For more details about the lectures and presenters please visit the webpage here.
Please note: Because of Covid restrictions it is important to contact the Captain before turning up to ensure there is a vacancy on that date. U3A members are able to attend two lectures as guests before being asked to enrol.
Members are advised that payment of annual fees may be made online now via the U3A Sunshine Coast website or by contacting the office on 5430 1123.
Classes for 2023 are now listed on the website at u3asunshine.org.au/members. Registration for classes opens Saturday, January 14 but members can plan for classes they prefer now and Tutors can make final adjustments to the descriptions and conditions related to those classes.
The important day to remember is Saturday, January 14 when registration of classes will be open. The advice is to get in early with your registration as many of the classes will fill quickly.
Sue also collected her Hole-in-One trophy for an Ace in an earlier competition game at Maroochy River Golf Club. The number on her ball was appropriately ‘zero’.
Photo: Sue Condos receives her prizes and Hole-in-One trophy from Tutor Graham Whyte. (Photo: Heather Clark)
The Ladies Champion, Heather Sheldon put in a strong performance to win by three shots on 67 nett from Runner Up Linda Jennings on 70 nett (pictured above with Golf Tutor Graham Whyte and chief volunteer Eric Anderson AM).
All photos kindly provided by Fay Whyte.
The Men’s Champion, Colin Maddocks won by two shots with 65 nett from Shane McGuigan on 67 nett.
Gross Score for the Ladies went to Sue Condos (pictured above) on a score of 105 and for the Men, Glenn Hamwood (pictured below) won with a score of 92.
Golf Tutor Graham Whyte said that it was pleasing that the Championship was hotly contested but played in good spirits, and that the attendance at the Dinner & Presentation Night was excellent.
Marg Smith joins in the festivities with Graham Whyte
Graham’s rundown of all the Championship results may be viewed/downloaded here.
Check out the latest photos on our Social Photos page here.
Our recent eVoice newsletters may be accessed here.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
By Gail Honeyman.
Reviewed by Lindsay Robertson, Doug Sockhill and Ann Nearchou Sockhill
Well-conceived, well-constructed and a fascinating tale.
This tale explores areas of the mind that perhaps should not be explored. The trauma
and the effects on a life can hardly be understood and this tale has the ability to open
your mind and heart to the characters involved.
Rarely does a book have me so intrigued that picking it up to read the next part becomes
a bit of a priority. The characters are honestly portrayed warts and all and the ending
still has some twists. Potentially the best book this year.
I have no hesitation in giving this a rating of 8.
Lindsay Robertson
*************************************************************************
They say the first paragraph of a novel should be intriguing enough to get you mystified and hence
hooked. The first two pages were sufficient to make the reader realise E is a very unusual character.
This is the author’s way of enticing you into the novel. From then you are kept thinking,” who is this
weirdo and what’s the story here?”.
The plot’s lack of complexity (I found the book easy and relaxing to read) is more than compensated
for by its strong depth and unusual characters; mainly referencing E here (and her “mother”). I
thought the character development was strong and well done, even if a little slow for my liking, but
that’s probably because I am a bit impatient at times.
I guess it’s a simple and proven strategy in storytelling, you create a really unusual character and
then entice the reader to encourage the said character back to normality and success as a person.
This strategy is solidified by the reader getting filtered glimpses of the very unusual reasons that are
behind the very unusual characters. These glimpses keep the reader guessing and mystified. I think I
enjoyed the book because I am a reasonably curious person by nature.
Hence I found myself keen to keep reading, and it kept my interest. Given I have only read two
books in the last 5 years, this is saying something.
I thought there were some missed opportunities with the extent of plot that could have spiced up
the novel a bit.
For example:
E and the muso could have met up and formed a hot relationship that then goes south badly,
which in turn causes E to derail ???
Raymond could have an affair with Sammy’s daughter which could have in turn tipped E over
The edge as she would be forced to take second place???
I suggest this because during the book I kept thinking more was going to happen in the plot than
what actually eventuated. I think the book lacked some intensity at times and maybe there were
obvious ways that the author could have wound this up somewhat.
Overall a good story with great character development, but maybe could have been enhanced with a
more involved plot.
3.5 stars out of 5.
Doug Sockhill
****************************************************************************************
I really enjoyed this book –
Eleanor is a beautiful human being – but doesn’t know it.
Her clever, questioning mind, and yet her naivety made me smile.
Eleanor’s “teenager” infatuation with the musician; and her changing behaviour/appearance with
the aim to attract him, became a turning point in her life.
Although her careful planning to snare the musician was to end up in disaster, the gradual changes
in Eleanor triggered the interest of others; something she’d never experienced.
Enter the hero, Raymond – not the dashing, charismatic type like Johnnie L ……. But a hero just the
same. The one who saves Eleanor from her mundane, lonely life. And who saves her life literally.
Their beautiful friendship slowly became solid, filling that lonely gap in both of their lives. And the
horrible spell that was cast over Eleanor (due to her difficult childhood) began to eventually fade
away.
8 stars out 10
Ann Nearchou Sockhill
An African elephant takes 22 months to gestate its baby; but that’s not a good excuse for taking so long to write your final e-Voice for 2022, which is not as cute but certainly as weighty!Tutors & Volunteers Luncheon – an opportunity to share ideas:
Our last big event on our annual U3A calendar is the Tutors and Volunteers luncheon on Sunday November 27th at the Kawana Surf Club, when we thank the many people whose energy, time and enthusiasm keep our organisation running.
One of the joys of this function is the opportunity it provides for tutors to meet other tutors, share ideas, and make new friends.
We also invite those members who have achieved their 25th year of membership – this year, four of those are able to attend, namely: Peter Hiddins, Shirley Boland, Barbara Yule and Jan Smith.
Entertainer Rex Egglomese has accepted our invitation to play some Christmas music for us. And thanks to our social photographer Judy Wells, we’ll have some good photos to share after the event.
Annual I Age Well Seniors Festival – an opportunity to ‘strut our stuff’:
The “I Age Well” 4th annual Seniors Festival was held at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club, Corbould Park on Thursday October 13th, with many of our own performing groups present on the day. These included our Tap Dancers, Belly Dancers, two of our Ukulele groups, the Hand-Chimers, Line Dancers, and the Japanese students’ group. A few of us also found ourselves somewhat reluctantly doing a hula dance on stage to accompany a gyrating ‘Elvis’ Pete Memphis.
What a joy to witness our members’ enthusiasm and delight to be on stage, showing off what they have been learning in class.
Our site, provided to us for free, was well attended and over a hundred gift packs were given away. Thank you to our Project Officer Karen Martin and her team for preparing all our giveaways and running the stall all day.
Photos have been posted on line in our Social Photos Gallery here, thanks to our Communication Officer John Armstrong.
Although none of our groups won the $2000 incentive prize, the members of the Zumba group (pictured above) stayed until the end to see the counting of the tokens in the election boxes, to find out that they had received the most votes. Their bright, amusing costumes and lively dancing added to the Kitty Kats’ performances throughout the day.
Staying fit at home over the holidays:
One of the Zumba members is Sigrid Welder. Siggy and her husband John Thoma have developed a health routine in their own backyard to keep fit, with a mini-trampoline, skipping ropes, bat and ball, and stretch bands. John is approaching his 90th birthday so the program is clearly effective! Siggy looks forward to joining U3A herself in the new year.
How can we promote our courses without a January Open Day?
An event we always look forward to at the start of the year is our Open Day, when all our tutors are offered the chance to show off their courses and attract new members.
However, during January 2023, our host venue, the UniSC Innovation Centre will not be available as it will be closed for renovations. Unfortunately, other venues are not provided for free, or they are just too small to accommodate us. This is very sad – and the only plus is that some of us don’t have to spend the Christmas holiday break planning for this huge event!
Tutors may like to consider how else they can promote their classes, and perhaps take advantage of other media, like Radio 104.9’s free 20 second Community Service Announcements. Check out how to do it at: https://www.sunshinefm.com.au/csa-request
And there are some really exciting new classes in the system for next year, for example there’s a group planning to teach stagecraft and then put on a musical!
But wait! There’s still an Enrolment Day!
Although we can’t host our annual January Open Day, members can renew their membership from December 5th by going online or by ringing the U3A Office which will be open until Friday 9th December.
All 2023 courses can be viewed online after December 16th.
The U3A office will reopen from Monday January 9th to assist with renewing memberships.
Then on Saturday, January 14th, members can either logon and enrol for courses themselves, or they can go to the U3A Office in person, from 9am to 12 noon, to meet with office volunteers who will assist members to enrol for classes.
Refreshments will also be provided on the day courtesy of Di Aspinall.
Midyear U3A Showcase
In lieu of our January Open Day, we propose to run a “U3A Showcase” of our classes and all our tutors will be invited to participate on a Saturday when there are no parking fees during the midyear semester break at UniSC. The day will combine interesting lectures and tutors presenting in market stalls under awnings… We’ll keep you informed as planning goes ahead.
As we all head towards the busyness of the Christmas season, I wish you all the best for a peaceful and happy time, reuniting with family and friends.
President
U3A Sunshine Coast
At next year’s Annual General Meeting our President Glyni Cumming and Secretary Dawne Clark have to step down from their executive positions on your Management Committee, so we need new people to take on these key positions.“This AGM is significant as both Dawne and I have completed our three years of service and, according to our Constitution, we have to stand down and give other enthusiastic members the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the organisation,” President Glyni said. “We may be able to keep running without a President; however, U3A Sunshine Coast is simply unable to function legally without a Secretary.
“Please let myself or Dawne know if you are willing to take on either of these executive positions or a committee position and play an active role in your Management Committee next year.”
“Planning has already started for next year’s AGM in April. One of two proposed guest speakers will be from the USC’s Department of Clinical Trials who anticipate setting up a database of members interested in participating in any proposed clinical trials in future.
“Apart from our annual report and the opportunity to meet our chosen bursary winners from UniSC, the AGM provides an insight into the strength of our organisation and our plan for the future so please make the time to come along.”
Photo: President Glyni Cumming and Secretary Dawne Clark will step down from their executive positions on the Management Committee at the AGM in April 2023.
U3A Sunshine Coast Management Committee has capped the Annual Membership Fee for 2023 at $40, and the Committee will decide on Venue Fees for next year’s courses at its final meeting for 2022 on Friday, December 9.
President Glyni Cumming said the $40 per annum membership fee is surely the best value around that money can buy and that venue fees are both subsidised and calculated on the costs of hiring each venue used to run classes.
“Our biggest venue expenses are from large venue activities such as Pickleball ranging down to smaller venues, like libraries, where there has been traditionally no charge,” President Glyni said. “However, there may need to be a small booking charge for use of these ‘free’ venues to account for the underlying costs of reimbursing tutors for expenses and to mitigate instances of people signing up for classes and not attending.”
“This State Conference will attract international guest speakers including Professor Francois Vellas, President of AIUTA (Association of International Universities of the Third Age) and Professor Maria Chester Secretary General of AIUTA,” President Glyni Cumming said.
“In Queensland, along with U3A Brisbane, Sunshine Coast was the first U3A to be formed in 1986. Our Life Members and 25-year members will be given the opportunity to attend this special event, with some subsidising of their expenses to cover registration, transport or accommodation. Former President Jim Hales is putting together our own history for the conference, assisted by Communication officer, John Armstrong.”
For more information about the State Conference please go to the Network Queensland website page here.
As a major part of the event, U3A Network Queensland is conducting an Art Competition and Exhibition Prizes for the competition are: Winner $200, Runner Up $150 and People’s Choice $50.
Network President Rhonda Weston AM is delighted that the talents of our U3A members across Queensland will be recognised in the Arts Competition and would appreciate U3A Presidents, Secretaries and Tutors helping to ‘get the word out’ about the Arts Competition and the State Conference.
“This is a great opportunity to showcase the artistic talents of members in our local U3As, and as this State Conference in Rockhampton marks the 50th Anniversary of our U3A movement it promises to be a major event, with international and national guests joining us for this anniversary event.”
For more information about the Art Competition along with links to a downloadable poster, entry form and T&Cs please go to the Network website page here.
