Congratulations to members of the choir on two great performances at Freemason’s Homes and
Cooinda in the early part of December. Your efforts were warmly appreciated by residents and
visitors and staff of both establishments.

The U3A Singing for Fun group is organised by our three conductors, Faith Hicks, Brian Greed and Margaret Merriman. They do a marvellous job selecting suitable songs for the choir to try, and also for providing guidance to the choir to improve the quality of performances. On behalf of our members I would like to thank the conductors and also Gwen Barnes for her piano accompaniment during the year. Gwen puts in a great deal of practice behind the scenes, and your efforts are really appreciated.

I would also like to thank Trish Roe and her team who do a great job with morning tea each time we meet. Also thank you to Margaret Howard for putting the books away most weeks, and to Ian Grace for opening and closing the room each time we meet, and arranging the chairs for us to sing.  Without these people our group would not run as efficiently as it does.

In January 2020 due to a kind offer by Brian Greed we are running three Community Singing
mornings. These are on Friday 10th, 17th and 24th January 2020 at 10.30am. All Singing for Fun members and also other members of U3A are invited to attend. Each session will have a break for morning tea, and is expected to finish about 11.45am. Please note these Community Singing mornings are scheduled for Friday’s, not Thursday’s as Patchwork is using the U3A room on the Thursday’s.

When we resume Singing for Fun in February 2020 we will be meeting in the Main Auditorium
instead of the U3A Room for our three sessions in February. This is a trial arrangement to see if we are more comfortable in less cramped conditions than in our U3A room. Our sessions on Thursday 6th, 13th and 20th February will commence at 9.30am and run until 11.30am. This time change is to work with the senior’s group who have their Thursday lunch starting at 11.45am.

May I take this opportunity to wish all Singing for Fun members a happy, healthy and enjoyable
2020. Hope to see you all again next year.

Margaret

​Early November was spent refining the songs selected to be sung in the three performances at the end of November and early December.

Meet and Mingle, on November 20th, was the first performance.  Our three leaders, Faith Hicks, Brian Greed and Margaret Merriman led the group through a varied group of numbers with the expert accompaniment of Gwen Barnes.  The songs ranged from bright, breezy numbers such as “Mexican Hat” and “I’m Gonna Knock on Your Door”, to quirky numbers such as the “Flick Jingle” and “High Hopes”.  Others such as “Irish Lullaby” and “The Holy City” were sung with emotion and feeling.

A bonus, which was a surprise for the audience, was to hear our newest member Kieran Smith perform “Exodus” superbly.  He was so well received that he was persuaded to do an encore - a moving performance of “Danny Boy” much to everyone’s delight.

​The next performance is on Thursday 5th December at the Royal Freemasons 107 Thomas Street at 10.00am.

The final performance will be on Thursday 12th December at Cooinda at 10.30am.  This performance will be followed by lunch at Benalla Golf Club at 12.00 for those who have put their names in.
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Rae Jeffers

At the October meetings of Singing for Fun we have seen our three leaders Faith Hicks, Brian Greed and Margaret Merriman decide on their selection of songs for our forthcoming concerts in November and December. Our pianist Gwen Barnes has been ably assisting our leaders on the piano.

Our first concert will be at the November U3A Meet and Mingle on Wednesday 20 November 2019 at 10am in the main auditorium at the Seniors Centre in Fawckner Drive. Members of the choir are asked to bring a small plate if possible for morning tea which will follow our concert.
The second performance is scheduled for Thursday 5th December at the Royal Freemasons Homes at 107 Thomas Street Benalla at 10am.

Our third concert will be on Thursday 12th December 2019 at 10.30am at Cooinda which is in Kilfeera Road Benalla. This will be followed by a social lunch at the Benalla Golf Club for those interested.
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Margaret Jenkins

Members of Singing for Fun are reminded that our concerts are coming around quite quickly. As usual we will be performing for U3A members at the November meeting of Meet and Mingle, which will be on Wednesday 20th November at 10am.

Our concert at Cooinda this year is on Thursday 12th December 2019 at 10.30am. This will be followed by our end of year lunch at the Golf Club.

It has also been suggested that we could provide the residents of The Freemason’s Homes in Benalla with a concert on Thursday 5th December 2019 at 10am. The Freemason’s Homes opened earlier this year and the management of the Freemason’s Homes are delighted that we will be performing there as well.

Members of our group were sorry to hear that one of our members Marjorie Geeson sustained a fall while she and Doug were house-sitting in Bundaberg. Marjorie’s injuries were assessed in Bundaberg before she was transferred to Brisbane and from there to the Austin Hospital in Melbourne. We all wish you a satisfactory recovery Marjorie.

The next meeting of Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 3rd October 2019 at 10am in the U3A room at the Seniors Centre.
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Margaret Jenkins

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