Newsletter, November 2009

  Events

Italian Luncheon – Jim Tiberi
On the 5th October the Italian class put on a luncheon at U3A Penrith, prepared, cooked and served by the students. It was part of the “talk the talk then walk the walk experience”. 
They experienced the work and dedication that needs to go into a four course Italian feast.  The ladies involved in the preparation, Chris Price, Lesley Lindsay and June Wilson, worked tirelessly from early that morning, making the pasta (yes…flour, eggs, kneading, rolling, machining etc) over four kilos of it.  Tending the delicate sauce that simmered for over four hours.  Preparing the roast chickens and salads and finally the strawberries in maraschino with sorbet and tiramisu.
The ladies did a great job preparing and setting the tables, a special thanks to Chris who supplied all the table cloths and all the settings.  Thank you also to all those who helped clean up at the end.
The day was a great success.  Not one of the 30 diners left hungry or without a smile on their face.  Karen Paluzzano MP, and her family also enjoyed the day, she sent a letter of thanks to U3A for a great day and the opportunity to meet so many nice people.
With soft Italian music playing in the background…..it was inevitable……the dancing started…..before we knew it, it was 5:00pm and maybe time to go home.
Needless to say, an Italian “OCTOBER FEST” is now indelibly marked on the U3A social calendar as an annual event.

Editor: Cr John Thain attended the luncheon on behalf of Penrith Mayor, Kevin Crameri.
Karen Paluzzano’s 15 year old son Edward, who wants to become a chef, made the delicious Tiramisu for dessert.

Tutors and Volunteers’ Afternoon Tea by Brenda Emerson
This year we held our Tutors and Volunteers Afternoon Tea on Tuesday 13 October, 2009 in the Macquarie Room at the Penrith RSL Club.
  We had a good crowd of over eighty people attending, with plenty of food to wash down with the tea, coffee and juice. 
  Tony Bayes, our Publicity Officer, played the promotional DVD he, with the assistance of his wife Ann, had put together to advertise our coming State Conference in March 2010.  The DVD was shown at the Orange State Conference earlier this year, and copies handed out to other U3A delegates there.  The DVD was well received by all those attending the Afternoon Tea.
  Attending the Afternoon Tea was Freda Whitlam and Reg Grace (our President), mentioned that Freda had received a special award from Penrith City Council's Wall of Achievement Awards, and led applause for Freda.  As many of you would know Freda is both a Foundation Member and Life Member of our U3A.

Vale - Ted Baker
All who had the good fortune to know Ted Baker will be saddened to learn of his death in October. Both a Foundation Member and Life Member of our chapter, Ted was the Membership Officer for fifteen years. During that time he worked closely with Hedi Roggeveen and Freda Whitlam, and with successive committees.
His funeral was held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Kingswood, on Tuesday, October 13.

Our U3A Annual General Meeting at 1.30pm on Thursday 12th November at the Penrith School of Arts, 3 Castlereagh Street, Penrith.
Our total membership stands at 953. But we need a quorum of 25 members to hold an Annual General Meeting and the Committee does need some encouragement - so please try and attend. There will be a nice Afternoon Tea.

Movie & Supper Night at 136 Jamison Road, Penrith at 7.30pm on Saturday 28th November
Relive and enjoy Old Time Movie Classics from the 1940’s to 1960’s on 16mm film with the Volunteer Projection Group at 136 Jamison Road, Penrith on the 4th Saturday every month.
The program consists of one full length feature film and (if it is less than 120 minutes) a Cartoon and Newsreel. This is followed by supper and a discussion on the presentation. A voluntary donation is requested to cover the cost of the refreshments.
On Saturday 28th November, the Projection Group will be showing: “Thats Entertainment” (Col***) Extracts from MGM’s extensive archives of musicals Starring: Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Liza Minnelli, Peter Lawford, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart and Elizabeth Taylor.
U3A members and their guests will be welcome.
If you wish more details, contact John Morehead - Tel: 4721 0518.

  General Information

U3A Courses 2010 Handbook and Class Time Table
The 2010 Handbook and Class Time Table are on our website www.u3anepean.org and copies will be posted with the Term 4 Newsletters to all members after the Annual General Meeting on 12th November.

Architecture Demystified with Peter Buckwell
This course will be held fortnightly for 2 hrs starting at the beginning of Term 1 on Tuesdays at BANC Blackheath.
The course will cover topics like:

• What it takes to become an architect.
• How do architects bring dreams to reality?
• How do architects think?
• The process of procuring a building.
• Who are the players in the building industry?
• The considerations for environmentally sustainable design.
• Design Strategies for saving energy in buildings.

Photography with Petr Malek
Unfortunately, Petr has decided to move to Moss Vale and will not be able to run his very popular photography classes next year. The Committee wishes to thank Petr for all the hard work, skill and enthusiasm that he put into his courses and wish him well on his move.
Photography is such a popular subject that we need to find a new Tutor. If you would like to be a Photography Tutor or know someone who would, please contact Alan Lees 4736 5541 or alanlees@y7mail.com

U3A State Conference 2010
The Conference will be held over two days, 9th and 10th March 2010 at the Penrith RSL Club, 8 Tindale Street, Penrith. The daily cost will be $49.00 per person and will include morning and afternoon tea or coffee, and lunch. The Conference dinner will be held on Tuesday 9th March at the Penrith RSL Club commencing at 6.30 pm. The cost will be $49.00 per person. Entertainment and door prizes will be provided.
Conference and dinner bookings can NOW be made at our U3A Office at:
     The Penrith School of Arts, 3 Castlereagh Street, Penrith
     Tel: (02) 4722 3405 Email: u3anepean@optusnet.com.au
To enable all arrangements to be finalised we request that all bookings be confirmed by the end of January 2010. You do NOT have to be a member to attend the Conference.

Ethnic Support Group by Jim Tiberi
With the help and co-operation of TRI Community Exchange and the Penrith City Council we are trying to establish a local centre dedicated to help the senior ethnic residents of the area. 
These people are often disadvantaged by not being able to speak English.  At times not able to express themselves well enough to explain their concerns or report an emergency by phone.
The purpose of the centre would be to supply a service to these people in their native tongue, somewhere where they could ring and confidently explain their situation and be given the help they need to resolve their problem.
This is not a small task, what I’m asking is the assistance of U3A members, to help us identify the seniors (50 years +) in our community whose first language is not English, people who might need respite care, but also people who are fit and capable of volunteering their services for any amount of time.
If you know a senior ethnic person in our community, please ask him/her to call me for further information.
Jim Tiberi - 0419 493 959

Archives on our Website – Dave Evans’ Offer
In this electronic age the web page will become the most easily accessible face of our U3A.  When we reach our 25th and 50th anniversaries this is where future members will come to find information about the early days of our chapter, and about the people who made it happen and kept it running.  We need to establish a historical archive -- information, documentation, photographs, and biographical material.  There's a lot of work involved, for myself as well as those people who correlate the material.  I'll supply the fingers to put it on line but you'll need to supply the information.
The Committee has accepted Dave Evans’ kind offer to use our website as an historical archive. If you have any historical details or photographs about our U3A, please send them to David Evans, PO Box 215, Blaxland NSW 2774 and email: webmaster@u3anepean.org

Photographs on our Website – Comment from Dave Evans
I was curious to see if anybody was actually looking at the album and found that it's getting some visitors.  Quite a few of the pics have been viewed more than 40 times and some have gone past 60.
Please forward photographs of U3A events and classes to Dave Evans PO Box 215, Blaxland NSW 2774 or email: webmaster@u3anepean.org.
There are some interesting photographs on our website of the excellent Italian Luncheon organised by Jim Tiberi and his Italian students.

Springwood Fitness Walkers by Marie Standen
Springwood Fitness Walkers invites all walkers to join them on 29 February - 5 March, 2010
Walking the Roof - Advanced - at High Country Motel, Cooma
Day 1 - Coach meets train at Canberra and then to Cooma
Day 2 - Kosciuszko Walk then along Main Range 19km – hard
Day 3 - Namadgi National Park Orroal Valley  9km, 3.5km uphill
Day 4 - Lambie Bush track 9.5km return
Day 5 - Bournda National park  9km
Day 6 - Coach to Canberra – train home
Cost $620.00; Deposit $120.00 to Annemarie Hekman, 65 Boronia Road, Bullaburra. 2784
Cash ,cheque, Money Order only. Contact and further details Annemarie Hekman  4759 2172

Walking with a Touch of History in November:
Details of all Walks for Term 3 are shown on our website www.u3anepean.org U3A Members can join any Walking Group. But Walks A and Walks B are for “Medium walkers” and Walks C are for “Gentle walkers”.

In future:
Walk A will be known as The Kookaburras;
Walk B will be known as (Where) The Hekarwe; and
Walk C will be known as The Snails.

The full program can be seen elsewhere on this website. PLEASE CLICK HERE to read it.

  Committee News

We hope Tony Bayes will be nominated for the position of Publicity Officer as he has done such a terrific job publicising, raising funds and helping to organise our U3A and our U3A State Conference.

Kate Litchfield wishes to nominate for Committee Member instead of Vice-President (Blue Mts).

Tony Sherry has decided not to nominate for the 2010 Committee because he now lives near Gosford.

Sandra Walker, who is an Office Volunteer and on the 2010 Conference Sub-Committee, has been nominated to join the 2010 Committee.

$1,000 Donation from Penrith City Council for 2010 Conference
Penrith Mayor, Cr Kevin Crameri OAM, in reply to a letter from our Secretary - Brenda Emerson – has, on behalf of Penrith City Council, donated $1,000 for our U3A 2010 Conference.

Peter McNeill –our Current Events Tutor at Blackheath
Peter was interviewed on the local radio station 2BLU (FM 89.1) about his current topics program and hopefully managed to put in a plug for U3A in the Upper Blue Mountains.

Friends of the ABC
Our Vice-President Blue Mountains, Kate Litchfield, attended a meeting of the Friends of the ABC and publicised our 2010 Conference.

U3A Welfare Officer
The Committee discussed establishing a Welfare Officer position for our U3A. Anyone got any thoughts that they would like to share on this subject? Are there any volunteers for the position?

Computer Speakers:
Has anyone got some old Computer Speakers that they are willing to donate to our U3A? Please contact Alan Lees 4736 5541 or alanlees@y7mail.com .

Newsletters:
The closing date for submissions to the monthly Email Newsletter is one week before the end of each month. However, if you miss the date, your submission will go in the following month’s newsletter – if I remember. Submissions should be sent to the Office – Attention Curriculum Convener or preferably emailed to alanlees@y7mail.com

Next Committee Meeting
The next Committee Meeting will be held at the Penrith School of Arts at 11.30am on Tuesday 10 November, 2009.

Disclaimer – Articles contributed to this Newsletter and published as a service to members; do not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of this association. Articles are intended as opinions and items of debate only and should not be acted on without expert advice