My Helderberg Days, Nr 1

Below Helderberg Mountain

Helderberg College Campus

The College Below Helderberg Mountain

A View of the Strand from Helderberg Mountain

I clearly remember the Sunday in December of 1941 when my mother and father drove me by car to enter Helderberg College. I was going early in order to work during the summer before I started standard 8 (Grade 10) in January, 1942.

The picture that stands out in my mind is of me working in a field where the dam now exists, and waving to my parents as they drove away in their car. It was with mixed feelings that I said good-bye. They were going on a holiday, while I chose to start my Helderberg career laboring in the fields!

During that summer break, I stayed in an upstairs room of the boy’s dorm with Russell Staples. For some reason he had stayed behind during that summer. I think it had something to do with preparing for a public examination.

I was later to marry Russell’s cousin, Ruth Hurlow, and as I write this blog I can report that Russell now lives about twenty minutes away from us, in a very nice facility for the aged. He is on his own having lost his wife, Phyllis, and will be turning 100 on November 4 of this year. Ruth and I visit him regularly once every two weeks.

Coming back to Helderberg College in December of 1941, those summer days were long and we worked many hours each day ending around 7 in the evening. We were hungry when our work was finished and we certainly enjoyed our meals!

At the end of the summer break it was time to start the school year. I was then assigned a specific room in the dorm with roommates. In the course of my stay at Helderberg, I can clearly picture only three rooms which I occupied with some of my friends.

One room was on the middle floor and Arthur Coetzee and my brother, Don, were with me. Arthur Coetzee went on to become the Provost of Andrews University and my brother Don, became a medical doctor in the USA. Another room was upstairs and right above the room of Elsa Marais, the daughter of the preceptor, C C Marais and his wife. We had to try and remember that fact every now and then! My roommates were Fred Thomas, Jasper Wyman and Garth Till. We had a triple-decker and a single bed in the room. I slept in the triple-decker, either in the middle or top bunk!

Fred Thomas later married my cousin, Jean Hepburn, and they went on to do important mission work in Africa, pastoral ministry in the USA and also administrative work in the General Conference. Jasper Wyman became a lawyer. Garth Till was the son of British missionaries to Africa. I do no know what happened to Garth.

The other room I remember was on the top floor in the front on the side of the Administration Building, Branson Hall. My roommates were Izak Boshoff and Gert van Niekerk. Gert was older than the two of us and became a missionary in Africa. He was very much appreciated by his roommates. Izak went into the ministry in South Africa. His daughter, Reinette, has a beautiful singing voice and now lives in the USA with her husband, Lou Wildman.

Our men’s preceptor when I was in High School was Mr C C Marais. Incidentally, he was the brother of Gideon Marais, married to my father’s sister, Gladys. I have written about some of my summer holidays on their farm when I went on that horse trip with Deon Marais.

C C Marais was a great teacher of moral and character principles. I remember one of his habits. He would stand at the top steps of the boy’s dorm and look across the quad as the boys returned from the dining room after breakfast. He had placed a piece of orange peel on the pathway and beneath that he had placed a coin. He watched keenly to see which boy was smart enough to pick up the orange peel and discover the money.

Every evening after supper the boys gathered in the parlor for evening worship. A hymn or two would be sung and then C C Marais would give one of his little pep talks. He did his best to instill good principle into his boys. His wife was in charge of the dining room and did a sterling job in keeping everyone in order while enjoying the meals.

Students were assigned seats at the various tables. There were eight students at each table and a young man and a young lady were appointed as host and hostess of the table. As I remember, the food was brought to the table and then dished up. A jug of Jersey whole milk was brought up to the table and this item was available at all three meals. Living on that diet for the seven years is no doubt the reason why Ruth’s and my bones are so strong!

A significant event took place in that first year of my stay at Helderberg! The College Bible lecturer was Pastor Earnest W Marter and he also happened to function as the church pastor. He conducted a series of baptismal classes on Friday nights and I attended these.

At the end of this series, I was baptized by Pastor Marter on the 10th of October, 1942, in what was then called, “The Froggy Pond”. It was a concrete structure up in a valley of the mountain. It was like a small swimming pool. This was a very important day in my life. Incidentally, my wife Ruth was baptized in the same Pond in 1940 by the then Principal of Helderberg, Dr George Shankel.

My father and mother gave me a lovely gift for my baptism. It was a leather copy of the little book, ‘Steps to Christ’. On the front page my dad wrote these words, “Dear Eric, We present this little book to you as a remembrance of your baptism on 10th October, 1942. May it indeed be ‘Steps to Christ’ in your christian experience. From Mother and Dad.”

I have owned that little book now for almost 82 years! There have been quite a few times when I seemed to misplace the book and I have thought that I had lost my little treasure. And then suddenly the book has reappeared! I am so thankful that I still have the book and that it has not been lost. It is a reminder to me that even at times when I feel lost, I am secure in the hands of God. Through Jesus Christ my place in the Kingdom is safe and sure! And you can have that same assurance as you place your life in the saving hands of Jesus!