Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Cape reading star Cassidy gets VIP treatment and meets Stormers
MAYOR Geordin Hill-Lewis is a man of his word: he promised the Cape's reading star, eight-year-old Cassidy Hendricks, that she would be invited to Cape Town Stadium and meet the DHL Stormers who were playing against Leinster of Ireland at the weekend, and she did.
The little girl was a recent winner of the Western Cape's SA Literacy Association's annual reading competition.
Cassidy, who is in Grade 3 at Ferndale Primary School, was given VIP treatment together with her grandmother, Brenda Tommy, and her grandfather, Christopher Tommy.
Cassidy personally met the entire team and was given a personalised autographed T-shirt as a keepsake.
She also met deputy mayor Eddie Andrews.
“After the match she went and met the squad,” said grandmother Brenda.
“She also had a photo session with the team along with the mayor, who were cheering her on.
“The mayor made a good promise after visiting her at home.”
The mayor told Weekend Argus he was thrilled to have had Cassidy at the match: “It was a pleasure to host young Cassidy at the rugby. She is a remarkable little girl.
“She got a special treat in being able to meet all the Stormers, and I am sure she'll remember that forever.”
Last month, the mayor and ward councillor Donovan Nelson visited Cassidy at her home in Lotus River.
Cassidy has become known to readers as a phenomenal bookworm who has achieved A++ during competition rounds and has read many books, including on Greek mythology.
Cassidy has been reading since the tender age of 2 and has made it her “humanitarian duty” to read to young and old. She was recently featured in Weekend Argus for World Read Aloud Day, when she read for the seniors of the Cape Peninsula Organisation for the
Aged in Lotus River.
Her favourite authors and books include Jeff Kinney's The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox, and classics The Three Musketeers, Lorna Doone, The Iliad, and Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and David Copperfield.
The mayor earlier also encouraged the family to let her join Mensa, when he heard that she is capable of completing maths at grades higher than hers.
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world and is open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test, according to Wikipedia.