The annual “Beesloop” (directly translated as “cow walk”) took place on Friday 30 October 2015 on the school grounds of the Hans Strijdom Hoërskool in Mookgophong. The “Beesloop” Fair is a wonderful fundraising event for the local “Tehuis vir Bejaardes”.
The “Beesloop” event was a fun and humoristic highlight of the day. A cow was let loose on the rugby field, which was marked in squares. The squares were sold through tickets at the Hoërskool Hans Strijdom, Laerskool Eugéne Marais and Koedoeskop Laerskool. The square the cow chose to “do his business on”, was the winning square and the ticket holder of that square received a whole cow!
Food stalls and arts and crafts stalls entertained visitors, followed by a parade from the local station to the school, complete with drum majorettes from the Warmbad Laerskool, horse riders dressed in Eastern costumes and colourful rafts.
Shangri-La Country Hotel & Spa was present on the day with a unique food stall. Visitors to the stand could also enter our competition to win a 2 night stay inclusive of breakfast at Shangri-La.
Mr Stef Venter, Managing Director, has a very special friendship with one of the organizers, Mrs Toeks Erasmus. Mrs Erasmus was his high school tourism and cooking teacher, and in his final year, Mrs Erasmus took her students on a culinary trip, before ending their excursion at “one of the most beautiful properties” she knows – Shangri-La. He fell in love with the hotel during their visit in 1996, thanks to Mrs Erasmus. Years later, the pair bumped into one another by accident at Shangri-La, with Mrs Erasmus’ love for the country hotel still as strong as ever.
Through catching up, Mrs Erasmus’ passion for cooking was still evident, and although retired, she is still involved with cooking, and is raising funds for the upgrading of the local old age home’s kitchen. “It was an easy decision to support the worthy cause that the Beesloop stands for,” sais Mr Venter, “and to bring the past and present together in such a special way is heartwarming. I’m thrilled that Shangri-La is giving back to the community, and what a better way than to return the favour with somebody as special as my high school teacher that taught me so much about the tourism industry.”