Annie’s Angels celebrate 45th anniversary
Annie’s Angels Enrichment Centre celebrated their 45th anniversary with a debutante ball at the Calvinist church hall, in 3rd Avenue, Grassy Park.
The ball took place on Saturday November 4, the birthday of the centre’s founder, the late Annie Chadwick.
Annette Robertson, only child of Ms Chadwick, said her mother would have turned 82 years old.
Ms Robertson took over the centre, which was named Harmony Nursery School at the time, 15 years ago, after her mother died.
Five years later, she moved on and left the reins to her cousin, Dalene Ross, who is the current principal.
Ms Robertson said it was emotional to have the celebration on her mother’s birthday, and at the same venue where they celebrated the centre’s 30th anniversary and her mother’s farewell party.
Ms Robertson said a significant moment was when they moved from temporary premises, at Harmony Hall, in 3rd Avenue, to realise her mother’s dream to have the centre based at their house in Ontong Way, Grassy Park.
In 2020 the name was changed to Annie’s Angels Enrichment Centre.
The centre was closed during the Covid pandemic but when the children returned Ms Chadwick’s legacy continued.
“We continued my mom’s work ethic to give the best to the children,” said Ms Robertson, who has been in education for 32 years and has started Love Trust, an ECD academy.
Ms Ross, the Annie’s Angels Enrichment Centre principal, said the debutante ball fund-raiser involved choosing of a king and queen and the children performed a dance in ballroom dresses. “We also had former students who danced. Parents were invited and thanked for collecting on the lists towards the fund-raiser.”
Ms Ross started at the centre while Ms Chadwick was still the head and said it accommodates babies from 3 months to children up to 5 years old.
She started helping out at the centre for an hour a day, then moved to taking care of the babies.
Ms Ross said their next event will be the pupils’ graduation concert and school party.