“I have been a resident of Hoedspruit since 1992, this has grown into my roots,” said Annelize Erasmus, owner of Edenleo Design. “The project has been very personal to me, and I am so proud to be involved in it. Being able to revitalise the signs is one of the highlights in my 30 years in Hoedspruit,” she said.

Edenleo Designs and Hoedspruit Coffee Purveyors took the initiative to renovate the Hoedspruit entrance welcoming signs in January this year. They posted on Facebook asking for donations and received R45 000 for the project in just six weeks. Edenleo designed the layout and decided to utilise the funds as sparingly as possible. “But we aimed to structure it in such a way that it will last a lot longer than the previous materials used,” she told the Herald.

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She said she preferred steel because of its longevity of it. She says they asked Giel Geldenhuys to plasma cut all the lettering as well as the Maruleng Municipality logos. “The old steel structure needed to be sanded, primed, and re-painted. We spray-painted all elements and Hennie le Roux, our creative team member, drew the main part of the municipal logo by hand and also prepared and spray-painted the final details.

“Once the painting was done, we printed templates, drilled a lot of holes, and with many working hours, we managed to put it all together. The job is not done yet. I would love to still plant some succulents and Impala lilies at the bottom of each sign to give it some life”, she said. “We want to thank every individual, business, and resident in town and even outside of town for contributing, to having patience with us, and also allowing me to be fully creative on this project.

“It has always amazed me that when we can stand together, we can make something great happen. Edenleo will also create a beautiful plague that will be installed on each sign to honour all that helped make this project happen,” she concluded.