Heidelberg Heritage Association recognises long-serving members
Learn from the past but live in the present.
The Heidelberg Heritage Association (HHA) awarded three of their members with long-standing service awards for preserving the heritage of the Heidelberg area and the immediate community on November 19.
The awards went to Sybrand van der Spuy, Paddy Padiyachee and Ludwig Anckiewicz.
Henrik Brits, the chairperson of the HHA, handed the awards to the recipients.
Brits said, “These three members of the HHA have made a huge difference in preserving the history and heritage in Heidelberg. We thank each member for their contributions, and we can learn from each one a great deal.”
Van der Spuy has been in Heidelberg all his life and has dedicated it to Heidelberg and its community in various roles.
At one stage, he was the deputy mayor of Heidelberg. Van der Spuy is the one to ask for any history-related activity in Heidelberg.
He was also one of the founding members of the HHA, formed in 1995.
His award was accepted in absentia. In a message, he said, “Again, my grateful and heartfelt thanks for the honour. Please be assured of my sincere appreciation and gratitude.
“I feel truly humbled. I do not know what I did to deserve this honour. I imagine, though, that it is not difficult to be passionate about the town in which you were born more than 80 years ago and have lived ever since and for 73 of those years in the same house.”
Padiyachee was a member of Shalimar Ridge and Heidelberg’s town councils at various stages. He had a calling to serve and be a pillar of the community. Padiyachee has been part of Heidelberg’s community for close to 60 years.
He has been a businessman in the area for a long time and is part of the Heidelberg Business Chamber.
Padiyachee said, “To achieve your goals, you must open up to dialogue with others in your community. Do not stay in the past. Learn from the past but live in the present.”
Anckiewicz lives in Greylingstad, considered part of the Heidelberg district, in the same house where he was born.
He first came to Heidelberg in 1942 as an infant. Anckiewicz loves to research history and is a walking historian who knows the history of the Heidelberg district well.
Anckiewicz said, “Always live in the present and work towards your future, but take lessons from the past. Each one has their talents, and you need to develop them and use each talent God has given you. I believe my purpose is to convey the historical facts to the younger generations so they know where we came from and what it means to us.”
