There were two school Christmas events at Wynberg this year capping off what will, in years to come, be regarded as a successful year in the long history of this school. Both events took place in or near the school - emphasising the role of WBHS in the Wynberg community.
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| Detail of St John's Church, Wynberg: a copy of the original painting 'circa 1800s' hangs in the Headmaster's residence, Kaplan House |
The Carol Service took place at St John’s, the historic church on the Wynberg Hill, which was built in the 1834 and suffered the indignity on the day after the official opening when one gable and a number of the buttresses fell down. Inferior clay was blamed. Work started shortly afterwards on a new building which was opened in 1839 under the auspices of an army chaplain from the military camp next door. Presumably the new clay must have been up to standard seeing that the church has now stood up successfully to the ravages of time and 173 Cape winters.
Over the intervening period since then, the church has been intrinsically linked with the various communities on the slopes below it. It has been well placed to watch over the burgeoning growth of the Village and its environs for nearly two centuries. It must have been with a real sense of pride that it performed the role of midwife in the birth of the future Wynberg Boys’ High School in a cottage on their grounds in 1841.
‘In a Cottage ‘neath the Mountain,’ declares the School Song sung by generations of Wynberg Boys, ‘was the Seed of Wynberg sown.’
The memorial plaques on the walls of the church today continue to recall the lives and exploits of the inhabitants of the Village and the Hill – many of whom played a role in the life of the school which also bore the name of the suburb.
Even members of my own family became part of the Wynberg church action when one Sergeant Robert Torr of the 83rd Regiment of Foot (later the Royal Ulster Rifles) was stationed in the Wynberg Military Camp after taking part in the ‘Battle’ of Blaauberg. A few days later after landing, one of his fellow non-commissioned officers had the misfortune to be struck by lightning while walking down Adderley Street (the only recorded case of this happening in Cape Town until 1968). Doing what any soldier would do to help out a mate, Sergeant Torr married his widow, Sarah, in a cottage in the Wynberg military camp in January 1808. I am pleased to record that a socially acceptable period of time did take place so that no tongues of snooty Cape Society would wag and no scandal would sully the Torr name. The result is now that his Great, Great, Great Grandaughter, Pippa, can take up residence as Headmaster’s wife - an stone’s throw away from the future St John’s Church - 200 years later.
Bearing all this history in mind, it was wonderful to return this year to the Wynberg community, and St John’s Church in particular, for the annual Wynberg Campus of Schools’ Carol Service on the first Sunday of Advent in the Christian Calendar. Even the City of Cape Town recognised the importance of the Wynberg Carol Service by switching on their festive lights in Adderley Street that evening!
Every year the Carol Service is organised by one of the Campus Schools and this year it was the turn of Wynberg Girls’ Junior School. Colleen Hart was Director of the event who had appropriately received her church music tutelage under the baton of Richard Cock. Innovativeness, freshness and originality was very evident in the programme.
It is always extremely difficult at the end of a school year to enter into the Christmas spirit. Exams, marking and end-of-year reports all rear their heads to serve as dampeners to any teacher thinking of Yuletide…. Vain attempts by Bony M and lashings of imitation mistletoe in the malls fail to inspire most of us. However, after an hour of enjoying the youthful, exuberant choirs and listening to the sincere messages from all countries as part of the Nine Readings read out by various pupils, it finally became possible to immerse oneself in the onset of Christmas.
The theme stated in the programme was ‘From Different Lands – a Fitting Close to the Olympic year of 2012’. Watching the opening ceremony in London earlier this year (on TV) and then two weeks of sporting contests, enabled me to set aside the daily grind of life and I was soon engrossed with millions of others celebrating our common sporting and athletic humanity.
The Carol Service had the same effect on me. I could easily set aside thoughts of those end-of-year reports and together with a packed church, surrender myself to enjoying the age-old Christmas story.
The service commenced with the traditional solo of Once in Royal David’s City, but we were then thrown into a clever mix of old and new carols. I saw the hand of Dave Burrell, my erstwhile Italian teacher, in the Italian lyrics of ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ sung by WGHS. According to me, their Italian pronunciation was spot on. However, my unsolicited advice to him afterwards, was that to be genuine Italians, they had to wave their hands around more while speaking and singing Italian…
We then heard the WBHS Vocal Ensemble showing us why they won a Diploma in the Eisteddfod with ‘Still, Still, Still’.
The WGHS vocal ensemble kept it European with their impressive rendition of ‘Noel’ in French. ‘Were they all students of French?’ I asked WGHS Principal, Mrs Harding, later. ‘They sang it with such confidence and certainly sounded like Parisians to me.’
‘Non,’ she replied and in case I did not understand French, she translated it: ‘None of them’.
To show that we weren’t too Eurocentric, we also heard portions of carols in Afrikaans and Zulu. However, the piece de la resistance of the entire service, was all four choirs singing the African ‘Rain Carol’.
In Africa our cradle home, a land that breathes with grace and pain….
We trace the rain of our rebirth….
It was an uplifting and emotional experience. Step aside Bony M - we were able to experience a genuine Christmas story through the voices of our young people.
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| The Jonny Cooper Orchestra performing at Wynberg Boys' High School: The John Baxter Outdoor Theatre |
Three weeks later and two days before Christmas, the Wynberg family was offered another inspiring and enriching experience when South Africa’s premier Big Band, the Jonny Cooper Orchestra played in our own John Baxter Outdoor Amphitheatre. Jonny Cooper himself is a neighbour of the school and has made a national name for himself playing the popular swing music of the great Glenn Miller era. Invited to perform for the second year in a row, he entertained an appreciative audience guaranteeing that all were ‘In the Mood’ for Christmas Day.
I was impressed to see that my mother-in-law knew all the words of the Glenn Miller numbers. She insisted on singing along giving the benefit of hearing the songs in stereo to all those lucky enough to be sitting near her. She was oblivious to all the curious looks. ‘Don’t you want to dance?’ she enquired hopefully of me during ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’. Now THAT is pressure. Remembering another embarrassing DJ’ing experience earlier in the year on the school fields, I declined (regretfully) knowing that there would be hundreds of cell phones immediately recording the sight of the Headmaster of Wynberg dancing on the lawn with his mother-in-law.
‘Shame on you,’ said her daughter to me accusingly.
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| 'Jingle Bells': Old Boy Ian Anderson, 3rd from left, and other 'choristers' |
Fortunately the band then started playing a medley of carols inviting six members of the audience to assist them. One of them who volunteered to go on stage was an Old Boy, Ian Anderson (1984) who was a past Drum Major in the school’s cadet band. Jonny Cooper had asked for volunteers to be young, blonde and female. None of these were applicable in Ian’s case, but Jonny was far too polite to point it out. It was a good thing that Ian played the trumpet at school because his backing singing to ‘Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer’ was not going to ensure him an invitation to join their orchestra. However, his chutzpah ensured that he won himself the band’s latest CD.
The Jonny Cooper Concert, with its 19 musicians, has now ensured that it has cemented an integral and special place in the school’s annual cultural calendar. ‘Soon we will outgrow this amphitheatre,’ said Jonny to the crowd, ‘and we will then have to move to the fields up top.’ The band gave us a wonderful evening and set me wondering why the supermarkets don’t scrap those tired Bony M numbers and play Jonny Cooper CD’s instead….
As the audience reluctantly picked up their picnic baskets to go home, it was great to see people embracing one another or shaking hands as they wished one another a Happy Christmas.
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| God Bless us, every one. |
Perhaps Tiny Tim, in Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, put it best. ‘God Bless us,’ he said to the Cratchit family, ‘every one.’