Community celebrates ‘Yesterday’s Heroes’ with flair

André van Ellinckhuyzen has waited seven years for this moment – to stand in front of a crowd of people and celebrate the release of his new book, ‘Yesterday’s Heroes’. André is well-known in the community for his vast knowledge of historical events in and around Vryheid, as well as those who paid the highest price with their lives in different wars. André has a way with words and with people – they trust him with their deepest and most treasured stories. He then does research and turns a factual story into a human interest piece, love yarn or even tear-jerking tale; a talent not many writers have.

The book first saw the light of day late last year, even though the celebration was only held on Saturday. Over 80 people attended the oh-so-stylish event. Terri and her husband, Ralph du Plessis, travelled from Hendrina to grace the occasion with their presence. Terri is the creative mind behind the book and has helped André in more than one way to realise his dream. It’s not a history book per se, even though the stories were inspired by historical events; it’s more a glamorous coffee table story book.

When André took to the podium to talk about his book, one could see several emotions passing through him before he spoke. He highlighted a few of the stories that were very close to his heart and explained how he ‘stumbled’ upon the name. He drove home one day and a few metres before his driveway, a song from Paul Young called ‘Yesterday’s Hero’ played on the radio. It was like a sign and at that moment, he decided on the apt name for the book. He even included the poppy flower on the cover to honour ‘fallen heroes’. These heroes were not the only ones who were honoured, as the Parabats honoured André as a special member and presented him with an award for his dedication to history.

Not only was the event a book celebration, but André also sponsored a very special bottle of wine to be raffled. All the raffle funds will be donated to Vryheid Hospice to help them in their daily financial battle to take care of the frail. Rina Williams was the lucky winner of the raffle, with André managing to collect close to R2000 in donations for Hospice.
The book is available from Amazon, as well as from André himself. Vryheid is proud to acknowledge a second published author in their midst.

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