Fellow Ship @ the Kruger National Park

The Middelburg Rotary club went on a fellowship weekend at the Kruger National Park.



Everybody arrived at the Park the Friday afternoon and with great enthusiasm bragged about the fact that most has seen die Big 5 the first day. With great pleasure Charles told about the Lions and Cheetah’s they saw on their first day.


We all had a very relaxing evening sharing experiences around the fires. Saturday morning by dawn most of the Rotarians were off seeking the best photos and stories for the camp fire tales.


 
That evening everybody could not stop chatting about the wonderful weather, all the animals they saw and just having a great fellowship.
 
Danie Walker received the Fellowship Trophy which is a dinosaur in a bamboo cage. This trophy was affectionately known as the “deiner sore ass” as it has been living at Charles and Colleen’s home for the last 18months. There were a number of candidates for the trophy. However as the evening progressed Danie raised the tempo and his daughter…… decided that the trophy would now become the “danie sore ass”. Well done Danie.

The Rotarians that went to the Kruger would like to thank Cliff and Carol for the excellent arrangements making this trip possible, Thanks guys!

JULIEO – THE TRAIN OF FAME

The famous ‘Julieo’ alias Eleven Twenty Seven train was donated to Middelburg in 1972 where she rested for 26 years at Steve Twshete Local Municipality in Middelburg Mpumalanga.

The train was rescued by Mrs. Anna-Marth Ott, CEO of Middelburg Chamber of Commerce

Then the imaginative BIG move started for this 61 ton Locomotive.  Months of planning to get the timing 100% for this move to the Busmid Building at the Chamber of Commerce. The big day was on the 6 October 2010, the town was filled with Riggers, Safety Managers, Managers CEO’s of the sponsors, 71 ton Crane, and Lowbed Trucks, it seemed like Middelburg was moving.

The moving action took a full 12 hours to complete. Julieo had to be treated for some serious ‘einas’ that happened as a result of a lack of maintenance over the 26 years at the municipality.

Nothing ever runs smoothly. During the lifting process to place Julieo on her new laid tracks at the Busmid Building in front of Dros, the crane had to put her down because the ground was unstable and the huge crane’s feet started sinking into the ground

 

At 18h18 Julieo was placed on her new honored tracks for a well deserved rest and renovation that will be driven by the Middelburg Rotarians.

This day would never have been possible without the generous sponsorships from:


Steve Tshwete Local Municipality-Steam Locomotive- Escorting the low beds and controlling of traffic, Johan Janse van Rensburg/ Marius Brits-Project Manager/Planning, Builders Market-Building material, Siyakana Construction- Building, Quick Step-Concrete for foundation, Van Wettens-Transport, Johan Lee Bouers- Filling Sand, Ammeka Industries-Lifting equip. testing, Midplan Vervoer/Cemsquared/Hytec- Filling Sand, Columbus Stainless-Lifting Equipment/manpower, EPA- Survey of new area, Kanonkop Hardware-Barrier tape and Vests, F&K Engineering-Palisade modifications /loco, ME Industries-Transport of lifting Equip., Johnson Crane Hire-Crane, Schalk Smit-Labour, Sakkie Swart- Rigging Supervisor, Kanhym Estates-Gazebo, Little Elephant-Sound System, Dros- Parking Area and Umbrella's, Stimela Rail-Rails & Gravel, Executive Risk Control- Security Guards, Optimum Coal-Rigging equipment, Talisman-Compactors.