After 13 years as Convenor of Singing for Fun and Harmony Groups, Joyce Borschmann is retiring as Convenor of the groups at the end of 2018.
 
Joyce and her late husband Bob were original members of U3A Benalla when it commenced over 20 years ago. The Singing for Fun group started in Helen and Graham Mitchell’s previous home in South Street Benalla before moving to the CWA Hall for a few months. From there Singing for Fun and Harmony progressed to the Chapel at Cooinda before calling the Baptist Church in Bridge Street home for several years. Eighteen months ago Singing for Fun and the Harmony Group moved to the U3A room in the Senior Citizens’ building.

One of Joyce’s attributes is as a great organiser. She has successfully used this skill to allocate various tasks over the years to her willing band of helpers in the group. Joyce has a beautiful soprano voice and everyone will be delighted to know that Joyce is continuing as part of the soprano singers.

With a background in producing dramatic performances, Joyce has been able to impart some of her skills in this area to the participants of Singing for Fun.  The other skill she has is excellent communication. Joyce has used this very successfully encouraging new people who join the group to feel part of the group very quickly.

Singing for Fun is one of the larger groups in U3A Benalla.  We thank you Joyce for a great job over many years.
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Margaret Jenkins

Our last Meet & Mingle on Wednesday saw 70 members attend. Singers,  recorder players and audience all enjoyed a lovely musical morning. Thanks to the singers for the delicious spread to have with our morning tea.
 
It has once again been a busy and successful year for Benalla U3A. Our membership is steadily growing and the courses we have on offer are attracting many new members.

The biggest of thank you's go to all the hard working and dedicated convenors. With out them Benalla U3A would not be as successful as we are.

On a personal note my thanks to the Committee for a great years work and all the support they give me.

I wish all members a Very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year. 

See you all happy & healthy at Registration Days in January.
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Dorothy Webber:  President

This session, presented on Friday 30th November 2018 to 33 U3A participants, was the second in the series on Advanced Care Planning. 

Brendan Smith From Smith Dosser Accountants/Financial Planners, outlined and provided a copy of a framework for consideration of retirement and end of life issues. 

Damian Feehan from N J Todd Funeral Directors discussed the roles and responsibilities of funeral agencies and the need to preplan and communicate preferences prior to this stage of life.

Jo O’Brien and April Betheras from the Palliative Care Service outlined their roles and once again emphasised the need for people to record their care options/choices under certain scenarios when they are actively able to consider them.  They outlined how this can help care givers and families at a time when communication becomes impossible.

Useful Resources: 
From Palliative Care, Benalla Health:  https://www.advancecareplanning.org.au/resources/case-studies/case-study-8-tips-for-living-and-dying-well?utm_source+facebook
From U3A member Judy Perry: http://cotavic.org.au

Wendy Sturgess and Margaret Walshe

A number of new courses are being offered in 2019.    There are alterations to times for a number of subjects, please check to see if times have changed for groups you enroll with! These changes are to enable us to run more classes.   Terry Case case.terence@gmail.com.au

A Night at the Opera – French Style   2nd Wednesday 7 pm  Presenter Meg Dillon

This season we will take a look at some of the great nineteenth century French composers like Berlioz, Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc who were interested in opera as a musical form. Lovely arias, tuneful music, great singers and performances.

As usual the group meets at the presenter’s house on a Wednesday evening at 7pm. Drinks and light refreshments are offered. Maximum of 10 participants can be seated.

Beginners’ Patchwork  2nd and 4th Tuesdays 1 to 4 pm   Presenter Heather Sloan

The course will cover the basics of patchwork and quilting whilst making a small panel. It is designed for people with no experience of patchwork, and does not require a sewing machine. By the end of the semester participants will have the skills to make a basic quilt.

Booker reading group   3rd Friday 2-4pm Presenter Meg Dillon

The annual Man Booker Prize is awarded to the novel deemed best by an extensive panel of judges in Britain. Writers in both America and post-colonial countries can also enter. Each year the search is narrowed to a Long List of 13 books, then the Short List of 6 from which the winner is chosen.

These novels are not for the faint hearted! They often explore contentious contemporary issues or the lives of families or individuals experiencing  the difficulties of modern life.

The judges said of the Long List:   All of these books – which take in slavery, ecology, missing persons, inner-city violence, young love, prisons, trauma, race – capture something about a world on the brink. Among their many remarkable qualities is a willingness to take risks with form. 

The 2018 winner of the Booker was The Mars Room  by American writer Rachel Kushner. You can google the 2018 Man Booker Long List to see the complete list.

If you are curious about some of the best contemporary fiction of the last year…please join us.

You will be expected to obtain your own copy of the books the group chooses to read, either by buying an e-book version, borrowing from a library, or purchasing a hard copy
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German for Beginners  Mondays, 12 - 1 pm Presenter Pauline Bailey

This course should give you a good understanding for basic communication in German. There are no set texts, but a small German-English  dictionary would be useful. Notes will be provided at each session.

The first 10 weeks will provide the vocabulary and grammar underpinning the language. After a winter recess, we will resume for more advanced learning.

History

After the Victorians   3rd Tuesday 9.30-11.30 Presenter Terry Case
The 20th century saw enormous changes in the period from 1900-1939. From the Boer War and Federation in Australia we then look at the White Australia policy and the fear of Japan as a world power. Germany and the USA overtook Britain as the leading industrial and military power. The Bolshevik Revolution was a turning point not just in W.W.1, but in European history.  Socialism, Fascism and Communism challenged existing orders.  The British Empire reached its peak in the 1930s, but the belief that Britain had a right to rule was challenged by Gandhi and others.  DVD’s will be used to illustrate the sessions. 

An Introduction to Western Civilization  2nd & 4th Friday 2-4pm, Semester 1 Presenter Meg Dillon

History helps us understand some complex issues, even though it can’t and doesn’t predict future outcomes. Today our Western Civilization is strongly attacked as corrupt, militaristic and nihilistic.

But is it? How did it evolve and what aspects of should we embrace and be proud of?

These history sessions will look at the current situation, then briefly explore those past cultures that have created our complex Western world.
Ancient Greece: it all started with the Greeks and their vast cultural agenda. Art, sculpture, philosophy, science and much more was developed by this squabbling, argumentative but lively group of city states and colonies, known as the Greek World.
The Romans: masters of war, engineering and administration. Their Pax Romana (The Roman Peace) was spread across Europe in the largest ancient empire prior to the British Empire. The Romans would colonize and civilize other cultures but would brutally suppress any rebellion.
The Italian Renaissance: The rich Italian city states of the thirteenth century rediscovered the Ancient World of the Greeks and Romans through their discoveries of surviving sculptures and ancient manuscripts. The result was a reintroduction of many of the achievements of these cultures that had been lost in the previous 1000 years. The Italians built on this foundation advancing both the practice of the arts and that of diplomacy in an era that was fractured by minor wars between the city states and the Papacy.
The Reformation: In the early sixteenth century Martin Luther started a vast religious  movement protesting against some of the corruption and excesses that had developed in the Catholic Church. The succeeding growth of Protestantism turned many parts of Europe into mercantile hubs where vast wealth started to be made by a merchant class, while more austere religious and communal practices were adopted by whole populations in Northern Europe.
The Enlightenment: The age of science burst into being in the eighteenth century in England and France. Gentlemen ‘scientists’ started to look at the way the physical aspects of our world worked. In France the French Revolution in 1787 followed naturally from this development as the middle classes refused to accept the older corrupt  rule of King, Church and nobles. This was the start of our era in which science and government would dominate our thinking and lead to Western democracy as we know it and the vast scientific knowledge that has changed our world and lives.

Discussion and suitable video and other images will be used to convey some of the key attributes of these  major historical influences that have formed the Western world.

Meditation   1st & 3rd Monday 4-5pm. Presenter Caroline Sims

Attention to all members with portable computing devices

• smart phones
• tablets
• iPads
• laptops

During the summer break, there will be continuing Be Connected sessions.  If you weren’t able to attend any or all of the previous sessions last semester and you would like to extend your computing knowledge and skills we are running four sessions in January on Wednesday mornings at the U3A room.

Be Connected has added some extra modules to their course. They are:

• Online Hobbies
• Apps
• Games

 
Dates - JANUARY  Wednesdays 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th   Time - 10:00am - 11:00am
 
Jenny Sawyer     Phone 0409 545 182