Hilton Pre-Primary collected money for CANSA and our parents made a gallant effort to remember to send their children in blue or pink. You may also notice some have on black and white as well to support our Sharks tomorrow!!!

Grace College pupil, Ross Perrett (Gr. 9), won a Silver Certificate for Achievement in the World Knowledge Olympiad recently. He came third in his age group in the country, an outstanding achievement and one that Grace College is very proud of. Ross is also a member of the Midlands Youth Choir that took part in the World Eisteddfod Choir Championship in Wales over the July holidays where they had the privilege to sing at the Queen's 60th Jubilee celebration. "Well done, Ross!"

Pictured on left Ross Perrett.

News and image supplied.

Rebecca Manners-Wood and her aunt Kerry Frost (nee Cropper) get the St Anne's flag to the highest point in Africa during the July holidays!

Well done!

News and image supplied by St Anne's Dicesan College in Hilton, KZN.

Hilton Pre-Primary recently enjoyed a 'Pyjama Party' Day to celebrate learning the 'p' sound. They had party treats and made popcorn at school. Don't you just love the whole family who got into the spirit of things!!! Or was that an excuse to roll out of bed later than usual?

To make the most of alphabet learning the Grade R's also made pirate hats, pirate patches and even a pirate ship.

News and images submitted by Hilton Pre-Primary.

The Grade R's at Hilton Pre-Primary are doing the letter 'P' this week and to make it memorable they are having a pyjama party this Friday (we are looking forward to seeing their fun photos soon). To really bring the letter 'P' to life for the little learners, Jack Haskins was invited and he kindly brought his police dog for a visit.

The smart Hilton signage now in place at the entrance to Umngeni Hall on Hilton Avenue is the result of a shared endeavour. We applaud Simon Fogden for his contribution in preparing the wall, Andrew Tedder from Hilton Village Build It for building materials supplied, Carey Wylde-Hughes for painting with Jane Pike and cheering on all the participants and DIY Depot for getting the new lettering up with a joint sponsorship from The Sign Company.

What a vast improvement, well done to all the contributors!

Several Grade 7 learners at Laddsworth Primary School in Hilton have won scholarships to high schools in the Midlands for the Grade 8 intake of 2013.

Pictured here from left to right (back row) are: Robyn Ducasse (St Anne's: Laddsworth Closed Academic), Charné Houston (Epworth: Sports) and Hannah Graham (Epworth: Day Girl Academic). Front row (left to right): Sasha-Lee Tamsen (St John's: Sports), Helen Nel (Epworth: Day Girl Academic), Isabelle Joubert (The Wykeham Collegiate: Laddsworth Closed Academic) and Cassia Forsyth (Epworth: Day Girl Academic).

Nelson Mandela will be 94 on the 18th July 2012, inspiring people everywhere to give 67 minutes to helping others in recognition of Nelson's contribution to his country. Here in Hilton we have heard of soup kitchens being set up to feed the elderly, items being sold to raise funds, verges being cleaned for the community and collections being made for appropriate donation. To this end please deliver your old scarves to Hilton Travel, they will be redistributing them in Cedara Village.

Steers are excited about their One Man One Cone Promotion. For tomorrow Wednesday 18th July 2012 Steers are offering a special on a plain Ice Cream cone, they will be selling for only R2.50 each. Then on top of this Steers will be donating R0.94c for every Ice Cream Cone sold to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

Steers Hilton are going to Never Never Land Crèche in conjunction with Hilton Lions Club to give the kids a bit of party with a get real burger and cold drinks. Well done to the team at Steers!

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. what you are doing for Mandela Day and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., these little actions inspire others to also participate.

Still uninspired ? Visit Hilton Cares and join up with an existing upliftment focus. Putting our community first.

Brandon Stewart turned on the afterburners to claim his maiden victory in the Kia Walkerville Mountain Bike Classic, presented by ASG, in sub-zero conditions in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The FedGroup-Itec Connect pro, from Hilton in KwaZulu-Natal, made an early break in the 60km main event and was later joined by RE:CM's Waylon Woolcock.

They matched each other all the way to the Walkerville Showgrounds, where the 15th edition of Gauteng's largest and coldest winter race finished on the slippery speedway circuit.

Stewart duly outdragged his breakaway companion to take line honours in a fast 1:55:55. Woolcock, a former Old Mutual joBerg2c champion, finished three seconds back.

The latter's team-mate, Neil MacDonald, completed the podium in 2:02:02.

Stewart said the shale surface, which is designed for motorbikes to slide on, had made the final stretch particularly challenging and exciting. "It was almost like a mini Paris-Roubaix finish."

The win rounded off a successful weekend for the 31-year-old, who also took third in the Nissan TrailSeeker Series race in Cullinan on Saturday.

"It's always fantastic to win, especially when the event is backed by one of our team sponsors," said Stewart.

"Obviously, Walkerville was my big focus but I think it was good for me to do the Cullinan race because it loosened me up a bit."

He said he felt his form was good enough to make an early break on the big Platberg climb, which came after just 10km of pedalling.

"Neil and Waylon were always going to be my strongest competition, so I thought I'd give it a go while everyone's legs were still feeling a bit cold."

The gamble paid off and Stewart opened a gap on the chasing group. "Then I was on my own and I just carried on making the race really hard."

However, some confusion over route markings saw him lose valuable time and Woolcock managed to close the gap just before the halfway mark.

MacDonald, riding alone in extremely windy conditions, was about five minutes off the pace at this point.

"So then it was just the two of us who worked together for the rest of the way," said Stewart.

The former national cross-country champion described the route as well balanced.

"It had that big climb in the beginning, some tricky rocky downhill sections, nice sparse single track, open sections and a bit of tar."

The women's race was won by Nicci Grobler of bizhub-FCF in a time of 2:18:22, followed by Carolyn Smith of Complete Cyclist in 2:28:24 and Nataly Barbosa in 2:45:26.

Walkerville was the first of five mountain bike races in the new Kia series. The next is the Kia Val de Vie Classic near Paarl on September 15.

Contact ASG Events on 076 621 1807 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information, or follow @CyclingnewsZA.

PHOTO: Brandon Stewart of FedGroup-Itec Connect claimed his maiden victory in the Kia Walkerville Mountain Bike Classic, presented by ASG, on Sunday. Photo: Action Photo

News submitted by Full Stop Communications.

Grace College Matric pupil, Siphiwumusa Radebe, took part in an International Kickboxing Tournament in Serbia over the July holidays. She fought in 25 fights, winning all of them, which placed her first in the world in the U18 age group. Siphiwumusa is a member of the South African Amateur Kickboxing Association (SAAKA) and has progressed from Provincial, National to International Champion. She is also an outstanding sportswoman here at Grace College who carries herself in an exemplary manner both on the sports field and at school.

"Well done, Siphiwumusa, we are so proud of you!"

News and image supplied by Grace College.

With our provincial rugby team The Sharks down in New Zealand, waging battle against the Chiefs in their quest to win the Super Rugby Final, all eyes will be on the screens this Saturday morning from 9.35am.

All of South Africa will be behind our team.

Rusty, the friendly character who hangs around outside Harcourts on Hilton Avenue, had his Sharks flag out today to show his team spirit. Go Sharks!

Image supplied by Harcourts Hilton.

On Saturday 28 July it was wonderful to welcome over 350 grandparents to the school. The day started with a chapel service followed by tea, and then a formal welcome in the Theatre where some of our musicians performed. Grandparents' Day is a special day in our calendar and our grandparents are an important part of the Hilton family.

Grandparents had travelled from as far as Cape Town, Gauteng, and out of country to be with us for this special occasion. Their presence was much appreciated by the boys of the school and Chris Walley (Form I) gave a wonderful tribute to them in the Theatre.

Pictured here are Campbell Crowe with Robert and Trish Williamson and James and Pauline Crowe.

News and photograph supplied by Hilton College.

Grace College Business Studies pupils went on a seven day tour to Johannesburg and surrounds over the July holidays. Various prominent businesses and historical sites were visited. These include the Spar Distribution Centre, ABI, Jewel Africa, Nissan Manufacturing Plant, SABC, Snackworks/Willards in Rosslyn as well as the Apartheid Museum, Gold Reef City, Newton, Sterkfontein Caves and Sun City. Our pupils and staff were hosted by Bealieu College during their stay and over 2100 kilometres were travelled.

This was a memorable experience and our thanks go to Mrs. Lisa Akerman, for organising this tour.

News and image submitted by Grace College in Hilton, KZN.

Pictured here: Grace College Business Studies pupils with Mrs Akerman at the Sterkfontein Caves.

The school leavers from Trinity Church Hilton wanted to raise funds to upgrade the Youth Centre at Lily of the Valley Children's Village. Someone very kindly gave them a donation in exchange for their cleaning up the Old Howick roadside below World's View. They would like to thank the traffic department for their assistance.

We have it on good authority that Pasella's TV crew will soon be visiting our village, so well done to all for the cleaning up and we hope more people get involved!

Laddsworth Primary School encouraged its pupils to do something charitable for Madiba last week and two girls, Stella Joubert and Shannon Henderson in Grade 5 baked choc chip cookies which they sold in the main court of The Quarry Centre on Saturday 21 July 2012.

Their aim to raise funds for the Howick SPCA, and not only did they sell all their biscuits but also received donations to equal the R500.00 which was donated to the SPCA today.

Well done to Stella and Shannon!

News and images shared by Belinda Henderson.

Inspired by Mandela's birthday and in the spirit of Madiba, Devon White, owner of Crossways Health Centre which includes Wise Eye Reading Academy and Stepping Stones BEMER Treatment Centre got going with a 94 minute clean-up.

With a small team Devon cleared invasive weeds from a tree fuchsia, an azalea and a rose; these would otherwise have been suffocated. They cleared 1.5 black bags full of bottles, chip packets etc. from the verge. The remaining piles will be cleared soon.

The growth from the verge into 31 Cedara Road garden is slowly being cleared so that the magnificent camellias can be seen as you drive past.

Hats off to Devon and her generous helpers!

A reminder that if you haven't booked to come to Howick Hospice's fabulous Gala Dinner at Fernhill Hotel, tickets are still available and Hilton band Undercover will be live.

Do you know about our Butterflies? We have 200 butterflies, numbers 1 - 200 on sale at R100 each.

There are awesome prizes "behind" each butterfly, ranging from weekends away for 2 people at Granny Mouse, Hilton Hotel, Cranford Country Lodge, Penwarn Country Estate.... to meal vouchers, shopping vouchers, fabulous hampers and many more....

To book your butterfly NOW, email us with your choice of number (and two others in case your first choice is taken), and we will send you our account details to deposit into. You don't have to be at the Silver Celebration to win a prize.

When Margie Crookes joined a London nursing agency and was posted at the King Edward the 7th Hospital, an establishment for officers and gentlemen, she nursed the likes of the Princess Alexandra and Monty of El Alamein. Monty was a WW2 general who lead Allied forces into Egypt. Then one day a request came through and Margie was asked if she would accept a position in Switzerland.

A meeting with Lady Chaplin at the Dorchester Hotel resulted in Margie travelling from London to the Chaplin's home in Vevey on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland for a six month tenure. During this time Margie formed a bond with Lady Chaplin, Oona, an American who had married Charlie when he was 56 and she was just 18 and the two kept in touch until 1991 when Oona died.

Getting to know this large family of eight children added to Margie's enjoyment of her time spent in Switzerland, fond memories of them, from Michael the oldest to Christopher the youngest come to mind as Margie revisits some photographs of the Chaplin family. The Chaplin family holds all the copyrights to Charlie's films and the eldest Michael has established their family home as a museum.

The life-lessons which Margie feels she gained from this adventure are two-fold, in the first instance she observed that South Africans are not generally in awe of celebrities but tend to judge the people they meet according to how these people behave rather than their wealth or social position. Secondly her interactions reinforced the belief that all people are the same under the skin, there are some nice and some not so nice people to be found just as often amongst the rich as amongst the poor.

Pictured above is Margie with Charlie Chaplin. Thank you Margie for sharing your insights!