The Rip Curl GromSearch Seal Point, presented by Sea Harvest, was the final event in the series. It was a great success, and surfer girls from near and far entered. Kai Wulff took this photo of some of the youngest competitors.
The bumper issue of Wildside Times magazine is in full swing. Some incredible content is lined up for this issue. It is hard to believe that this is the 9th issue of this popular magazine. It is set for another big year in 2025. While print costs have risen and the readership of print magazines has declined further, we continue to produce free magazines. They still prove popular among the locals and visitors, and even the youth seem to enjoy them. The youth are the crew that usually opt for the online version. They track photos of friends, school friends and family that might appear on the magazine pages.
Apart from all the out-and-about and ‘scene-around’ sections in the magazine, we also look at some of the more dedicated organisations like FOSTER and the Kromme Enviro-Trust. This is to see how the years went and what is planned for the future. We have some updates from the St Francis Property Owners Association. We chatted with the founder of Key College – the St Francis Bay school that is growing and growing.
There are also interviews, restaurant reviews, a writing competition winner’s article. We also look at some new people who have moved into town and made a difference.
There are still advertising slots available,. Please reach out if you are interested in advertising to info@craigjarvis.co.za for details and advertising rates.
Who remembers when we produced our online magazine called The West Wind? It was massively popular among the readers and got great readership numbers. Still, it was too hard to get the interest of local businesses to advertise at a rate that would make the online publication sustainable. This was December/January 2021-2022. It was a popular read. We should do it again sometime. If you actually have any interest, drop us a mail. Read it here
Seal Point Corner, Xmas Day
Summer is here; there is a definite vibe of positivity around via our Talk In The Carpark sessions, and there is a good feeling for visitors and trading for many local businesses and vendors.
Billy’s Beach is a big attraction for the hordes, and everyone is waiting to see who the headline DJs will be this season. Last season’s headliners were a duo called Catz ‘n Dogz, and they were a pretty big coup when it comes to that genre of DJ crew that the kids love so much.
There is also a full calendar of events based around The Links, and there is usually a long list of sporting events in St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis over the season.
For some, the season is a little bit too busy, and the complaints ring through fast and unabated throughout the season, from noise pollution to queues and lack of parking to boisterous youth moving pot plants around and other such crimes of passion.
Three wedges of the local population reveal themselves during this time as the season naturally widens the divide between them.
There are primarily parents: driving back and forth, picking up children at all hours of the day and night, and stressing a little bit about what could be going on at the jols, but also tolerant of the noise and the crowds as they absorb the joy that it all brings to the kids. For them, the season revolves around their kids.
They hate everything to do with the season, find fault with everyone, and have fierce and deadly keyboard wars while outside the weather is beautiful; there are sounds of laughter and oodles of vitamin D pouring down and fixing the world of so many of its ails. They see the clouds, while the rest see the rainbows. You will find them primarily on Facebook, and the best way to deal with their constant barrage of online cavilling is to resist temptation and not take the bait. Funny enough, some of them are relatively new to the area.
There is also a hard-core crew of local people who hearken back to the years long ago, and in particularly BC (before covid) when the village still had a bit of old-school vibes, when there was lots of open spaces and when people didn’t live on top of each other. These people just miss those days so much and often mention it wistfully. They do have a point, and we all miss those days, but time marches on, time waits for no man, procrastination is the killer of time, and other cliches that signify what has gone has gone and that we need to look to the future.
Talking of which, there are five weeks left, and the first of our seasonal visitors start arriving.
Five weeks.
On another note – New Bottle Stores For St Francis Bay?
Do you fancy yourself as a bit of a writer? Do you have original ideas and want to be published? St Francis Today is running a writing competition over the next three weeks and will reward the winner with a prize of R1,000 and the joy of seeing your article in print in Wildside Times magazine.
Here are the rules. Apologies in advance, but some are really strict, and they are all there for a reason.
Send entries to info@craigjarvis.co.za – and good luck. If you have accompanying images, these will be gladly accepted but will not affect the judging criteria.
Final words. Keep it tidy. We don’t want to insult or be offensive in any way, but you can be as edgy as you want. This is keenly encouraged if you have a strong conviction and want to express it. Still, the final decision on winning articles will be at the judges’ discretion, and no correspondence will be entered into. I don’t actually know what that last phrase means, but I have always wanted to use it.
See more: Wildside Times Magazine Issue 9 Incoming
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