Skal Bi-Annual Meeting - hosted by Skal Pretoria

Skal Bi-Annual Meeting - hosted by Skal Pretoria

he Bi-Annual Meeting in Pretoria which took place from the 18th to the 20th of September at the Irene Country Lodge and hats off to our President, Lavonne Wittman and our committee who took so much time and put in endless hours of hard work to ensure that this was the meeting by which all future Bi-Annuals would be measured.

Every occasion was carefully planned and implemented with precision with very few hiccups – albeit the odd stressful moments which were resolved effortlessly.

The dress code for the weekend was an ethnic look with Pretoria members on the Friday sporting long caftans with colourful braiding together with the “kop doek” a representation of Zulu and Basotho culture and on the Saturday, skirt, top and “kop doek” a combination of the married Zulu lady and the typical and distinguishable Ndebele artwork. The men wore specially made open neck shirts with the SA flag braided around the neck and sleeves and oh did we look swish.

Presidents of Skal International from the various provinces were picked and transferred to the Lodge with transport sponsored by both Arcadia Hotel and Ulysses. The evening function, a trip on the “Purple Bus” a typical sightseeing cum party bus, which took us from the Lodge on a scenic route of Pretoria via Klapperkop to the Union Buildings with cocktails being served on the lawns of the gardens. From there we trekked down Church Street with music and fanfare bellowing from the bus to Church Square to enjoy dinner at Café Riche. But a visit to Pretoria would not be complete without a cultural experience and so we were treated to a guided tour around Church Square.

Saturday began with a wonderful breakfast spread and then it was time for the “serious stuff”.

The meeting was positive, productive and chaired by Skal South Africa’s National President Steve Pillai, and as always did a sterling job. The meeting was well represented by at least 20 members, with a range of topics from finances to operations and other, but emphasis was largely focused on increasing membership and workshops were set in place to discuss new approaches with ideas being were shared at length.

Incidentally all of the Pretoria Committee members and a few others attended the morning session and that in itself is a challenge for other clubs to equal.

After the “serious stuff” was done and dusted, it was time to enjoy a wonderful picnic lunch under the old oak tree – it was a typical warm and sunny, lazy Highveld day – bright blue sky, a large dam with ducks, paddling along minding their own business. For some of us, it seems, culture is hugely important and so we ventured off to Freedom Park, in a vehicle once again sponsored by Arcadia Hotel. It was indeed fascinating; I dare to say for the visitors outside of Pretoria.

The highlight of the weekend was the Saturday night’s Dinner a formal occasion with lots of chatter, laughter and good camaraderie. Entertainment was good, with a couple of songs sung by a local Skalleague; the buffet was beautifully presented and very tasty. The award for Club of the Year was eagerly awaited by all the club entrants but there could only be one winner and this was awarded to Cape Town –well done to them.

The raffle brought in a fair amount of money for our club with a plethora of prizes donated by so many members and their organizations and contacts too many to mention, suffice it to say that there were some Skalleagues who walked away extremely chuffed at their evenings “winnings” so to speak.

All good things come to an end they say, and so on Sunday morning some bright eyed and bushy tailed and others with heads still spinning from the “night before” left to their respective destinations to ponder upon the weekends success and well maybe for some, their heads are still spinning on how they might ever live up to the standard set by Skal Pretoria when next, they get to hosting the Bi-Annual.

From Skal, Pretoria we say thank you to all who attended the Bi-Annual in our wonderful and presently blooming Jacaranda City, we were honoured to host you – and good luck.

THANK YOU probably sounds a little fickle when thanking our President, Lavonne for working so laboriously at her task, we would never have pulled it off it hadn’t been for your dedication, hands on approach and encouragement – from all of us at Skal Pretoria it was a pleasure working with and being part of the weekend.

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