March 2011 for web.indd - OVK

The cemetery holds two notorious graves. The first is
that of G.B. Mous ley, a well known “smous” (trader)
in the area. The second grave is that of Arthur Pond,
whose history remains a grey area in the history of
Ficksburg. What is noticeable about his grave, is that it
faces the wrong way – west instead of east.
The Cherry Festival, with which Ficks burg has become
synonymous, is the oldest crop festival in South Afri ca
and is held an nually during the third week in November.
The first successful cherry trees were planted in South
Africa in 1905 on the farm Platkop in the Clocolan dis trict
after Harry Pickston had con tacted German mis sionaries
in South Africa with questions about growing cherries.
Some of the origi nal cherry trees can still be seen on the
farm today.
It is estimated that there are 500 hectares of cherry trees
in the East ern Free State concentrated mainly in the Ficks -
burg, Clocolan and Fouriesburg area.
The first Cherry Festival was held in Ficksburg, the so
called cherry capital of the world, in 1968, launch ed by
the local Jaycees with a street parade through town, a
cherry ball and the crowning of a cherry queen.
Through the years the Cherry Festi val has grown in stature,
and has become one of the ‘events’ in South Africa,
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with thousands of visitors visi ting the Eastern Free State
during cherry time. Part of the festival are a concert with
well known artists and events like a mara thon and mountain
bike race.
Pinedene Small Arms Museum is an accredited pri vate
mu seum, privately funded and located on the farm Kromdraai
in the Ficksburg district. It came into exist ence in
1992 when it was registered as an Institutional Member
of the South African Museums Association. The focus
of the museum is on military firearms and militaria, but
also included and separately displayed, is a sizeable
collection of sporting weapons.
The military display consists of infantry weapons from
the various conflicts in which South Africa has been
in volved, including weapons from the opposing forces.
They date from those used in the Eastern Cape frontier
wars, the Basotho wars, the Zulu wars, the Lesotho gun
war, the Anglo-Boer War, World War I and World War II,
as well those used in the South African Liberation Forces’
struggle for democracy.
Two enterprising Ficksburgers, Sandra Netherlands and
Ansie Fourie, started a small recycling business focused
on turning scrap metal, old enamel and old steel ceilings
into art and décor articles. This enabled them to generate
an income for themselves and for unemployed job seek-
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