With the upgrade at the U3A facility there has been a change in the air-conditioning system. There is a new controller installed in the U3A room. Barry O'Connor has written some instructions to assist convenors.  Thank you, Barry!

If you want to bulk email your class members a message, you can copy the contents of the text file into the BCC field of your email program.  The attached document may help you with that.

Len Jeffers
​Membership Officer

The following most informative article was written for the Benalla Ensign by Margaret Jenkins for Age Friendly Benalla.  Margaret is also Research/Grants Officer on the U3A Benalla & District's Committee of Management. 

“Mr Dom Testoni, CEO of Benalla Rural City Council has announced that Benalla Rural City Council are spending $130,000 to upgrade of the interior of the Benalla Senior’s Centre located in Fawckner Drive Benalla. The funding is from two sources: namely Drought relief funds as well as Federal Government funding.

The Benalla Senior’s Centre is a multipurpose facility which houses activities of the Benalla Senior Citizens, the Benalla Bridge Club and U3A Benalla.

The entire air conditioning unit is being replaced with a new system which has environmentally friendly refrigerant gas. The air conditioning machinery will be in the same place and use the same duct work. The work is to be completed mid January 2021 and will cost $70,000.

The switch board at the Benalla Senior’s Centre is being converted with a backup generator system, so that if the power goes out, the Benalla Senior’s Centre can be used as a Refuge point for Benalla.

The switch board of the Benalla Town Hall is being similarly converted with a generator backup so that it also can be used as a Refuge when required.

Internally in the Benalla Senior’s Centre building there are a series of alterations planned with the Stage in the main auditorium to be removed. This will allow for the building of a new office for the Benalla Senior Citizens. An area adjacent to this will become storage for the bowling mats used by the Benalla Seniors.

The Benalla Bridge club is to have slightly increased storage as their area will incorporate the area occupied previously by the steps to the former stage as well as their current storage facility.
U3A Benalla have been offered the use of the former Benalla Senior’ Office as a second meeting room.

Upgrades to the main kitchen area will see a new dish washer and the incorporation of the stove from the other small kitchen.  It is anticipated that a standalone glass double fronted refrigerator will allow storage for all groups using the centre.

These internal upgrades are estimated to cost about $60,000. The builder for the project has been selected and expects that the internal work will be completed by Monday 8 February 2020.
U3A Benalla expects to resume classes on Monday 15 February 2020 in their current U3A room. 

Due to the building works, Registration Day for U3A Benalla will be held on Monday 18 January 2021 and Wednesday 20 January 2021 from 9.30am to 11.30am in the Benalla Town Hall.
​
Further information regarding Registration Day can be obtained from Mrs Dorothy Webber on 5762 2116.”  

• ​Members when attending U3A Benalla groups, classes or functions  are required to keep 1.5 meters apart at all times.
• Members when attending U3A Benalla groups, classes or functions are required to be at a density of not more than 1 person per 2 square meters of floor space.
• Members when attending U3A Benalla groups, classes or functions are required to wear a face mask when indoors providing this is currently mandated by the Victorian State Government.
• Hand sanitizer is to be provided at the entrance to the U3A Benalla room and any other venue being used by U3A Benalla. Members of U3A Benalla are requested to use the hand sanitizer when entering the U3A room or other venue being used by U3A.  
• Hand wipes will be provided for Convenors or their assistants to wipe down furniture such as chairs, tables and door handles after each class held in the U3A Benalla room or other venue being used by U3A.  
• Attendance Records. An Attendance record for each class is to be located on the Table outside the U3A room or other venue being used by U3A. Every person entering the U3A room or other venue is to be ticked off on this attendance record. U3A Benalla will hold in another location the phone number and address of all members attending groups or classes.
• If a person is not currently enrolled for this particular group or class, they are to write their name and phone number legibly on the attendance sheet.
• Any member of U3A Benalla who is feeling unwell is asked not to attend a class or group to which they belong, but instead get tested for COVID 19 after phoning Benalla Health to make an appointment.
• Close contact of members in the U3A Benalla room or other venue being used by U3A is to be avoided due to COVID restrictions.   

​
Dorothy Webber and Margaret Jenkins

U3A has been offered assistance from CASI program to help us get back up and running.

We have been offered space outdoors at the Tennis Club and or the Racecourse, the benefit of the Racecourse is that it has undercover space.

Lightweight chairs we be provided.

With this in mind are you prepared to reconvene your group?

When we know how many are interested we will work out the details.

Please let me know no later than midday Monday 12th October at .
[email protected].

Dorothy

 

Convenors Margaret Jenkins Investment, John Lloyd Sustainability and Jane Rushworth Demystifying Psychology  now regularly engage with class members by Zoom.  

“It has been a fun way to keep our minds active as well as offering social stimulation”. 

A number of other convenors are now dipping their toes into the Zoom environment.  Dorothy Webber has offered to help those who weren't involved in the earlier training and find themselves becoming more interested in doing so.  

It's not all about Zoom though.  Joy Shirley uses email to keep in contact with her groups Creative Writing and Film and Literature,  Music Appreciation convenor Bill Squire emails and distributes session notes with You Tube links, while As Time Goes By story collections on the ‘Our Stories’ page.  Pauline Bailey and Horst Gunther even set homework for the German class!  Finally,

Avid Facebook users and 'photographer/correspondents' Andi Stevenson and Bev Thornell regularly post news and photographs of Birdwatching, Easy Walks & Mid-Week Walks activities on our Facebook page - thanks Bev and Andi!  Our Newsletter and website also provide a wonderful way of keeping in touch. ​  Thank you  to the convenors who have been making contributions during the Covid break - hopefully it won't be too long before we are all able to write reports of activities each month, though this is unlikely to be this year.

​Media Team

Margaret Jenkins recently contacted convenors to gain expressions of interest from convenors keen to find out more about Zoom and explore possible applications in their classes.  A group already trialling Zoom are to act as mentors to around eight convenors who expressed interest in a 'first round' of training sessions. If there is enough interest, further training may be made available in future. 

The following YouTube video could be helpful for convenors/tutors who have participated in  Zoom sessions as participants who are now keen to trial offering Zoom sessions to class members.

Classes will continue with if Convenors are comfortable in doing so. If anyone does not want to lead their class that class will close down. Numbers will be down, but till the Council or Government close the building down we’ll stay operating. This may change at any time.

Please leave the two doors open (this means less handling) or use the self opening front doors. Council have recommended this.

The Library has stopped all group meetings and U3A will no longer have any classes at the Library. Let me know if you need a new venue (Mobile 0412 263 071..

As the situation is changing day by day, who knows what’s ahead.

Dorothy

The first classes have begun for the year and it's time to distribute the updated 'A-Z- for 2020.  The A-Z is produced each year and  provides useful advice for new convenors as well as updating past convenors about any changes.  

At the beginning of the year convenors are often keen to develop or update a group email list which targets class members.  It is possible to do this on gmail and outlook email accounts, and possibly also others.  

A key element of creating an email group is adding email addresses from the class lists sent to you by Len to your Contacts or Address Book beforehand.  There are many You Tube videos on You Tube about creating email lists - just go into You Tube and type 'create an email list in gmail' or 'create an email list in outlook' into the search bar.  Here are two Tube Resources found in this way which may help you on your way or refresh your memory about what to do!

or... for outlook users, try....

Try to remember to click bcc before you add the mailing list label to the To button... "If sending out emails to a list, select the ‘BCC’ blind carbon copy option so that individual member email addresses remain private.  If you unintentionally forget –try to remember next time.  (An enrolment form provision does make provision for sharing of such information between members.)"  Benalla U3A A-Z 

If you need some support to create and use a group email list for your class, make an appointment with Bev on 5762 8171.  You will be enrolled - albeit briefly - in Tech Savvy Community Projects and get one to one help in the U3A office.

The Convenors' meeting held in late October was very well attended, as the photo reveals!  The meeting proved most informative, with each Convenor sharing information about their course or activity.

As enrolment days for 2020 draw near, it's time to thank Convenors who have stepped back and new convenors who are 'stepping up' in 2020.  

Thank you so much Judith Borthwick (Collectors); Meg Dillon (Moments in Australian History; History of Western Civilisation; a four year 'opera subscription' series; Art Appreciation) ; Shirley Kearney (Chat N Chew) and Les Rogers (Tech Savvy Talks and Tech Savvy Talkers), for the important and highly valued roles you have taken in convening programs for U3A Benalla over the past four years.  Thank you for contributing to the newsletter and website - we hope you enjoy looking back at your reports over the next few years.

To Alex Adkins (Coin Collectors), Neville Gibb (A Different History of Germany), Brian Harker (The News - Fact or Fiction?), Janet Martens (German Conversation), Carol Perry and Broken River Artists (A Taste of Art), and Jane Rushworth (Demystifying Pschology), thank you for offering new programs. To Dorothy Webber (Collectors), Neville Gibb (Tech Savvy Talks), Max Powell (Life Ball) and others who have stepped up or are stepping up in 2020 to convene existing groups - thank you.  The preparedness to offer new programs and keep successful programs going makes U3A Benalla thrive.

Bev Lee
Programs Committee/Web Manager

Photograph:  David Palmer

Each month a report is placed in the Newsletter by either the Convener or their nominated person, giving a brief outline of the activities undertake by their group during the previous month.  As a limited number of pages can be folded comfortably in an envelope to be mailed to members who do not have Email access, it is suggested that these reports are concise but informative.  This is not possible in some cases, but please keep it in mind when presenting them for the Newsletter.

If you have any dates or times that you wish to notify your groups of upcoming activities, please include this information.    This information is then used to keep the calendar on the website up to date, keeping members informed.

Photos are also welcome, but a limit maybe placed on the number used in each edition as these take up megabytes and therefore the final Newsletter is above the required size for emailing out to members.   These photos are also passed onto the calendar convenor/website manager who uses them to update the webpage.

If a report is not received in time, it will be either left out of the Newsletter or a short summary may be inserted by the Editor, depending on information available from members.

The timeline for receipt of Newsletter reports, preparation and printing/emailing is as follows:

• Reports from conveners to be received by 25th day of each month.    Please forward report to [email protected].   If you have the Email in your contacts on your computer/ipad please check that it is the correct email address for the Newsletter.    Old Newsletter addresses are no longer operational.
• Collating reports and setting up Newsletter to be completed by the last day of month.
• Calendar for the following month updated from reports at end of month, formatted ready for printing with Newsletter - this calendar will include the 1st week of classes in the next month.   e.g.  the upcoming April Newsletter has reports of March activities conducted.   Calendar is for April classes plus first week of May activities and attached to the rear of Newsletter.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Newsletter Editor Heather Wallace
[email protected] Phone: 0418 353 244

The 2019 orientation session for convenors will be held in the U3A Meeting Room at 10 am on Thursday 24th January.  All convenors are encouraged to attend.

You will find a Course Proposal Form on the side panel of this page. Please note that while completing one of these is helpful, it is not compulsory.  Our Programs Coordinator Terry Case or President Dorothy Webber often simply talk through what is required with new convenors.  

The proposal form is particularly useful during the planning stages for more complex new programs where the concept needs to be developed, particularly if there are co-convenors or even a team of convenors.  The proposal form can help to make ideas more concrete and highlight potential hurdles and ways to over come them, leading to increased chances of success. The document also provides useful documentation for the program committee and details which can be used in the Program Guide and on the Calendar.

You'll notice that the section with the 100 word course description for the Program Guide comes towards the end - basically because this often becomes clearer when working through the document.  If you decide not to complete the form as a whole, you will need to provide a short program description for the Program Guide to Programs Coordinator Terry Case.

If you would like support in developing a new course using the course planning proposal, please contact Bev on 5762 8171.  

​Convenors: 

An additional training day for convenors to learn to use the equipment in the meeting room is being offered on Tuesday 5th June at 1.30pm.  This is to supplement two sessions held on Tuesday 4th May & Wednesday 23 May 1.30 - 3.30 pm.

Contact Dorothy for further information 5762 2116

An earlier version of this announcement published on 28 April.   

A Convenor's year begins with the chance to share information about groups and activities to members and new members attending enrolment days.  There are two enrolment sessions - the first at 'The Hub', Cooinda on Monday 15th January from 9.30 to 11.30 pm; then a larger session in the main room at the Benalla Senior Citizens' Community Centre, again at 9.30 to 11.30 pm.  

Some helpful hints for new convenors - bring along a sign of some description to put in front of you - you will be sitting at tables along with other convenors - together with information about your course and a pad on which to write notes about people's requests.

Some groups receive lots of 'visits' - this is quite likely to be the case for new groups.

The enrolment days also provide an opportunity for members to catch up and for new members to be welcomed and introduced to other members.  Tea and coffee are available throughout the morning.  

If you are unable to attend one or both sessions and have information you would like to share about the group, you can 'pair' with another convenor or provide the information to Programs Coordinator, Terry Case, who will share it.

Late enrolments are accepted by mail or at the RedB4 Book Shop next to Hide's Bakery (forms/monies are left in envelopes for collection by U3A representative).  You may also find that rare cases members bring their forms and money to class - in this case you will need to pass it on (more details later).  

The enrolment days are to be followed up by a meeting for convenors on Thursday 25th January from 9.30 to 11.30 am in the U3A meeting room.  

See you there!  

​An orientation day for Course Convenors  will be held at the U3A room in the Benalla Senior Citizens Community Centre on Thursday Jan 25 from 9.30 to 11.30 am.  All convenors are asked to attend.

A few details from our latest meeting that some of you were unable to attend.

If you wish to extend your classes into December it is most important that you inform Dorothy asap so she can book them with the Council. At present we are working on all regular classes in the Seniors finishing in November, we will then offer members who wish to organize December meetings for games, films, coffee sessions etc the chance to book the room. Bill Dewing is the first to book a spot taking one of my Politics times, as we will not meet in December.

It is now possible to book the room for a 4 pm to 6.30pm session, we will use early December and late January period for a trial period.

Next year we will extend the timetable in Semester 2 to include the first 2 weeks of December. If you do not want to run a class in this period you must let me know by April 2017 when I start working on the Semester 2 timetable.

The TV will be raised to enable large classes to view it without the present difficulties. We are investigating costs and practicalities of purchasing an acoustic curtain to block some of the some of the noise generated by our TV and by the Seniors.

We will try to obtain funding for members to attend a First Aid course, but in an emergency please ring 000 for an ambulance.

I am now preparing timetables and course outlines for the next newsletter, if you have not informed me of any changes you intend please do so immediately.

Thank you to all our Tutors from myself and the Executive. We are pleased to be able to offer such a wide range of courses resulting in our membership this year reaching 250.

Terry Case
​Program Coordinator

A convenors' meeting will be held on Monday, 9 October at 2.30pm. This will be an opportunity to discuss how we are settling in.

​Dorothy Webber President

This month there are quite a few 'housekeeping items' we need to share, most related to the transition to our new room.  They have been included in the newsletter, however we are also including them here.    

Surplus Equipment
When the dust settles on our move to the new location we will be stocktaking our equipment. Surplus or outdated equipment will be offered to members. Watch this space​.

Tables in U3A Meeting Room
There’s a ‘knack’ to unlocking the tables for use- contact Dorothy if you or your classes are having difficulties in unfolding/moving them.  A demonstration will be arranged.
 
Wi Fi Modem – new procedure
The modem is to be unplugged from the power supply after use as it may overheat. Please  return it to the devices box with the mouse and remote for use by the next class.  Further info: 5762 8171.

Use of the Urn
We have asked the Council to investigate the boiling water problem in the kitchen as there has not been enough boiling water for the larger classes.  The urn can be used for larger groups. It is also possible to use the boiling water system  in the smaller kitchen if necessary.

iPad and Tablet Loans 
iPads and Samsung tablets are available for short term loan to members keen to try and perhaps purchase one. Contact Bev on 5762 8171 if you are interested. ​

A most informative session for convenors covering the transition and orientation to our new Meeting Room at the Benalla Seniors Community Centre was held on Wednesday 7th July.

​U3A Benalla President Dorothy Webber introduced Greg from the council who welcomed us to our new room and provided much valuable information to assist us in facilitating the transition of our groups to the room.

Convenors were most impressed with the wonderful new television and sound system. Important information relating to airconditioning was discussed along with other aspects such as keys.  

Terry Dillon has since prepared a set of instructions for the use of the TV, computer/wifi and DVD CD player.  A laminated set of these instructions will be placed close the the television.

The Executive is keen to hear feedback from convenors and groups over the coming month and will review the transition at the August executive meeting.  Please contact Dorothy with your feedback.

Bev Lee

(I'm sorry to say that I forgot to take a photograph of the fully attended meeting of convenors, Next time!).

There is now a Chromecast dongle attached to the TV in W4 which allows you to mirror the display on your Smart Phone or Tablet to the TV.  Some setup is required to connect your device.  If you want to use this facility please contact Terry Dillon on 0419 343 129.

Shirley's Chat 'N Chew group meet on the 3rd Friday for lunch at a local venue.  Shirley is pictured here with Judith and Heidi holding the book she keeps in which people indicate whether they will be attending the next lunch - an important part of her process in running this very popular group.