Semester 1, 2018 Lake Macquarie U3A Page 1

Newsletter January 2018

Lake Macquarie U3A Inc, PO Box 782, TORONTO NSW 2283

Email: secretary@lakemacquarie.u3anet.org.au Website: lakemacquarie.u3anet.org.au

Patron: Greg Piper MP

From the President . . .

Welcome everyone to a sparkling new 2018 . . . I hope it is a healthy and happy one for us all!

What a wonderful Program awaits us, full of old favourites and new ones to tempt us . . . are there enough days in the week to fit in these ‘jewels’? I can’t wait to fill in my online enrolments.

You will by now have noticed that our membership fee has had a little increase – it is now $60, which is still mighty good value when you see what is on offer. At the AGM on 1 December there was much enthusiasm from the members present to increase the annual fee due to the spiralling cost of venues. The last increase was way back in 2011.

Just a quick mention, to those who missed out on two great U3A events this year. Our Musicale was one of musical splendour held in the Toronto Workers Club this year. We are so lucky to have so many musically talented course leaders and members who bring joy each year. Our Variety Concert was another gem – all the colour, rhythm and music, plus the costumes were a sight for sore eyes! As our unofficial photographer I cannot help but notice the number of you thespians and musos who participate in more than one event . . . such talent and enthusiasm! My thanks must also go to Kay Plentinger who made the trip from the mid-north coast to MC proceedings at the concert.

Next was the AGM with introduction by our ‘ubiquitous ukes’. Thank you, Lorraine and Chris Charters, for your set-up and leadership. The moral of the morning is ‘never leave home without a spare mike’! Again I am grateful to the Toronto Workers for providing their venue for the Musicale and AGM free of charge.

My thanks go to the marvellous committee members who have managed to steer the good ship LMU3A to the end of 2017. Special mention goes to Carole Obre who is taking a well-earned break next year to enjoy grandkids and travel. Carole has handed over her Venues portfolio to a very capable Susan Coggan.

Our other outstanding retiree from the committee is our wonderful Treasurer, Veronica Lund, who has reached the end of her three-year tenure in this position. Veronica has devoted many hours to retrieving the past three years’ worth of GST which has helped to keep us in reasonable financial shape. Richard Coggan has kindly offered to take up the position of Treasurer on the committee.

Vince Dale answered our pleas for help and heads up our new Web admin team, ably assisted by Merle Rawson and Patricia May.

I have a challenge for you. Those of you in Creative Writing, Poetry and Arty/Crafty courses, please consider contributing to one of our Newsletters so that your creativity can be admired and enjoyed by the whole membership. Or, if you have been truly entertained on one of our excursions, write a few words and let us all know how it went.

How about a ‘Philosopher’s Corner’ . . . what do YOU think?

I look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year in an exciting array of courses, so until then very best Festive Wishes to you and your families.

Your President Christine Peel

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The first Wednesday talk on 7 February is an opportunity for members old and new to come and

meet the committee and enjoy afternoon tea. You are welcome to bring a friend who may be

interested in joining. Please see details in the program, Course No 354, and enrol so we have

numbers for catering purposes.

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F������� - J��� M�C����� The orchestra members dedicated their performance at the recent Musicale to John, who died just

before the concert. He had played clarinet for a number of ensembles including the U3A orchestra.

However, earlier in 2017 John decided that his illness was becoming too severe for him to continue

playing.

Since then, he has been sorely missed - a truly wonderful musician and performer, and a lovely man.

Angela Finney

Photograph: Christine Peel

R���������� - B������ H���� ��� E����� A��� In 2017 two of our long-serving leaders retired.

For many years we were privileged to have Barbara as a teacher of Tai Chi, from Levels 1 to 6. Her students will miss her

gentle style and patience and her leadership in their performances at the Variety Concerts. Thank you, Barbara, for your

many years of service to Lake Macquarie U3A.

After many dedicated years with LMU3A, Elvira retired from her French courses. She enjoyed passing on her love of the

French language and many members visiting France have benefited from her French conversation classes. Merci bien,

Elvira!

F������� - I�� L���� It is with sadness that we advise of the death of Ian Lucas on 12 December after a long battle

with cancer. Ian has been a member of our U3A for almost 11 years and continuously shared his

passion for Play Reading with U3A members. Ian was one of our more avid and reliable course

clerks for the weekly talks and an enthusiastic baritone in the choir. Our sincere condolences go

to his wife, Beth (pictured right, with Ian), and their children, Lindsay and Marianne.

Pauline Wiche Photograph: Christine Peel

U����� - H��� N�����! French Class - Mondays, Toronto Public Library, 9.30 - 11.00 am

We have a very dedicated French class with 14 committed members who attend every

week and have done so for the past three years, almost without change to the class

members and certainly not to their enthusiasm. Their very popular leader, Robyn Elliss, is

currently finding it difficult to attend every week due to family business commitments.

This is likely to continue for the next six months or so, but hopefully may be rectified after

that.

This class is keen to find a backup teacher who can step in on an ad hoc basis when Robyn

is unavailable. Currently this is around once or twice a month, but can sometimes be less.

They are hoping to find a French tutor who can assist, usually at short notice, and take

their class when Robyn finds herself unable to attend. At the moment they muddle

through when this happens.

IS THERE AN INTERMEDIATE-GRADE FRENCH SPEAKER/TUTOR WHO

CAN HELP?

Please contact:

Program Coordinator, Joy Norris Mobile: 0412 097 877 Email: jwnorris@optusnet.com.au

M������’ B����� If you do not have a U3A badge, please email lmu3aenrolments@gmail.com to request a new badge and/or a replacement. Alternatively, phone the enquiry line on 0490 367 591 and the request will be passed on. Lanyards are still available at the office in the Multi-Purpose Centre (MPC) at a cost of $2. The committee are struggling to try and get badges to all the classes they need to go to and, in many cases, the member the badge has been created for has either withdrawn from that class or never actually attended. With this in mind and to save time, badges created during the year will be pinned on the ‘clothesline’ at the MPC for you to collect. This is a string that is outside Room C at the MPC.

Carole Obre

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2018 S������� 1 P������ There are quite a few new and interesting courses in this semester’s program. Included in these are:

Computer Basics – aimed at helping those new to their computers to feel at ease and more proficient in their use.

Stronger Seniors – a new basic, easy exercise program using a variety of DVDs with Pilates, Tai Chi and some simple

exercises all performed whilst seated. There is also a segment devoted to balance in this course.

Getting the Most From Your iPad – run by the computer teachers from The Hub in Toronto.

Beginning Your Family History – run by members of the Lake Macquarie Family History Group.

Key Word (Auslan) Signing – run in conjunction with Southlakes U3A.

Ukulele Jam and Sing – a new, additional ukulele course.

State Politics – It’s in the Bag – a rerun of this very popular 2017 course, with Greg Piper, Kelly Hoare and

Madeleine McKell.

We also have the intriguingly titled Make Your Own Luck and Affinity Photo, plus Mah Jong for Beginners.

There are many other new and exciting courses and most of the old favourites are returning, some with new leaders.

There is a large variety of courses, something for everyone, so please check your program for everything on offer.

However, there are some very important fundamentals we must all remember:

1 Please do not apply for courses unless you think you will be available to attend most sessions. It is very frustrating

and disappointing for our valuable leaders if you constantly do not show up for classes and then just completely

drop off. Not only does this deprive another member of the opportunity to attend that course – it is rude,

inconsiderate and very disheartening to leaders who may then be reluctant to lead courses for us again. Please

remember this and, if unexpected circumstances do occur and you have to drop out of a course, let your course

clerk know promptly, thus opening the course up for others.

2 Some courses do require resources or a payment for materials used in the course; please attend to this promptly

when advised to do so.

We extend to all our past and present leaders our very sincere thanks for the efforts you have put into making Lake

Macquarie U3A so successful and providing members with such wonderful and varied learning experiences. Your time

and efforts are amazing!

Oh, by the way, we are still searching for both a Spanish teacher and a guitar teacher. Any volunteers?

Joy Norris, Program Coordinator 0412 097 877 Email: jwnorris@optusnet.com.au

U������� 2017

Well, it’s the end of the U3A year - and what a busy year it was for Ukuleles! Several dozen members participated every Tuesday to not only learn to play a new instrument (in some cases their first ever instrument), but also to make friends, laugh, sing and – luckily for us – to bring much enjoyment to both Chris and myself as course leaders.

Thanks to everyone who joined us and often inspired us this year. In spite of all the ongoing difficulties and obstacles which life produces, our ukers persevered, not only challenging themselves but also motivating us to develop our programs further, to support their individual musical journeys.

This year, as well as attending regular classes, many of our participants extended their skills by performing at the Musicale and the AGM, where they acquitted themselves well. A performance group, ‘Undercover Ukes’, has been established and entertained War Veterans and Aged Care residents so successfully they’ve already been re-booked for 2018!

Chris and I would like to thank all of our wonderful participants but, in particular, Heather MacRae, Annabelle McLellan and Sharon Campton for taking on the role of course clerks for their respective groups; and Annabelle and Eileen Shaw for providing rehearsal venues outside of our scheduled U3A time.

We would also like to thank our hard-working committee for their confidence in and encouragement for our ukulele project.

We look forward to catching up in 2018 and to meeting new participants as well.

Best wishes to you all for a peaceful, relaxing break.

Lorraine and Chris Charters

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U3A P����������� Once again this year, our talented members entertained us with memorable performances at the Musicale, Variety

Concert and AGM.

The Musicale was a wonderful morning of musical offerings from our multi-talented U3A members held at the Toronto

Workers Club. The room was so full we had to beg, borrow and steal chairs from other rooms! Our thanks must go to the

club for providing the room at no charge.

I think the Variety Concert was the most colourful and entertaining that I have attended so far in my short time with

Lake Mac U3A. The music, choreography and costumes were amazing. I have the greatest admiration for your collective

imaginations, and that you can transfer it onto the stage! So - a BIG thank-you and congratulations to you all.

Make sure that you don't miss it or the Musicale next year.

At the AGM we were entertained by the choir and ukulele group and, of course, our arts and crafts groups put on their

usual impressive displays.

Christine Peel

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Please forward any items and/or photographs for the next newsletter

by WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL

to Rosalind Wigham at:

lmu3apublications@gmail.com

T������ ��� ��� D�� (courtesy of Chris�ne Peel)

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.

Anyone who keeps learning stays young.

The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

Henry Ford

S��� �� ��� T���� A�er all our online chats, it’s great to finally meet

you in person Same here

Semester 1, 2018 Lake Macquarie U3A Page 6

E�������� - S����� S��������, O������ 2017 On Tuesday 17 October, over 40 LMU3A members boarded the train for a day trip to Sydney’s Jewish Synagogue in Elizabeth Street, followed by the Jewish Museum in Darlinghurst, where we had an excellent lunch, then guided tour.

As we congregated outside the synagogue, my first impression was of the beautiful façade of the 1878 building, now wedged between more modern buildings in Elizabeth Street. The second impression was of the locked wrought iron gates and the armed security guard behind them.

Once inside we were seated downstairs and the men issued the obligatory skull cap, which in some cases was not of adequate size to cover the bald patch! If we were attending a normal service, the men would be seated downstairs and the women and children upstairs. Teenage boys would be allowed downstairs once they obtained their Bar Mitzvah.

There were 16 Jews amongst the first fleet convicts, but it wasn’t until the 1820s that there were regular Jewish services held in Sydney. Even today there are only about 120,000 Jews in Australia

One thing that struck me from the talk at both the synagogue and the museum was the religious tolerance amongst its own people. They ranged from the strictly orthodox, who keep separate sets of kitchen utensils for ‘clean’ or ‘unclean’ meats, to those with very little religious observance at all.

We all piled onto a bus opposite the synagogue for the short trip to the museum in Darlinghurst Road, where the café had four long tables laden with deliciously topped bagels awaiting our arrival. Around the walls of the café are photos of Holocaust survivors and their families, who are current or past guides of the museum. We were split into four groups for the tour of the museum, each led by one of these guides. Obviously the stories of each guide is unique, but it was most interesting to hear some of the experiences of our guide, whose mother was a survivor who emigrated to Australia in the 1950s.

Finally we were led to a larger meeting room, where we were treated to some memories of an elderly Polish gentleman during the time of the German and Russian invasions of Poland.

Our thanks go to Bernie and Tony Lowther who ably shepherded us throughout the day.

Richard Coggan