As a fundraiser it proved a winner, but the Ivungu River Conservancy’s ‘Bosman under the Stars’ event, held outdoors under the trees in the conservancy area, was far more than a means of raising much needed funds.
This well-supported, magical evening brought a big crowd of South Coast folk together to share an evening of community and family togetherness and old fashioned story telling. And a glass or two of the Marico’s special peach brandy.
Star of the show was actor, singer and storyteller supreme, the South Coast’s own Barbie Meyer. She was only a little girl when she developed a passion for the writings of South African author and poet Herman Charles Bosman. As an adult she has devoted many stage hours to introducing people to his funny, bitter-sweet Marico tales and is renowned throughout South Africa for her excellent Bosman adaptations.
Although she has recently turned her talents to other ventures, the conservancy’s ‘Bosman under the Stars’ event proved that she hasn’t lost her knack of storytelling and of enchanting her audiences with Bosman’s tales and poetry. The many laughs were interspersed with absolute silence, the audience totally engrossed with the telling of her tales.
Barbie told her appreciative audience two of Bosman’s delightful short stories, interspersing them with samples of his bold poetry. The first – not as well-known as some of his short stories – was ‘Starlight on the Veld’, a poignant, gently funny story of star gazing and unrequited love.
The second – one of Bosman’s most popular stories – was the classic ‘Willem Prinsloo’s Peach Brandy’. It has everything a rollicking good story needs – a homecoming beauty, her welcoming party, romance, youthful rivalry, a ghostly ride through a haunted forest, a small white rose given as a love token and a lovely twist in the tail.
Barbie’s star performance certainly made the evening very special but a small army of Ivungu River Conservancy members worked behind scene to help make the magic happen. They gave the Ivungu River Conservancy picnic area a thorough sprucing up and cleaning. They also took care of the catering, strung up fairy lights and lanterns, created an outdoor stage and set up sound and lighting equipment.
The conservancy has only recently acquired three more picnic tables and benches for the picnic area and members spent a whole afternoon unpacking these, assembling them and putting them into place.
Barbie’s husband, Marke Meyer, contributed a great deal to the magical atmosphere with his wonderful lighting effects that took Barbie’s show to the next level.
South Coast Striders Club also came to the party supporting the conservancy’s efforts.
And then there was the generous support of the South Coast community. It was so gratifying for conservancy members to see so many people enjoying and making positive use of one of the South Coast’s precious green spaces.
One of the main reasons why they had spent so much time and energy organising the evening was to introduce more people to the beautiful little Ivungu River Reserve.
Entrance fee for the evening was a donation and those who attended it were very generous. The conservancy does not get any sort of grant and has to raise its own funds. Maintenance of the paths and other infrastructure and maintaining an invasive alien eradication programme costs a great deal and the conservancy has a number of projects earmarked for this year.
One of them is the improvement of the picnic area as part of making the conservancy area more user friendly for the general public. Members are also planning to encourage visitors by holding all sorts of walks, nature related happenings and family events, so watch this space.
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