Fridays in Port Alfred have never been the same since April 5, 2024, when the Kowie Granny Grommets first hit the surf at Kelly’s Beach. Modelled on the long-running Nahoon Granny Grommets, they meet once a week for the time of their lives in the waves, and of course to enjoy each other’s company.
Talk of the Town recently reported on the Kowie Granny Grommets’ plans to mark the sixth months since the group started. Little did the Kowie group know what was being plotted in East London. Nahoon GG founder Julie Schroeter organised minibuses to bring 28 bodyboarders from the Nahoon group to Port Alfred to come and catch a wave with them.
Watching things unfold was priceless. The Kowie GGs made their way from the parking lot to the beach as usual. Dynamic cofounder Jenny Hodgskiss handed out the group’s brand-new vivid orange T-shirts and planted the brand-new Kowie Granny Grommets flag in the sand. The GGs started getting ready to head for the surf with their boards, when suddenly, the East London crew appeared further down the beach.
They were stunned – but it wasn’t long before Hodgskiss gathered the Kowie GGs – 21 in all – into a guard of honour with their boards. As the Nahoons approached and made their way through it, they did a ‘drum-roll’ on their boards and cheered them in.
Schroeter does branded T-shirts and other printing and when Hodgskiss approached her to make the new Kowie Granny Grommets T-shirts and caps, the idea of surprising them was sown.
“The ladies were dead keen to go on a boogie-boarding roadtrip. It ended up being 28 ladies who came down to Port Alfred. It was quite something trying to keep it a secret from Jen!” Schroeter told Talk of the Town.
Hodgskiss joins the Nahoons on their camping trips, so Schroeter had to fool her into believing the Whatsapp group was being dissolved in order to start a new one.
“I took her off the group and the planning started! We did also have two spies on the Kowie group.”
“It was a complete surprise,” said Hodgkiss afterwards, still beaming. “We had absolutely no idea!
“Actually when we were driving down here I was thinking ‘I hope there will be a lot of people’. Then as we were about to go into the sea, my friend Michelle from East London hadn’t arrived yet. It was surprising because she’s one of our founder members.
“I thought, well anyway we’d better just get going, and next thing I see this long snake of people coming down to the beach and I saw the flag. Someone said it was the Nahoon Granny Grommets and I said, ‘It can’t be!’”
It was, and it was double the fun and double the camaraderie for the next few hours as the Granny Groms duck-dived, surfed, spun and wiped out, chilled on the shore comparing notes on boards and wetsuits, or just hung out in the shorebreak.
Thelma Jameson, 78, from East London said a lot of planning went into their Port Alfred trip.
“We wanted to keep it a surprise, so we started a separate little whatsapp group so nobody would get wind of it.
“It really is wonderful to see all these lovely ladies enjoying themselves today.”
Michelle Rosenthal, a cofounder of the Kowie Granny Grommets who lives in East London and spends weekends in Port Alfred, has been part of both groups.
“Julie is the most inspirational leader of the East London Granny Grommets. The energy, the positiveness, just to ensure everyone gets together. This surprise was amazing, how nobody found out in Port Alfred. It was worth all the effort – hiring two taxis to get all the ladies here.
“You know what’s so inspirational is seeing those big smiles when they come out the water.”
The Nahoon Granny Grommets, who started in August 2023 with four are now up to 120 regulars.
Founder Julie Schroeter said the secret of the group’s success was that rain or shine, they go down to Nahoon Beach. Usually to boogieboard, but if the conditions are too harsh, they go for coffee at a local coffeeshop they’ve ‘adopted’ as their spot.
“Lots of us grew up on the beach, so we’ve reunited – old friends have come together.”
Both groups stipulate that membership is for women 50 and above.
Of the Kowie surprise, Schroeter said, “It was a great day and I’m pretty sure the Kowie ladies will be getting together and road-tripping our way soon.”
On September 27, the Nahoon Granny Grommets made a bid for a world record for ‘The oldest wave’. The intention was to raise awareness for a Backabuddy fundraising campaign so that East London surfer Jean Paul (JP) Veaudry can compete in the ISA World Para Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach California from 3 to 9 November.
They are waiting for official confirmation of their world-record-setting ‘oldest wave’ – “I think our ages added up to around 4555,” Schroeter said.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, October 10, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
