The Singing for Fun group has been enjoying their Thursday morning sessions during August.
We have seen Faith Hicks include some Negro Spiritual songs in her selections, which have been appreciated by all. Brian Greed introduced a much loved old favourite “I’m Gonna Knock on your Door” whilst Margaret Merriman got an enthusiastic response from the group with “High Hopes” and “Shortnin’ Bread”.

Gwen Barnes has been providing us with great accompaniment on the piano.

We have been missing Patsy Bollard for a couple of sessions due to a log falling onto her leg. Hope to see you again soon Patsy.

The next meeting of Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 5th September 2019 in the U3A room at the Seniors Centre.
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Margaret Jenkins

July has seen variable attendance at our Thursday morning sessions due to three main reasons. Some of our members have gone north to enjoy more sunshine than what is in Benalla at the moment whilst some members have gone overseas to visit family and friends.  The third reason is that there have unfortunately been some winter colds around which have seen members needing to stay at home and recover.

Our three conductors Faith Hicks, Margaret Merriman and Brian Greed have been choosing a variety of songs which all those attending have enjoyed.

Our pianist Gwen Barnes has returned from holiday and is providing us with great accompaniment on the piano.

The next Singing for Fun will be held on Thursday 1st August at 10am in the U3A room at the Seniors Centre.
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Margaret Jenkins

At the first meeting of Singing for Fun for June we had a short talk by Jan Osmotherly who is the Evaluator of Age Friendly Benalla. Jan distributed cards from Age Friendly Benalla which asked for our member’s opinions on what could be improved in Benalla to make it a more Age Friendly community. The cards can be directly returned to Benalla Rural City Council office in Bridge Street, or brought back to Singing for Fun for return.

At the second session of singing for fun in June our pianist Gwen Barnes was away on holiday. We enjoyed a different format with Brian Greed playing the piano for his selection of songs and also for Lois Jackson to introduce some rounds to the group. Faith Hicks then accompanied her own selection of songs which included “Viva Mexico” which was new for the group.

The final segment of that morning was a great session of Community Singing. Our roughly 35 members turned their chairs 90 degrees so that they could see the words projected on the end wall. Brian Greed played for the Community singing and everyone joined in for the twenty or so songs of the 1950s to 1970s projected on the wall.  Several members of the group indicated afterwards that this segment had been really enjoyed.

The next meeting of Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 4th July 2019 at 10am at the U3A room in the Seniors Centre. 

​Margaret Jenkins

​May has been a month for a variety of songs, both old and new.

Margaret Merriman paid tribute to Doris Day in May with a selection of songs Doris Day made popular. She has also introduced us to “The Exodus Song”.

Brian Greed included several of the Seeker’s songs this month, including “Mamma Mia”and “Georgie Girl”.  These are always sung with great gusto and enjoyed by our group. 

We have been missing Faith Hicks who is recovering from a bout of the ‘flu. We look forward to seeing you again next month Faith.

Gwen Barnes has been providing great accompaniment on the piano. 

The number of men in the group now almost equals the number of ladies which is quite an achievement for the guys. This further expands the range of songs which can be chosen. 

The next meeting of Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 6 June at 10am in the U3A room at the seniors centre.
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Margaret Jenkins

This month has seen a good attendance by our male singers which is very encouraging. Songs like Ol’ Man River have been included in the program by Margaret Merriman to utilise their voices.

Faith Hicks encouraged members of the group to choose their favourite songs at one of the sessions, whilst Brian Greed introduced the song Cabaret.

Gwen Barnes has been providing accompaniment on the piano.

It is good to see both Gwen Cheetham and Patsy Bollard back with us after being away for a couple of weeks.

During the past month we have added another six copies of Harmony book 1 to our collection, so we should not have to share Harmony books in the near future.

Members are reminded of the forthcoming Benalla Dramatic production of Robin the Hood in the Benalla Town Hall over two weekends from 24 May to 1 June 2019. For more information visit the website www.benallatheatrecompany.org.au

The next meeting of Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 2 May 2019 at 10am in our U3A room.
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Margaret Jenkins

The March meetings of Singing for Fun have demonstrated the wide variety of songs which are available to our leaders in our three Song books.

Faith Hicks continues to find old songs in Book 1 which we have not sung for many months and which are great to revive.

Brian Greed introduced us to some interesting harmony for “Pedro the Fisherman” whilst Margaret Merriman has had us enjoying several different rounds.  Our pianist Gwen Barnes is doing a great job on the piano.

We would like to thank the friend of Terry Dillon who made extra hinges for the shelves in the cupboard which stores our song books. Four shelves are definitely easier to work with.

It is great to see over 35 enthusiastic U3A members at Singing for Fun Group some weeks.  However, these great numbers have shown that we need to increase the number of copies of each Song book we have available. We hope you don’t mind sharing a book until we have worked through making the extra books. To date we have produced 6 extra copies of Book 2.

The next Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 4 April 2019 at 10am in the U3A Room.  
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Margaret Jenkins

This year we have welcomed five new members Joan Badrock, Julie Hooper, Carole Ruta, Chris Dunster and Suzanne Berry to our Singing for Fun group. We hope you all enjoy singing with us and look forward to getting to know you all.
 
We are fortunate that our three singing leaders Faith Hicks, Brian Greed and Margaret Merriman are full of enthusiasm for 2019.  Faith is revisiting many of the songs we have not sung for several months, while Brian and Margaret both have a new challenge for us with a new song on the horizon.

We are grateful that our pianist Gwen Barnes is providing accompaniment on the piano to our three leaders.
    
During January we were saddened to learn that one of our valued members Elsbeth Shaw had passed away. Elsbeth was a great friend to several of our members and will be remembered for her cheery personality and excellent company as well as her singing.

Thank you to Dorothy Webber for negotiating that our members can use the chairs and tables near the kitchen for morning tea every time we meet. 

The next meeting of Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 7 March 2019 at 10am in the U3A Room at the Seniors Complex.
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Margaret Jenkins

Early in December we celebrated the end of the year with a concert at Cooinda. This concert was slightly longer than what was presented at the Meet and Mingle day in November and included some Christmas favourites.  From the applause received the concert appeared to be enjoyed by the Cooinda residents.

Afterwards several members of the Singing for Fun group went to the Golf Club for their end of year lunch.

Singing for Fun in 2019 will start on Thursday 7 February at 10am in the U3A room at the seniors complex. We have had good numbers at our enrolment days and look forward to seeing everyone at our first session.
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Margaret Jenkins