mix 'n match

meet  "oom Kosie 's penny whistle band"

They will be paying for us in the Laird Arms Bar on Friday 6pm. 

If any of your musicians out there feel like jamming with them please add your instruments or voices spontaneously

we know they will looooove that! 

Meet Gert

he is preparing for our arrival.. probably doing push ups at this very moment in order to build up energy for us! 

2 sleeps to Go till the program kicks - off 

'n tip

These are some people you wanna and need to know

on the very left: the mystery man
by the stairs from the left : introducing Julia - the lady you wanna speak to re all things related to music and sound over the weekend
In the middle is - MAGGIE ! Maggie has been working at the Lord Milner Hotel her whole life! Ask her anything, about the ghosts, your soup, her memories, the hotel secrets
on the right is - Gert. Gert Gert he is our man if he cant do it no one can! Gert was also born in the village and has been friends with Ben ( who works in the bar) since they were real small.

There are whole lots of other amazing souls in Matjies just waiting to meet and treat you!

and of course you will be making lots of hearts very happy with tips (that includes tipping the mystery man) - best way to do this is to give it directly to who ever is serving you your meal.. or make note of the name and tell reception who the tips are for..

The Memorial service for David Rawdon will take place on Thursday Sep 9th.

Please contact the Lord Milner Hotel for more info +27 (0)23 5613011

a tribute to David Rawdon HERE

did you know

We are so very sad that the 5th Show 'n Tell will be happening without the King Of Matjiesfontein. What a big privilege to have know him - a free spirited open hearted fun loving wonder

As a contribution I was planning to have a crown ceremony to David this year.. instead we will dedicate  Show 'n Tell 2010 to him. 

Here are few facts on mr Rawdon

"In the late 1960s, David Rawdon, a hotelier par excellence, whose claim to fame was the establishing of the well-known Lanzerac Hotel in Stellenbosch and the Marina Hotel in Hermanus, purchased Matjiesfontein Village.

 After performing extensive renovations on the hotel, utilising the wealth of antiques gathered during his world travels, Mr. Rawdon re-opened the property in 1970 and renamed it The Lord Milner Hotel."

"His efforts resulted in the village being declared a National Monument in 1979."

 Lanzerac Hotel:  "The good looking and magnetic young David Rawdon could only have dreamt of the success that the Lanzerac Hotel was to enjoy when he opened the door to the public in August 1959. With the help of his mother, Marie Rawdon and hotelier brother, Graham, he’d bought the property for R36 000. He then spent a year of intense renovation and restructuring, turning fowl pens, stables, cow sheds and kraals into fetching bedrooms that for the next 30 odd years beckoned travelers from home and abroad. Rawdon was no modern millionaire hotel magnate - money was in scarce supply and with a small team of builders he designed and oversaw most of the work himself. He went from one auction and yard sale to the next in the neighboring countryside buying up neglected furniture and follies which freshened up into smart period pieces, many of which are still in residence at the hotel today."

Thank you so much for letting us play xxx

Sources:

Heritage org

Lanzerac History

Matjiesfontein

photographs: James Seigel

Long live the King of the Castle

Sad news, maatjies. David Rawdon, the owner of the Lord Milner Hotel passed away on Friday 13th August at the age of 85. It's hard to imagine Matjiesfontein without him...let alone Show 'n Tell. If it wasn't for David's spirit of adventure, mischief, his irreverence and love of play, theatrics, and all things beautiful and magical, Show 'n Tell would have never found a home.

Home is where the heart is, we love and miss you David.

The King of the Castle

We would like to say a BIG thank you to The Owner of Matjiesfontein, David Rawdon for letting us have this makietie in his town

David Rawdon purchased Matjiesfontein during the late 1960s, and, after detailed and loving restoration work, David re-opened Matjiesfontein in 1970.
Text adapted from here

Photograph of David Rawdon by Steph Venter 2006

A Matjie Remembered

Another Matjie gone.. with sadness I just heard that Jackie Cleobury has passed away. I dont know the details but apparently another car crash.. caused by a drunk driver..
Second Matjie this year to go.. reminder of how quickly life can change.. we shared these memories in a tiny town called Matjiesfontein and she was there in our lives - now gone.
My heart goes out to her family and friends..

A few facts:
- Jackie came up with the idea of having a Matjies blog and having members posting to it durning the first Show'nTell
- Jackie was the creator of the first matjies blog. It was called mymatjies.blogspot.com , after the second Show'nTell we started this one..
- Jackie was the first official " committee-member" of the Matjiesfontein Show'n tell weekend. In fact she was the one who convinced me that it should be continued.
- The first Matjiesfontein meeting was held between Jackie and myself in Herritage Square.
- Jackie coined the word Show'nTell
- I met Jackie at the very first Show'nTell weekend in Matjiesfontein in 2006. Unfortunately she could not make any of the follow- ups


“Very cool weekend .... felicity and i talked non-stop all the way back to ct. ralph rolled about with the drums in the back seat. my apartment felt lonely and foreign when i walked in - spent the rest of the day escaping it.” Jacqueline Cleobury

Gert and Ben

Head-porter one and head-porter two - twiddle dee and twiddle dum..

Gert and Ben have known each other since they were born and work together on shifts at the Lord Milner Hotel

...see Mike's fountain in the background in the darkness..click on the image to enlarge

Organising people

So if you are out and about and want to chat to any of the people who are helping put Matjies together, here we are. On the left is Simon who is in charge of weekend commentary. Nothing else. Marc is next to him and will not always have a cigarette to his mouth. Julia is the main Lady, she is rad and is very organised too. On the far right is Raffa. She is in London and New York, so if you see her, you are seeing things.

Joseph the legend

Here are our Matjiesfontein heroes in action against the Lainsburg team

Joseph the super star - not only handy with the wine list in the Lord Milner restaurant..


And of course the fans

SOUND KING

This is Gilad. He is sleeping now in preparation for Matjiesfontein. You probably know him because everyone does. He is the moody bassist from The Buckfever Underground . He is also the guy to speak to about sound and music equipment issues at this year's Show 'n Tell. Please email Gil if you have any queries about this.

Who is Jil ?

She is the mystery lady who handles the accommodation bookings for Show ’n Tell
Fact - Jil is a real alive person.
Fact - she does not work for the Lord Milner Hotel .
Jil does not work for Show ’n Tell either.
Jil lives in Cape town
matjie.bookings@gmail.com is not her personal email address..
please be patient to hear back from her - all good thing takes time..
The “Show ’n tell” is not a commercial undertaking and Jil does have a day job.

Matjiesfontein can only sleep 100 people, so that’s the limit. It’s a heritage site, so there’s no trampling the succulents going on. Once you’ve decided on your creative contribution, book your bed and tell us what you plan to show and or tell. You can operate alone or in a group of course.

Introducing Julia
Here she is in the Matjiesfontein station. She is the lady you can speak to regarding your logistical questions

Truth: Show & Tell is not a commercial undertaking, so all participants are responsible for their own accommodation, costs, logistics and technical requirements for your contribution. However, resources can be pooled. You speak to the organizer, the organizer points you in the right direction. No additional fees will be charged to see the individual shows, which will be scattered throughout the weekend in the most relaxed sort of way, indoors, outdoors, up a tree, in a cupboard.

This is Dolphina - a superstar staff member of the Lord Milner Hotel

Question: So who was Logan ?

Answer : Back in 1883 the little backwater town, Matjiesfontein was discovered by Jimmy Logan a Scottish immigrant.

Logan arrived in South Africa on board a sailing vessel and with five pounds in his pocket took leave of the ship and made his way to Cape Town. He found a job as a porter earning 5 shillings a day on the station, showed outstanding ability and began his meteoric rise through the ranks.
At 20 he was appointed Cape Town stationmaster.
At 21 he married and was promoted by the railways to district superintendent of the stretch of line between Hex River and Prince Albert Road. He moved to Touwsriver which is about 55 kilometres from Matjiesfontein.
Just then diamonds were discovered in Kimberley and thousands of people were streaming through to the diamond fields.
There were no dining cars on trains. Logan saw the opportunity to provide food for travellers on the trains.
In 1883 to move his whole family to Matjiesfontein.
Once there he obtained the concession for the refreshment room on the Matjiesfontein station.

Over the next 10 years he developed Matjiesfontein from a wayside station into a Victorian health and holiday resort. Matjiesfontein attracted the rich and famous of yesteryear including the likes of Olive Schreiner and Cecil John Rhodes."

This text and more about Laird of Matjiesfontein here

"Johnny the town Major and local tour guide, dresses for the part in a suit and a bowler hat with a bow tie thrown in.
He has many jobs in the village.
He shows people around the estate driving the old London bus. He also drives the tractor which takes visitors on tours, plays the piano and sings in the Laird's Arms in the evenings and doubles as a waiter if required."

"South African writer Olive Schreiner loved Matjiesfontein and lived there from 1890 to 1892. She was one of the first people to see Logan's plans for the place. She wrote of these to a friend : "I have seen what James hopes to do with his Matjiesfontein and asked him to keep a house there for me." He did, and it was here that she wrote "Thoughts on South Africa," her many letters to Havelock Ellis and her missives to Cecil John Rhodes. She regularly dined at Logan's railway refreshment room, walked in the veld with a feeling of "wild exhilaration" as the sun rose and sat on a koppie near a bush now known as "Olive's tree."
adapted from here

We would like to say a BIG thank you to The Owner of Matjiesfontein, David Rawdon for letting us have this makietie in his town

David Rawdon come from a family of entrepreneurial spirit. David Rawdon's autobiographical note in the book "Logan's Way", by Robert N. Toms, well describes his early days and background starting out with a mobile store. Rawdon displayed the same focus and dedication as did Jimmy Logan, the first Laird of Matjiesfontein. David Rawdon purchased Matjiesfontein during the late 1960s, and, after detailed and loving restoration work, David re-opened Matjiesfontein in 1970.
Text adapted from turtlesa

Photograph of David Rawdon: www.stephventer.co.za