OSCAR (of Hollywood fame) would probably melt into a lumpen ingot at the sight of these amateur thespians who blindly made fools of themselves on stage in the Port Shepstone Civic Hall last weekend.
But our president would not be out of line awarding the Order of the Baobab as well as the Order of Mendi to Rotary Shelly Beach and friends who gave up their time to entertain, serve and feed South Coasters for three consecutive nights with their annual melodrama.
The Order of the Baobab is for (among other things) community service and the Order of Mendi is for bravery.
Firstly, the event raised tens of thousands for charity and, secondly, it took a lot of hard work… and guts to get up there and perform.
Every single one of the cast, crew and helpers from Shelly Beach, Hibiscus and Port Shepstone Rotary Clubs, Margate Round Table, Cinder City Moths Shellhole, Hibiscus Retirement Village, Rollers and Pins, Elvira’s Dance School and various individuals were way out of their comfort zone.
But they did it and any criticism would be harsh indeed.
Those who have run Comrades or a mother who has had a baby will understand. The next day they all swear blind that they will “never do it again”. But memories fade and big hearts soon come to the fore once again.
Someone like ‘Superwoman’ Vanessa Howard-Tripp, who has the patience of Job and choreographs the show every year, probably already has something up her sleeve. Soon she will be cajoling all and sundry again into donning some highly embarrassing costume or act for Melodrama 2016.
Tragically, it’s becoming more and more difficult to get South Coasters to support these sort of events as well as the organisations that put them together for no other reason than ‘service above self’ to the community.
Granted, there is the inevitable spin-off of fellowship which makes one feel a bit ‘liverish’ at times. After all, Dutch courage is needed for most of us to get up on stage. But service clubs who were once considered the backbone of the community are all struggling for membership.
It would be a sad day indeed if the Rotaries, Round Tables, Lions, Moths, Pro Visions, M2s were to fade away due to lack of interest. They all do so much good in between the fun and fellowship.
The community as a whole would be the poorer without them. If you are not already involved in some sort of community work at the moment, why not give any of the above a try… regardless of your race, sex or creed?
You won’t regret it.
DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
If you are reading this on your cellphone and there are telephone numbers provided in the text, you can call these simply by clicking on them.
To receive news links via BBM, add us using the pins 58F3D7A7 OR 58F25573. The South Coast Herald is also on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram – why not join us there
