U3A Benalla and District Inc.
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Coming up - 'Running with Scissors' (or...being reckless)

30/10/2016

 
Group member Barry O'Connor, also an active member of the Benalla Family Research Group and Tatong Heritage Group, gave an excellent presentation on the writing and 2013 publication of local history ‘184 Samaritans’ at our October session.  
 
The title ‘184 Samaritans’ derives from the fact that this is the number of members that the Samaria Bush Fire Brigade and the later Samaria Rural Fire Brigade has/had since formation. Barry also spoke about a book he is currently writing in collaboration with Beverley Walker on the history of the Sherwell butcher family in Benalla. 

​The topics ‘Unfinished Business’ and ‘The Sky’s the Limit’ along with some original stories were also shared by group members. 
 
The topic for our monthly session in W4 on Monday 21st November from 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm is ‘Running with Scissors’.  The brief:
 
‘Tell  us about that moment when you did something reckless, that time when something really could have gone badly wrong. Tell us your stories where you knew what you were about to do was crazy or stupid, but you did it anyway.  Maybe you believed 'it' wouldn't happen, or maybe you thought it would, and you didn't care. Was it just slightly illegal? Or was it just too fun to miss out on? Did you make a choice that left you breathless but wildly alive? Or did your world come crashing down? An affair, a physical risk, a mental challenge, a dance with danger, the possibilities are endless.
 
This will see the end of another year of reminiscing, another year of writing stories to add to our memoirs.  Our next cafe catch up will be on Monday 7th November  from 2.30 to 3.30 pm at the Northo—we are looking forward to sharing our writing sitting in the sunshine on the outside deck.  

September news - also, coming up in October, 'Dear Unfinished Business' and 'The Sky's the Limit'

30/9/2016

 
​September’s cafe meeting at ‘The Northo’ saw Joy share her intriguing ‘Experience of the Unexplained’ and Godfrey two original topics, ‘Why I joined a union’ and ‘Bicycles I have known’.   ‘Why I  ...’ and ‘... I have known’ are great starting points for memoire based stories and have now been added to our alternative topic lists.
  
An almost full roll up for our regular mid-month class saw more contributions including Brian’s perceptive story on ‘Advice’;  Maxine’s description of a wonderful hotel she came across on tour at Tenterfield; memorable ‘What happened in Vegas’ stories from Jenny and David; a lively discussion about the role of grandparents after Carole’s story on Grandparents and Grand parenting; a quirky story from Pat on ‘The Unexplained’ and Joy’s very imaginative and engaging story for the new ‘The Sky’s the Limit’ topic.  Godfrey presented another ‘... I have known’ topic – this time ‘Interesting People I have Known’ - based on his memories as an eight year old visiting a wealthy Marple relative, Cliff Cooper, the alcohol loving inventor of Cooper’s Louvre Windows.
 
Topics for October are ‘Dear Unfinished Business’ and the Benalla Festival’s writing competition topic ‘The Sky’s the Limit’, set in honour of the upcoming World Gliding Championship.  With some members considering writing a stand up comedy set for one of our topics, resources on stand up comedy have been reposted on our web page.   Pat’s stories are now included in ‘Our Stories’ on the website—beautifully crafted and often quirky, they always create interest when shared in class. 
 
On a closing note - ‘Our Stories’ has had the most views our website this month after the homepage!  We hope you enjoy reading them.
Topics-Dear Unfinished Business & The Sky's the Limit
    Our Stories- by Author
    Our Stories -  by Topic

    About  'As Time Goes By' - Memoir Writing

    'As Time Goes By' provides an outlet and support for members keen to write about their lives and  tell stories their families may not get around to asking them about.   A memoir is a slice from a person’s life which focuses on a particular theme or lesson or flavor of experience, an aspect of life that is most unusual or fascinating.   Each month class members reminisce, write about and share memorable ‘slices’ from their lives in response to set ‘500 Words’ themed writing topics.  

    Please note - The course is not a writing skills class and does not cover writing a detailed, chronological autobiography.

    Convenor & Contact details

    Picture
    Beverley Lee
    0478 607 838

    Meeting Times

    3rd Monday 2 - 4 pm
    ​U3A Meeting Room
    'How to Write a Story in 500 words - Planning'
    Memoir Review - Framework for Analysis
    Master list of  500 word story topics from 2015 to end of 2020

    Links

    Australian Writers' Centre

    Victorian Writers' Centre - Writers' Victoria

    ​Wheeler Centre

    The Memoir Writing Club - On Line Courses

    Past topics 

    All
    2018 Topic List
    '23 Words'
    'A Friendship Tested' //
    'A Love Letter To Travel'
    'A Turning Point'
    Australian Writers Centre
    'Car Stories' //
    Course Description
    'Easter'
    'Experiences Of The Unexplained'
    'Fish Out Of Water'
    'For Better For Worse' //
    'Good Vibrations'
    'Grandparents' //
    'Heartbreak'
    'I Broke It'
    'Ideas Piggy Bank'
    'If Only'
    'I Quit!' //
    Life Matters 'Life In 500 Words'
    'Lost And Found' //
    Making Comments
    'Making Waves'
    'My Other Life'
    'One Moment
    'Stand Up Comedy'
    This Year'
    'What Happened In Vegas'

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We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
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​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria