Local resident turns 90 and shares life-time worth of memories of Midrand
MIDRAND - Local residents celebrates the big 90 and shares her memories of Midrand.
When long-time Halfway House resident Sue Dugmore recently celebrated her 90th birthday at her daughter’s home in Noordwyk on May 6, she went down memory lane and shared her life and times with Midrand.
Among the many guests who attended the birthday party were two of her former colleagues from Halfway House Primary School, Ina Geremia and Billy Cahill. Sue used to be an active ‘netball mother’.
Her daughter Sue Miller said it was lovely to have her old friends from the school joining her for her birthday.
Sue and her husband Roston bought their plot in Glen Austin through Parker Victor Estates in 1970 and have lived there happily ever since.
“I love Halfway House and I have many fond memories. My children were at Halfway House Primary School when Louis Saunders was headmaster and Billy Cahill was the vice principal. I remember also Mrs Dunwoodie, the postmistress of our old post office [where the magistrates’ court is now]. She knew everyone in the village,” she said.
She recalled that the then-largely rural Halfway House was an ideal place to raise a family, with ducks, geese, horses, cows, chickens and space for outdoor activities. Her husband, son and grandson were each awarded national colours for representing South Africa in international outdoor activity competitions including aircraft aerobatics and motocross racing.
Her grandson, Roston, will be competing in Argentina in November for the F3A World Championships and she is his biggest supporter. Roston was the F3A Precision Aerobatics Junior World Champion in 2013.
The 90-year-old has seen huge changes in the area, she came to Halfway House before the Ben Schoeman highway and Boulders Shopping Centre were built and before there were even streetlights in the village.
The old hotel which was demolished to make way for Boulders Shopping Centre was a favourite meeting place and her son, Peter played his guitar with a few of his friends there. She remembers enjoying the school’s annual Big Walks on the farmland around the old Randjiesfontein farmstead and St Saviours church – being careful to avoid any snakes in the long grass – long before the new R562 and Randjiesfontein Estates were constructed.
“Sadly, the inevitable developments in Halfway House have changed the rural atmosphere and brought city style traffic jams and air pollution. Even my once-crystal-clear borehole water is no longer fit for human consumption but Halfway House is still the best place in South Africa to live and I am very happy here,” she added.
Today, Sue is still active at home and she reads a lot, but arthritis has slowed her down.
Miller thanked the Halfway House Library for the large print books and friendly staff. “You have been so valuable to Sue for many years and she has read almost every book in the large print section. Sue has now learned to use a Kindle and she can adjust the type size so she is not limited to only large print books,” she said.
Miller thanked the Halfway House community, where Sue and her husband have lived happily for 47 years. She also thanked Noordwyk Spar and Carlswald Spar for their support on her 90th birthday.
“Friends like Vee’s Nails, owner Vee as well as Linda at Funlife Events and Photos by Fortune who made her day so incredible. The kindness shown to our precious mom has been amazing. Thank you,” concluded Miller.
