​As we rush headlong to the end of the year, l look back at the successful year we have had at Benalla U3A.

The new courses that started in 2019 have generated interest, and I hope the new courses for 2020 will do the same.

The two BBQs we had this year were a great social event and at the Morning Tea in Seniors Week we entertained 75 members and guests with a performance by our Recorder Group.

At the last Meet and Mingle the Singing for Fun Group performed to 58 members. The display from the Patchwork Group showed how many talented members we have.

Enrolment days will be held on Monday January 13th and Wednesday January 15th - both will be at the Seniors Community Building. Advertisements will be in the Ensign.  

The latest version of the 2020 Semester 1 ‘Month Overview’ Timetable has been sent out with the December newsletter. Membership renewal forms, program details and timetables will be sent out early in the New Year and be available on the website and at RedB4 Books.

As we move towards Christmas and the holidays, enjoy your time. Come back in 2020 with all your enthusiasm and once again we will have a wonderful year.
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Merry Christmas to you all!

Dorothy Webber,
​President

Our Seniors Week Morning Tea was a great success!  Many thanks to all the workers who put it together, the Recorder Group for their performance and the Collectors group for displaying a broad range of collectibles for the pleasure of our guests.
 
Once again, thank you to the BBQ team from the Lion’s Club for our lunch.

On the 25th of October, 26 of our Convenors met and shared their experiences. Such a positive group of great people, we at Benalla are so fortunate that they share their expertise with us. On a personal note, many thanks go to Pauline Bailey for her words after the meeting.

The Program Committee have been working on the timetable for Semester 1 2020.  It is now almost ready to go to Benalla Council.

Our last Meet & Mingle for 2019 will be held on Wednesday 20th November. Once again, the Singing for Fun Group will entertain us and the Patchwork Group will display their work.

Come along and join us.

Dorothy Webber,
​President

On 17th September Lorraine Knox and I attended a U3A Regional Meeting in Seymour. Benalla was congratulated on our growing membership and our diverse courses.  It’s always great to come together with other U3A’s and share ideas.

October’s Meet & Mingle on Wednesday 16th October will be replaced by a celebration of Seniors Week.  There will be a Morning Tea at 9:30 am sponsored by Age Friendly Benalla & Benalla Rural City Council.   This will be followed by a 'Get On Line' week BBQ Lunch at midday sponsored by The Good Things Foundation, with the Be Connected class meeting for their session after lunch.  Come to one or come to both!  RSVP Dorothy 0412263071 or email president@u3abenalla.com.

Meetings have been held with all users of the Seniors Community Centre to discuss how best to use the space.  More news to come.  Happily all users are now welcome to use the automatic doors when they are  open.

Convenors’ Workshop  Friday October 25th 1:30 pm. This is to thank our dedicated volunteers and run training on photocopier, overhead projector, TV, etc.
 
Housekeeping - The Urn   The tap of the urn must be facing the front.  If it is left slightly off-centre the tap the tap will leak.

Christmas Lunch 2019  A date for your diary!  Our Christmas luncheon will be held at the Goorambat Railway Hotel  on Wednesday November 27th.   Lunch & Bus $40 -  Lunch only $35.  Form will be included in November’s Newsletter.  For further information or to RSVP, contact Heather Rodgers 5762 4086.
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Dorothy Webber
President

The Be Connected BBQ was a great social event.  Most of the 34 members who attended have continued with the Be Connected Program.  ​

Save the date! Convenors Workshop - Friday afternoon, October 25th at 1:30pm   The final word on Car Pooling - $ 7.00 return trip.   Please use common sense if it’s a short trip (eg to the Reef Hills).
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Dorothy Webber, President

Our thanks go to Benalla Rural City Council. U3A received $2500 from the 2019 Community Grants Program. Our submission was to cover the cost of installing and the running for 12 months the NBN plus two cellular wifi tablet devices.   40 grants were awarded at a cost of $75,841. This is a wonderful initiative of our Council.

Heading in to Second Semester thanks go to all our dedicated Convenors.  As always you are doing a great job.

Activities such as Bushwalking, Winery activities etc. at times require Car pooling.   The payment to the driver is $5.00 or $7.50 return trip. If you require further information, ring me 0412 263 071.

As winter rolls on many members head north. I wish you safe travels. I will be away in August so can all calls be directed to Geraldine 0408 522 662. At Meet & Mingle last week the number of spam calls was discussed. NBN do not ring and threaten to disconnect your service. Stay aware and just hang up. Under no circumstances give control of your computer to anyone who calls.

Dorothy Webber,  President

​Great news! U3A Benalla has been awarded a Community Engagement Grant worth $1,500 by the Good Things Foundation which runs the ‘Be Connected’ digital literacy program. The teaching of digital literacy is important for people who have had little or no contact with computers during their working lives. It can help connect family and friends through Emails and the sending of photos.  Increasingly we are finding that business wants to communicate and send accounts also by Email.
 
In Semester 2 U3A Benalla is offering a ‘Be Connected’ Introduction to the Internet Course for U3A members and other members of the Benalla community aged 55 years or older.  We are celebrating our new course and involvement with ‘Be Connected’ with a one off sausage sizzle luncheon at 12 noon on Wednesday 3 July.  Using our overhead projector we will outline the ‘Be Connected’ course which follows  the barbecue at 2 pm, then weekly each Wednesday at 2 pm during second semester.

Council have installed Solar Panels on the building and will update the lighting at the building in the next few weeks. When I know the dates I will let the Conveners it may impact know.  

The Program Committee have finalised the Semester 2 timetable, which is attached to this newsletter and included on the website.

I understand there have been a few complaints about members not hearing their convenors. Any Convenor who would like to use the microphone and needs a run through on its use can ring me 0412 263 071
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Dorothy Webber President

We have received news from Benalla Rural City that solar panels and new internal and external light globes will be installed before the end of June. Our presentation to Council was very well received. We continue with our strong relationship with Council.

A Regional Workshop was held at BPACC 1 & 2 April, with 45 in attendance and around 20 staying overnight in town. These Regional meetings are a valuable time to meet and get to know the Executive and members of other U3A’s. We all share our highs and lows, with generally more highs than lows.  Great work by all who volunteer with U3a.

Thanks to all who have helped me over the past months. After a week away my husband Laurie and I are feeling nice and relaxed.

Dorothy Webber

The past year has seen Benalla U3A go from strength to strength. This time last year our membership was 275. Currently membership stands at 308 and is still growing.
 
Our classes are proving as popular as ever. The new classes running in semester one have had great start and with the dedication of our convenors, all our classes are having a successful year.

This semester is the first time we have had to close numbers for some groups as space is tight.  As numbers continue to grow our accommodation will become an issue. We as a Committee have started discussing this for the years to come. 

We ran a very successful ‘Be Connected’ Summer School.  Thank you, Jenny Sawyer. I hope the concept of Summer Classes will grow and become a major part of January

Grant money from the Good Things Foundation enabled us to train 30 people in the use of their devices.

Age Friendly Benalla donated three iPads for our use and also a grant towards our Seniors Month Morning Tea which was enjoyable and successful.

We will continue to apply for grants as the need arises.  Thanks go to Margaret Jenkins, our grants guru.

Getting some office space has seen us being able to bring together the office materials that members had in their homes.  A new computer and printer has been purchased.  Great work from Geraldine setting up the filing cabinet.

The Singing for Fun group piano was replaced.  I trust the new piano will give sweet notes for many years.

Thanks to Terry Dillon for the many hours he has dedicated to supporting and training us in the use of our technology.

The overhead projector was purchased and installed with grant money from the U3A Network, and with the painted wall is now a greatly used part of our technology.

Last week the problems with the computer and television were sorted, with a number of the committee spending time with Michael Plex.

I'm pleased to announce the connection to the NBN was installed on 12 March. As Benalla Council decided not to connect to the NBN, U3A has gone it alone.  An offer was made to the Senior Citizens committee to share with us.  They have not decided as yet.
 
Congratulations to our two new life members Joyce Borschmann & Vaughan Cowan!

Joyce & her husband Bob, started the Singing for Fun group & Joyce has been the convener from the start till last year. Over the years the singers have gone from strength to strength and have become one of the most popular groups.

Vaughan has like wise led the Bush Walking groups for 16 plus years.  It is always great to see the photos of smiling faces and wonderful scenery on our website and Facebook page.

Both Joyce and Vaughan started with U3A in 1996 and after U3A closed down took up their roles again in 2002 with the new formation of U3A in 2002.

I thank them and congratulate them on their many years of volunteering to U3A.

Lastly I must thank and congratulate your committee for the support they have given me and the hours they volunteer to make U3A Benalla the successful and vibrant club that we are. 

​I am looking forward to 2019 continuing in the positive way it has started.

​Thank you.
 
Dorothy Webber, President

Congratulations to all on the successful start to 2019.
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Our numbers are amazing - 303+ members - and a number of the classes have had to limit numbers. This is the first time we have had to do this. This goes to show U3A Benalla has courses people want. We apologise if you haven’t been able to join the group you wanted. If numbers drop off this will be looked into.

Thank you to our existing and new convenors who are the reason for our success. I have been getting great comments from members on how they are enjoying their classes  Thanks go to Jenny Sawyer for running the summer school of Be Connected

Thank you to Terry Dillon. Terry has retired as our go to computer expert - he has donated many
hours of his time to this and thanks will never be enough.

Michael Plex will now be taking on the role of looking after our computer needs.  As we will be paying Michael all requests for his services must go through me. Ring 0412263071 and I will arrange with Michael what is required.

The NBN is due to be installed on Tuesday 12th  March (hopefully it will be a smooth process). Politics may be disrupted as the time I’ve been given is between 8am -12noon.

On Wednesday at Meet & Mingle 50 members had lots of questions for Sean Ginnivan of Benalla Rural City Waste Management.

The March Meet and Mingle on Wednesday 20th March is the U3A Annual General Meeting.

Dorothy Webber, President

​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