U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Policies
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2025
    • Program Ideas
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair History
      • Chess
      • Cooking Solo
      • Demystifying Psychology Course
      • Enjoying the Internet (S2)
      • Family Research Drop In
      • Sky's the Limit
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • A Different View Of German History
        • Armchair History (British)
        • Armchair Traveller
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Family Research - Advanced
        • German - Beginners
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Hot Topics/The News - Fact or Fiction?
        • 'In the Lap of the Gods'
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Jane Austen Book Club
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Meditation
        • Making the Most of the Internet
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Russian Literature
        • Tech Savvy Apple - 'Pages'
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Travel Group
        • Wise Guys Book Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Ch
    • A-Ch
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • American History
    • Art Appreciation
    • 'As Time Goes By'
    • Australian Shares and Stock Market
    • Be Connected - Android
    • Be Connected - Tech Advice
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Car Torque
    • Cards '500'
    • Chat n' Chew
  • Co-E
    • Ch - E
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
    • Colour Mixing and Watercolour Techniques - Botanical
    • Come and Learn Croquet
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Demystifying Psychology - Discussion Group
    • Demystifying Psychology - Perception
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Exploring Writing Children's Books
  • F-Pa
    • F- Pa
    • Family Research
    • Film Discussion
    • French at the Table
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German >
      • German Home
      • Lessons
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball >
      • Home
      • Lifeball Videos
    • Mahjong
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork and Craft
  • Ph-W
    • Ph -W
    • Photography
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder
    • Singing for Fun
    • Spanish
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Talks
    • Train Buffs
    • Ukes4Fun
    • Wine Appreciation
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Membership Application/Renewal Form
    • Program Guide
    • Timetable with Dates
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News Update
    • May Newsletter
    • 'What's On' Calendar 2025
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
    • U3A Murrundindee East
    • U3A Wangaratta
  • Contact

'Out of the Blue'

22/9/2020

0 Comments

 
​In 1962, having worked for the VPC (Victorian Producers Co-Op) for in excess of twelve years, I was summoned to the Managing Director’s office in Melbourne. “Out of the Blue” he notified me that he was transferring me back to the Benalla Branch.

Many, many years later, I was notified that the  manager of the Benalla office, Kevin Donnelly, had requested my services. I had , some seven years earlier, been working at Benalla  so had had some experience working with Kevin. Obviously he had been pleased with my workmanship.

Happily I returned to Benalla  as I had many friends and acquaintances in the area. I also had the Hernan family, who, when I was just a youth, had provided me with the home that I had never before experienced.

I contentedly worked with VPC in Benalla for another five years, although I felt that I was not achieving my full potential. In an attempt  to better myself I transferred to the Producers and Citizens Insurance co. which was a disastrous move. I was not cut out to be an insurance representative. In desperation I contacted Jim Smith, a Chartered Accountant in practice in Benalla, to ascertain if he had any client looking for an employee. He knew that I had worked at the VPC and so sought a referral from Kevin Donnelly.

On my follow up call to Jim, “out of the blue” he  asked me to work for him. This offer changed my whole life and was consequential to the fulfilment of a neurologist’s advice to me to study accounting and to work for myself.

This all took me another six years but resulted in me becoming  a partner in the Chartered Accounting practice of Smith O’Shannessy and pursuing a successful business career.
My “out of the blue”  experiences have served me well.


Ray O’Shannessy.  OAM.,FCA., CPA.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Our Stories

    Ray's Stories

    .

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    '(...) Adventure'
    'A Friendship Tested' - The Stockman's Lament
    'A Memorable Holiday'
    '(A Musical) Adventure'
    'A Precious Object'
    "As Time Goes By.."
    'Aunty Kath'
    Benalla Cooperative Housing Society
    'Bucket List'
    'Car Stories'
    'Childhood Memories'
    'Crash'
    'Failure'
    'Fish Out Of Water'
    Good Vibrations
    'I Broke It'
    'Ideas Piggy Bank'
    'If Only I...'
    'I Grew Up In...'
    'Influences On My Life'
    'I Used To .... Back In The Day'
    'I Was There' - 1951 - Bushfire
    'I Was There' 1988 'The Arsonist Had Struck Again!'
    'I Was There' 1993 'Benalla Was Awash'
    'I Was There' 2013 'At Government House'
    'Life Changing Moment'
    'Lost In Music'
    'Making Waves'
    Musings During The Pandemic
    My Brilliant Career'
    'My Career Went Bung"
    'My Gap Year'
    'My Other Life'
    'New In Town'
    'Odd One Out'
    'One Moment
    'One Moment In History'
    Order Of Australia
    'Out Of The Blue'
    'Over A Lifetime'
    PJ (Jack) O'Shannessy
    'Rebellion'
    'Relationships'
    'Retirement'
    'Right Here
    'Right Now'
    Right Now'
    'Ritual ... Coming Of Age'
    'Sense Of Place'
    'Someone Who Shaped Me'
    'Stock And Land'
    Swanwater
    'Taking The Plunge'
    'The Season I...'
    'This (Blessed) Life'
    'This (...) Life'
    'This (Long) Life'
    This Year'
    'Too Hard Basket'
    "Traveller's Tale'
    'Tree Stories'
    'Triggers'
    'True Confession'
    'Turning Point'

    Archives

    May 2025
    March 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    RSS Feed

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
​CO-VID Safety

U3A Benalla & District Flier 2025
Membership Application/Renewal 
​
Semester 1 Program Guide 2025
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2025
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria