Margaret Jenkins
Benalla Health have employed Ninety Mile Consulting to find out what services the Benalla community would like Benalla Health to provide in the future. A link to the survey is available here if you would like to participate. https://ninetymileconsulting.com/benalla-health-community-survey/
Margaret Jenkins As Course Co-ordinator I would like to receive 'Expressions of Interest' from members for the following courses:
At the moment we have a qualified gentleman interested in teaching Spanish. If anyone knows of someone who might be prepared to teach Line Dancing, Pickleball or French, please let me know. These courses will depend on the response of members. Hopefully we have members out there keen to participate in these courses as well as being a Convenor. Please feel free to phone Anne on 0438 447 379 with your interest. I am also keen to hear about any other courses members may find appealing. Anne Nelson, Course Coordinator Course Coordinator Anne Nelson is currently following up adding Pickleball to our program and would like to receive Expressions of Interest from interested members. Pickleball is increasingly appearing among U3A programs across Australia! To give you an idea about it - the photos are from the Pickleball event held at the Benalla Indoor Recreation Centre in Benalla in June 2023 - Victorian and NSW Teams were competing in in the 'Battle of the Borders'. (It was held in Benalla due to renovations being completed at the WISAC in Wangaratta). Pickleball is played either indoors or outdoors as singles or doubles, including mixed doubles. It’s played on a court similar in size and markings to a badminton court, but players often use an actual badminton court or mark out pickleball lines on a tennis court. It would be flexible when numbers drop in winter as can work in groups of 4, 8, 12 for doubles, or 2, 4, 6 etc for singles. Interested in finding out more (perhaps even helping a group to be offered in the program)? https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/ https://www.u3a.org.uk/learning/subjects/pickleball https://u3asunshine.org.au/newweb/pickleball-outdoors-tuesday/ Rules of Pickleball - https://youtu.be/4vHhZ03O0PI If you are interested in joining a Pickleball Group, feel free to phone Anne on 0438 447 379 with your interest. Nominations for positions of Secretary, Treasurer and Committee Members x 4 are due on Wednesday 6th March. Details are on the 2024 Nomination Form.
The Age Friendly Benalla Information Hub commences fortnightly sessions on Wednesday morning 13 March from 10 -12 in Classroom 2. Chris Greentree (pictured), the Ageing Well Officer for BRCC, has developed a spreadsheet which can be utilised by older people to find activities, clubs, health providers and many other aspects of life in Benalla. This information is being made available to members of the Benalla public on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays from 10 to 12 am. U3A is sharing its computer equipment and space in Room 2 with the Hub, and in return the safety of electrical cabling in the room has been improved; a small bulletin board and whiteboard installed, and more shelving added. The Men’s Shed have provided a rack for brochures located in the foyer of the Seniors Centre. More information will become available over the coming weeks. Wednesday mornings are quiet at the Seniors Centre, so there will be parking for visitors to the Information Hub. Call in to say hello to Chris and the Age Friendly Benalla volunteers if you are passing by. Thank you to Julie (pictured with John) Rina, Ruth, Geraldine, Heather and Margaret for offering to provide information and accept enrolments on Wednesday mornings in January and February. The first four (of six) sessions were particularly busy; however enrolments had slowed by the end of February.
The volunteers welcomed new and returning members, provided information, collected money, assisted with enrolments and problem solved. They also came up with ideas for improving procedures to make future opening hours at enrolment time even more effective! We would like to take this opportunity to also thank the RedB4 Bookshop committee and volunteers for the key role they play in assisting the U3A Enrolment process throughout the year. The past few months have seen the passing of three U3A members who played an important part in the life of U3A for over a decade and for whom U3A was a much-loved part of life. A member of U3A Benalla from 2007 to 2022, Brian Howard was for many years John Lloyd’s backup convenor for the Sustainability group, convening the group and providing interesting material for discussion when John was travelling or had other commitments. A retired engineer and accomplished tool maker, Brian was also a member of the Tech Talks group. Brian presented models he had built to demonstrate the principles of solar thermal power to both groups, boiling a kettle of water in the process. Brian with his Solar Thermal Electricity Generation Models - Sustainability 2017 Brian’s story ‘My Other Life’, a favourite in our ‘As Time Goes By’ collection, relates to his passion for working with wood. Particularly well known in Benalla as a former Principal of Benalla High School, an involvement written extensively about elsewhere, Keith Rogers was a member of U3A Benalla from 2013 to 2023. A lover of fine wines and the theatre arts, Keith was for many years a co-convenor of U3A Benalla’s Wine Appreciation group with his wife Heather and Noel Meagher. When the Play Reading group commenced in 2016, Keith, a local thespian, was asked whether he would like to be involved. Keith became the group’s ‘creative director’, selecting plays and encouraging class members until he became unwell. Keith (on right) pictured at Wine Appreciation in May 2022. (Click on photograph to go to a memorial slide show on the Wine Appreciation Page) Stella Wharton passed away at Cooinda on Monday 29 January. An active member of U3A Benalla from 2012 to 2023, her son Ian said that Stella had enjoyed her time with U3A and asked us to inform our members of her passing. Memories of Stella include her letting us know that her family would like to donate a collection of recorders of different sizes and tones to our new Recorder group in 2018, a gift described as ‘truly wonderful’ by convenor Janet Douglas. In 2019 Stella shared news of a program run by U3A Melbourne, ‘Revise Your Shorthand as you Train Your Brain’. It's still on our list of suggested courses if the interest is there. Finally, a favourite memory of Stella relates to her electric vehicle, her zippy red scooter!
In addition to the slideshow, if you click on the following photos, you can view them in a larger size!
As you are already in the website - for more information, simply go to 'Join' on the top menu and click on 'Join Us'!
We hope to see you at Enrolment Day on Wednesday 10 January from 9.30am to 12 noon - a wonderful chance to learn about courses and connect up with old and new friends. Existing members will have received enrolment forms in their email or post; while all forms and documents will be available on the day. If you are unable to attend, there's all the information you need to know to enrol on our 'Join Us' page (click on 'Join' on the top menu.
During December the Family Research - Intermediate group met at Rambling Rose for a farewell gathering following a very rich and interesting two years together. It was a delight to work with this group, to share their enthusiasm and the love of the history which surrounded their family research. Members of the group are largely moving into the Family Research group and planning to ‘drop in’ to the ‘drop in’ from time to time. Huge thanks to Judy Barry for mentoring this group, who valued her family research skills and experience very highly. A belated Family Research-Beginners morning tea in December at Rambling Rose celebrated the ‘graduation’ of hard-working Phil Hughes from the 2023 beginners’ group and marked the transition to Family Research – Getting Started with new convenor Deb Saunders in 2024. It also marked the completion of John Barry’s year-long ‘In the Lap of the Gods’ course in 2023. Passionate about Greco-Roman history since childhood, John put so much work into the delivery of ‘In the Lap of the Gods’ in 2024 he says he has enough material for a book!
The web pages of In the Lap of the Gods and other groups which are either taking a break or concluding in 2023 such as Collectors, the Jane Austen Book Group, Tech Savvy Apple ‘Pages’ and the ‘Wise Guys Book Group’ can be found on the website under Groups/Recent Groups. Bev Lee U3A is a volunteer organisation, with members playing 'reciprocal' roles by both learning from others and providing volunteer services to the group. Being a convenor is a key volunteer role, but we also have other volunteer roles, some quite challenging, all rewarding. We recently had our first meeting of Office Volunteers, a new role as we move towards opening the office for members and others on Wednesday mornings from 10 to 12, beginning on the 17th January. Office Volunteers Ruth, Julie, Rina and Margaret check out the store room during orientation! Volunteer 'Positions Vacant'! We would like to receive expressions of interest for the following roles which are attached to being a member of the Executive Committee - 'Course Coordinator' and 'Assistant Secretary'. We also need an Assistant Pianist for the 'Singing for Fun' group which meets at the Cooinda Hub on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Thursdays of the month from 10 to 12 am.
Please contact Margaret Jenkins on 5762 6944 or send an email to [email protected] if you are interested in finding out more about one or more of these roles.
Margaret Jenkins The Newsletter team would like to send our condolences to former Newsletter Editor Judith Borthwick on the death of her husband John.
Judith produced the newsletter for seven years during a period of growth in U3A courses and numbers. During this time, John was an important part of the newsletter production team, playing roles including taking the newsletter to Bill Sykes’ then Steph Ryan’s office for printing, collecting it for distribution, and more. Always smiling, John was a loved friend of many U3A members and a wonderful advocate for U3A in the community. Bev Lee and Heather Wallace This year's U3A Christmas Break Up was held at the iconic Red Stag Restaurant in Eurobin. The 70 acre property, powered entirely by Solar Panels, has Deer, Ostriches, Emus and Goats roaming around the paddocks.
Our group filed into the Restaurant for a 2-course meal, alternate style, perhaps accompanied by a glass of wine. Of necessity, our large group was on a strict timetable, but we were efficiently serviced by two lovely waitresses. 2023 has been another very successful year for Benalla U3A, so after the meal President, Margaret Jenkins, welcomed us all, thanked Convenors and Members for their enthusiasm and hard work and then she thanked the Red Stag staff for its hospitality. Before leaving, most of us couldn't resist stepping outside to the veranda, to drink in those stunning views down the Ovens Valley all the way to Mt. Bogong. Thank you Nicole and Corrie for organising this year's celebration. Bev Thornell The Program Committee has been meeting to consider next year’s program and committee members have contacted some convenors to discuss their plans for 2024. The Draft Program Guide for 2024 will be sent out in a few weeks by Len Jeffers for convenors to finalise and confirm course/activity descriptions and details.
At this stage it appears that some courses will be taking a break (Collectors) or ceasing in 2024 (In the Lap of the Gods and Jane Austen Book Group); others (Ukes4Fun and Photography) are adding a more advanced group; while others are changing their name (for example Tech Savvy Beginners – Android to Be Connected – Android). The pilot Social Chess group is joining the regular timetable, while some new courses being considered for Semester II, such as U3A Network Victoria’s ‘First Nations’ course. There are also some changes of convenors as courses are reshaped and succession plans are implemented. It is never too late to suggest a course you’d be keen to see U3A Benalla offer– or to offer a course yourself! There is an online suggestion box and downloadable Course Proposal form on the Program Suggestions page of the website, or you can contact Margaret Jenkins 5762 6944, Geraldine McCorkell 0408 522 662 with your ideas; Bev Lee if you’d like support in turning your idea into a course, or Len Jeffers for timetabling information. Other members of the Program Committee you can chat to – Dorothy Webber and Julie McNeill. Program Committee October is Come and Try Month. If you would like to try a new or different U3A course, please contact the Convenor of the course you would like to try, and go along to it. TheTimetable with Dates for Semester 2 includes convenors' phone numbers. Tell your friends about U3A Benalla, and bring them along to something which interests them. There is no charge, and your friends may get the same enjoyment from U3A that you do.
The guest speaker for Meet and Mingle on Wednesday 18 October is Fiona Kleinitz from the Stroke Foundation. This will be followed by morning tea. At 11.30am Leading Senior Constable Lisa Atkinson will give a 30-minute presentation on ‘Scams’, after which we have a BBQ lunch as part of Get Online Week. This is supported by a grant we obtained from the Good Things Foundation. Jenny Sawyer and Robyn Lukey will also be available to answer questions about the Be Connected programs they have been involved with. Finally, two dates for your diaries. Wednesday 15 November at 10am is the U3A Concert and Patchwork display in the Auditorium. The program will feature the Recorder Group, the Ukelele Group as well as the Singing for Fun Group to entertain you. Please bring your friends as we want as many people as possible to enjoy the morning. The second date for your diaries is Friday 17 November which will be our Christmas Lunch at the Red Stag at Myrtleford. Cost is $50 per head for the two-course lunch. There will be a bus leaving Benalla Bus Lines for those who do not wish to drive. Here is the link to the Christmas Lunch flier which contains further details. Margaret Jenkins U3A Benalla President A founding member of U3A Benalla and convenor of ‘Investment Group 1’ from 1996 to 2015, Graham Mitchell recently passed away in Geelong, where he had moved to be nearer his children. Helen, Graham's wife, a founder of Benalla U3A, passed away in October 2019. In 1996, an enthusiastic group of likeminded people began to meet in the community to research and hone their skills studying the Australian share market. This group, under Graham’s leadership, became an integral part of U3A Benalla, with Graham continuing in the role of convenor for its entire 19 years. Initially the group depended on data gained from investment journals and other sources, however over time began to employ computer programs in their research. Under the name “U3A Benites”, the group was a regular contestant in the Sunday Age “Shares Race” competition, winning the competition on several occasions, much to Graham’s delight. Graham's delight in working with his long term group of investment group members is evident in photographs above - Graham is standing in the middle of the backrow of the group photograph* taken in October 2015 for the Newsletter. Graham made a highly valued contribution to U3A Benalla. “The group believes its continued success can be attributed to Graham Mitchell. A unique meeting format and good fellowship”. (‘Investment 1’ final report, U3A Newsletter, November 2015). Our condolences go to Graham’s family. U3A Benalla * There are more photographs in our Investment Group 1 archives..
President Margaret Jenkins presented a Life Membership Award to Terry Case at the 2023 Annual General Meeting: "I would like to thank Terry Case for his outstanding contribution to U3A Benalla over many years. Terry was President from 2014 to 2017, past President from 2017 to 2021, Convenor of both Politics and Current Affairs and Australian History courses each for over 10 years, and a great supporter of U3A Benalla. For his outstanding contribution, the Committee have decided to award him Life Membership of U3A Benalla." In his response, Terry affirmed the important part U3A plays in the life of its members. He also reminded us that this role still retains importance to members when it becomes more difficult for them to continue at a level they had formerly managed with ease.
Beverley Lee Web Manager The U3A Benalla and District AGM was held on Wednesday 15 March 2023. Margaret Jenkin's most informative report to the AGM can be found on the President's Page. Following the AGM and election of office bearers, guest speaker Tom Arnold, the Community Development Officer from Benalla Rural City Council, provided a clear and thoughtfully presented background to the current initiative regarding use of public space in the Fawkner Drive lakeside precinct. An invitation has been received from the Benalla Croquet Club who are holding Come and Try days at its venue at the Tennis Courts, Ackerly Avenue, Benalla on Thursday 16th February and Tuesday 21st February, commencing at 9.00am.
All you need to do is turn up wearing flat, comfortable shoes. All the equipment that you will require will be supplied on the day. When playing croquet, apart from the social aspect and being with friendly people you will get exercise walking around the courts, exercise your brain by learning to judge where to hit the balls, whether you use jump shots, removing your opponent’s ball out of the way, as well as lining up and placing the balls in and through the hoops. Another benefit is the exercise obtained when using the upper part of your body and arms when hitting the ball. It is also a lot of fun. Contact: Irene Clift 0475 200 427 or email [email protected]. Heather Wallace The staff of the Benalla Art Gallery, under Gallery Director Eric Nash, offer a unique selection of quality and diverse events during the year.
Coming up: First Mondays: Deborah Kelly Artist Talk – 10am Monday 6 February; Masterclass with Deborah Kelly: Make a diminutive deity – 9am- 4.30pm Tuesday 7 February; Exhibition Celebration: Daniel O’Toole – Voices from the Void – 6pm Friday 17 February; Collective Discussion: Giacomo Boschi explores ‘What it means to listen’ – 3pm Friday 3 March; Concert: Alyce Platt presents ‘Someone’s Daughter’ – 6pm Saturday 11 March; Exhibition Celebration: Tony Lloyd – High Plains Drift – 6pm Friday 17 March; Film Screening: Journey Beyond Fear – 6pm Sunday 26 March. To register to attend phone 5760 2619 or email: [email protected] Pamela O'Connor Friends of Benalla Art Gallery What a fantastic turnout to Enrolment Day on Wednesday 11 January. A big thank you to all Convenors who came and spent the morning talking to members who wanted to know more about the various courses.
Thank you also to all members of the Committee who came early to set up the Auditorium, and who willingly slotted into whatever needed doing during the morning. You all helped to make the morning run smoothly. It was good to see so many members re-enrolling, and also to meet many new people who had recently moved to Benalla and wanted to join U3A Benalla. If you could not get to Enrolment Day, it is not too late enrol! The Membership Application Renewal Form, Program Guide and Timetables for 2022 are available on the Join/Join Us menu above or in a kit available from the RedB4 Bookshop, Bridge Street (next to Hide's Bakery). Return the signed form, with required fee (cheque only) or evidence of EFT* payment noted, to RedB4 Bookshop; post to U3A Benalla, PO Box 674, Benalla 3671 or scan & email to [email protected]. Margaret Jenkins President Enrolment Day was held at the Seniors' Community Centre on the morning of Wednesday 11 January, however it's not too late to enrol!
The Membership Application Form for new members, Program Guide 2023 and Timetables for 2022 are available on the Join/Join Us menu above or in the 'kit' which can be collected from the RedB4 Bookshop, Bridge Street (next to Hide's Bakery). Members enrolled last year can still return the individualised Membership Renewal forms emailed or posted to them. Please print the form, make any corrections to your details, then add your program selections. Return the signed form, with required fee attached or evidence of EFT* payment noted, to:
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News updateThis page is for 'general' news - some will be 'just in' news notices of changes to timetables or news of meetings; other items will be celebratory, some will be sad, there will be some longer news items on topics of interest. ContributionsContributions and suggestions can be sent via the 'Contact Us' form or by emailing or telephoning the web manager on 5762 8171.
Course SuggestionsA Program Suggestions page is available for your course ideas and suggestions.
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