School Days at OPS

[Nicky Hodge]

Hi Delia,
I guess this must be Delia Olivier I am replying to? By the description of your posts, it would have to be. Nicky Hodge here, do you still remember me? Wow, the magic of the internet hey? Gee, the memories are just flooding back. I can remember all those times that you have mentioned, at school with the dental milk, the souties verse the boere at lunch breaks and after school, Kevin Loubschers dog Bruce (I think he had another black one called" Hondo" or something), the Saturday matinee movie (with regular black and white serials such as " Rocket Man ") and two queues outside for the have's and have not's. Sometimes,we used to go back when the guys were cleaning the Cinema and we used to collect all the tickets that had not been torn up. As the tickets only consisted of a few different colours, they could be used again at another showing. All one had to do, was find out what colour ticket was on sale that particular day, then go home to get the corresponding colour. We would then go back to the non ticket holders' queue and sell off as many as we could. This must have been the CAPITALIST in me.

One vivid memory I have of you, is riding on the local town bus on the back seat with all the gang (Jackie Wilson, Paula Wilson, Natasha Le Roux, Warren Summers.....To name a few). On Sundays, it used to take us all to the beach or Yacht Club, and I can particularly remember one occasion where you were singing the song called "Angelo". I think it went like this.... "Long ago, high in the mountains of Mexico, lived a young sheperd boy Angelo....... " ( This is pretty sad......I still remember the words).

Well Delia, I have only just registered, so I'll post this now and see what transpires. I hope you and yours are well. What are Lance and Linda up to these days? How about your Mom Steph? Trust they are all well.

[Shola Schreuder]

The skollie-patrollie is still there!  You were pretty important if you were one (surprisingly I was one, until High School... naughty became more fun) and you could leave class a little earlier!

Injections sucked, but we all walked in a line just to be pained and later to be pained by the boys...

[Delia]

Nicky - OMG - of course i remember you - std5E of '77 - what a class - apparently (according to the teachers after we left) the naughtiest class to hit OPS for a long time thanks to the likes of Leigh McBride, Warren Summers, Steven Brownless, Gary Wilson, etc. Do you remember the time Zandie left the class for a short while, Kevin ran to the loo in the meantime and Leigh decided to jump on him from the top of a cupboard when he came back and instead ended up jumping on Zandie? ?The things we got up to - too numerous to mention here but man do I laugh when I go down memory lane of our school days.

I remember those bus rides down to the beach and back very well - used to spend the whole day just riding up and down to relieve the boredom. And yes, I remember the song Angelo..........was a big hit back then!!!

Lance is here in Cape Town working for De Beers Marine, living in Edgemead, still married to Annerita (Havenga) (26 yrs now), got 2 kids.  Linda's also living here in Cape Town - area manager for Famous Brands. My mom, can you believe it, is still working......also living in Cape Town.  We all live close by each other so see each other a lot.

What you up to and where you living?

[Nicky Hodge]

Hi again Delia,

Glad to see you haven't forgotten me, after all these years. That story about Leigh Mcbride has just had me in fits of laughter. We certainly had some characters amongst us hey? I wonder what ever happened to Steven Brownless and Warren and Gary for that matter. You probably already know that Leigh McBride sadly passed away just over a year ago? I only found out a couple of months ago, and was shocked. He was living in Southampton in the UK apparently.

Do you remember Gary Wilson getting in some sort of trouble by one of the male teachers ( his name escapes me at present ), only to be confronted by his very protective sister Jackie.What a hoot. He never was quite the same after that. LOL. Yes Delia, those days were just awesome, and memories that I hold dear to my heart.

Glad to hear Linda, Lance and your Mom are all well, and prospering. Wow, Lance married for 26 years already .......... The mind boggles! I remember he left for Marine Division while we were still living in Oranjemund. Has he been there ever since?

We are all well here. I am still married to Gabi - 22 years already. Must be doing something right I guess ...... LOL. We ended up with two kids....... Rhett who is 22 years old and has moved to Brisbane with his girlfriend, and Alexa who turns seventeen in August. Shit I feel old .......!!!!!!

We currently reside in Perth in Western Australia, and I am still plying my trade for a company called Tiwest, that produces Titanium Oxide.... ( or pigment , used in plastics ). You can do a GOOGLE search if you so wish. We lived in New Zealand for about 3 years, before finally settling in OZ. We lived up in the Goldfields ( Kalgoorlie) until about  2003, then made our move to Perth. I left the trade for about seven years, and ventured into the exploration industry, where I became an exploration driller, looking for gold and nickel reserves.We would drill directional holes to depths of about 1.5 KM. Quite interesting and varied work.

Gabi is still working, and is a senior property manager for a local real estate company. She used to be in sales at one stage.The economy in Western Australia is absolutely booming here, due to the Chinese' relentless hunger for our minerals, which in turn is driving the mining sector.Needless to say, real estate here has gone through the roof over the last few years.

On a sad note,my Dad passed away about two weeks ago, after finally succumbing to Parkinson's Disease which he had been fighting for numerous years. My Mom is well, apart from the stress associated with my Dads death. My brother Duncan is doing very well, and is currently a Professor at UNISA in Pretoria.

What are you up to these days? Are you married? ...... Have any kids? Whatcha doing for a  crust ? Etc etc.

Good to catch up with you again.   

[Michael Alexander]

Hey Nicky, there is another property company in Perth called Mason Properties, this is owned by another ex Oranjemunder, John Mason, who was here in the 70's as a contractor... just an interesting point!

;)

[Delia]

Nicky, yah sadly I heard about Leigh - my mom keeps in regular contact with his folks who are living in the UK - apparently his dad went to wake him up one morning for work and he had died in his sleep, heart attack i believe.  I was saddened by it - Leigh and I were quite close with our folks working together (our dads in the power station and moms in the main office block for the top brass) and still kept in contact after leaving high school even - i saw him last in Margate on the Natal south coast in 1997 when he was living with his folks there - I had gone up to see Linda as she was living there at the time and went through to their place for lunch - Oumie was still around then bustling about the kitchen doing all the cooking - what a lovely family - very fond memories there.  Philip Laubscher also passed away a few months ago.

I saw Gary Wilson in the late 90's sometime - he was working for a movie company as an electrician, ironically enough right opposite where I was working back then.  Still the same - that mop of blond curls - hadn't changed a bit. Then I believe he left for Jo'burg and was then living with his folks in Darling on the West Coast.  The last I heard of his folks they were in the UK, not sure where he is now.  Would also love to hear about Steven Brownless, Warren Summers, Wayne Hoffman (naughty shit), Simon Mason (ditto) and the rest. 

Wasn't it Mr Esterhuizen (i think he took us for history) or Mr Koch (maths) who met their match with Jackie?  It's ringing some bells, just not too clearly. Do u remember "The Pin Gang" - me, Anne Jones, Jackie, Paula, Natasha, Sheena used to wear a huge nappie pin on our blazers (i remember it every time i look at my std5 photo - i'm there pin and all) - geez, we thought we were so cool!  I saw Anne a few years ago at my aunt's place for Xmas - still married to Andre du Toit and exactly the same Anne that we all know.  It was so good catching up with her.

sorry, my maths's not so hot - Lance's been married for 23 years not 26 (what's 3 yrs tho when it's been that long hey).  Yah, he's been with De Beers Marine since leaving o'mund in '88 - be a fool to move now - if you can retire a de beers pensioner, you're set for life.  Me - well, after leaving o'mund in '93, came to ct, then to transkei where my daughter was born in '94, on to botswana for a while, then back to ct in '95, now divorced and my daughter and i have been living in the table view/parklands area since then.  working for a food & beverage process engineering company in paarden eiland - not really my cup of tea but for the moment, put's a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. socially, got wonderful bunch of friends, have regular family get togethers and just enjoying life.  i do quite often though long for the simple life of o'mund and my soul more than often hankers for those wide open spaces.

Nicky, any memories of our std 5 class, please send them my way - what one remembers, others have forgotten.  great catching up with you. say hi to gabi 4 me.

[Nicky Hodge]

Hi Mike,

The name Mason Real Estate is vaguely familiar. I think they may operate in the Northern suburbs. An ex- Oranjemunder hey? Hell we are everywhere. I will have to do some research. Cheers for that bit of info.

PS. Can't remember if  I let you know that I do remember Jimmy Jones at the compressor workshop. I think he liked the outdoor life ( camping / 4x4 driving etc). Can't believe that he is still working at Uubvlei after all these years.

Just received your message about the obituary message. Much appreciated, and thanks a lot.

[Nicky Hodge]

HI Delia,

Cheers for your very informative post. All very interesting stuff. Do you have any school photos you could scan? I hardly have anything, as my Mom has them all packed away in Cape Town. I do have one, but a fishmoth has got behind the glass and chowed off Zandies ear. LOL. ( I'm serious ).

I will have to reply to your post properly tomorrow evening , as Alexa is kicking me off. She needs to contact all her MSN pals. Some of them live in Queensland, so with the time difference, the window of opportunity is quite small.

I am gonna have to go now, as there is nothing more annoying than a disgruntled teenager. See ya!!! 

[Michele Alexander (Voden)]

Hi Delia/Nicky

Would Leigh McBride be the brother of Vanessa Mcbride? If so does anyone know where she is now?

[Delia]

Michele, yes Leigh is Vanessa's brother- she's an advocate, last i heard living in jo'burg.  i could check with my mom, she'll know.

[Sheena]

Hey Delia, yes I think we all remember the "cool pin gang".  Paula and I are still in Oranjemund.  Jackie is in Kleinzee and Natasha is somewhere in Wellington or Paarl.  Do you remember the Robin Hood t-shirt that you always favoured??  I was visiting my mother a couple of months ago and came accross a photo album with all our teenage dances, parties and school holiday pics in it.  I had a good laugh looking at the styles in those days.

[Delia]

Hey sheena, yup i remember my faithful old robin hood t-shirt - think i wore it till it almost fell off my back - loved it to bits.  would so love to see all your old photies of the good times we had - man, were they good!!! remember the holiday i stayed at your place when my mom went away and i didn't wanna go with? don't know how your folks put up with us.  i can't think of your mom without remembering her going "sheena & i..." whenever i started saying "me and sheena". weird what stays in your head hey. 

[Nicky Hodge]

Hi Michele,

Yes, as Delia said, Leigh is the brother of Vanessa, who was a practicing advocate, but now works for her husbands business and lives in Joburg near her other brother Stirling, in Fourways. She also has a four year old daughter. I have recently been in contact with Stirling, and he furnished me with all their latest news. Here is her email address if you wanted to contact her.
vanessaw@vodamail.co.za

[Michele Alexander (Voden)]

Hi Nicky,

Thank-you so much for her email address. My mom actually took over from Mrs Mcbride as secretary to the Personnel Manager back in the 80's and got to know Vanessa, can't quite remember what Vanessa was doing at the time - a bursar rings a bell somewhere in the back of my mind. I remember the name Stirling now as well - quite unusual. I will pass Vanessa's email address on to my mom as I'm sure she would like to make contact with her, my mom must've also known Leigh, or of him, and was sad to hear that he had passed away.

[Sheena]

Hi Delia,  You should pop in and visit my mom and look at the photos.  She is now in Porterville - not too far from you.  Funny, Paula also remembers the Sheena and I... thing.  She also remember how we used to hate it when Sandy followed us around.  Funny that her and Sandy are good friend today.  Well, he got so tall and big that we were scared to shunt him around.
You were wondering where Gary Willson was, I think he is still in JHB area somewhere.  Paula doesn't have much contact with him. 
Please send your mother regards.  Thinking of her, all I remember is the dogs that were fed peppermints.