30/06/2026
Last week, Wednesday, 26 June 2026, the Friends of the Drostdy Museum held our Annual General Meeting. It was well attended this year and it was good to see some old and new faces.
We invited Dr Elsa Vogts, the Museologist at Babylonstoren, to be our guest speaker at the event. She was well received and her talk "The role of storytelling in the museum today" was very informative. She shared the ideas and sensory storytelling experiences at Babylonstoren - especially the impact of smell and touch to create a memorable visit. Her talk was richly illustrated with photographs from three Babylonstoren projects – the Story of Wine, the Byzantium bee museum, and Soetmelksvlei – and was relevant to the Drostdy Museum's own vision of becoming a living museum. She also noted that, apart from storytelling being the heart of a great museum experience, it's also mainly supported by the people presenting the story.
Anja Smith, the Museum Manager, introduced the Board of Trustees (BOT), namely Tanja Kruger, Matthias Streicher, Wayne Marshall, Dr Jacques du Toit, Agnes Bokwana, Melanie du Plessis, Lorelle Hutton and Lizette Becker. She also emphasised that the Drostdy Museum is, although provincially aided by DCAS, mostly dependent on funds generated by the BOT through events and tenants.
A major achievement of Anja, the BOT and staff, is to have approved permits for all buildings under the Conservation Management Plan to cover maintenance and restoration work through to 2030/2031.
Sadly, the complex didn't escape the storm from a few weeks ago and significant damage was suffered, especially to the water wheel, and many trees were lost.
Lizette Becker, Chair of the Friends of the Drostdy Museum, also introduced the Membership Tiers - A Friend, Volunteer, Collaborator, and/or Donor. The new logo and branding materials, as designed by Charlene Bekker, were also showcased and discussed.
Our biggest fundraiser for the year remains the annual Golf Day. This year it delivered! By raising nearly R70 000, the funds will aid the setup of weatherproof information panels for the Narrative Walk Project around the museum complex.
New initiatives for the future include the All Goods Social Market at First Fridays from Spring onwards; partnering with the Swellendam Camera to create content and grow involvement; A Night at the Museum and movie screening; Registering the Friends of the Drostdy Museum for Section 18A tax certificates to make donations tax-deductible and open new fundraising opportunities.
The new Committee members for 2026/2027 were (re)elected: Lizette Becker, Anné Langenhoven, Marié Bester, Alice Mfundisi, Charlene Bekker and Jordan Hawkins. It was also noted and approved that the re-elected members hold the right to co-opt new members to the committee.
Then, last but not least - something everyone was anxiously waiting for: The naming of the baby donkey. The list of potential names was narrowed down to "Hazel" and "Matilda". By an overwhelming response of the attendees, her new name, "Matilda" was chosen. Welcome to the Drostdy family, Matilda!
If you'd like to know more about the Friends, or join us, please send an email to
[email protected]
Or, scan the QR (last photo) to access the membership form.
