and new members are always welcome. Coaching is available on request.