Fortnightly News 17/7/2020

Club Activities

The Club has reopened and following activities have recommenced in the Club,

Choir Practice (Monday 10.00 – 12.00 pm)

Line Dancing (Monday 10.00 – 12.00 pm)

Seated Exercise (Monday 12.00 – 1.30 pm)

Monday Afternoon Friendship Group (Monday 1.30 – 3.30 pm)

YMCA Gentle Exercise (Tuesday 9.30 – 10.30 am)

YMCA Ever Active (Wednesday 8.30 – 9.30 am)

Water Colour Painting (Wednesday 9.30 – 11.30 am)

Table Tennis (Wednesday & Friday 9.30 – 12.30 pm)

Play Reading Group (Thursday 10.00 – 12.00 pm)

Stitchers (Thursday 10.00 – 12.00 pm)

Craft Group (Thursday 10.00 – 12.00 pm)

Tai Chi & Gentle Exercise (Thursday 2.00 -3.15 pm)

Painting and Drawing (Friday 1.30 – 3.30 pm)

These are activities where we can easily maintain a 1.5metre distance from each other. It is also essential that we maintain good hand hygiene and cough or sneeze into our elbows. There should be no communal refreshment breaks and members should bring their own mugs, drink bottles and snacks.

Each group leader will have to ensure that any commonly used areas such as tables and chairs are cleaned with the disinfectant wipes provided after each activity. Group leaders will be provided with a checklist of what must be done.

All members need to sign in with your full name and telephone number in the foyer to enable contact tracing in the event that there is a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19. Please bring the correct money for each activity to minimise handling of cash.

The Management Committee will continuously review activities and wellbeing over the coming months to ensure that we reduce the risk of infection by COVID-19.

Please Do Not Enter the Club if:

• You are feeling unwell and developing cold or flu like symptoms (including fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue or shortness of breath); or
• You have been in close contact with someone with these symptoms or is a confirmed COVID-19 case; or
• You or someone you have been in close contact with has recently returned from interstate or overseas.

2020 Book Fair

The Book Fair has been postponed to a date to be decided as a result of the restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. As it is now appears the restrictions will not be relaxed sufficiently for some time, it is most unlikely that we will be able to hold a Book Fair this year. We are however still welcoming donations of books, games, DVDs, CDs and vinyl records in the hope that one day we will be able to have a Book Fair.

Read More

Fortnightly News 19/6/2020

Club Re-opening on 1 July 2020 for Some Activities

The Management Committee met earlier this week and agreed to re-open the Club for the following activities on Wednesday 1 July 2020:

Choir Practice (Monday)

Line Dancing (Monday)

Seated Exercise (Monday)

Beading Group (Monday)

YMCA Gentle Exercise (Tuesday) – subject to availability of instructor.

YMCA Ever Active (Wednesday) – subject to availability of instructor.

Water Colour Painting (Wednesday)

Table Tennis (Wednesday & Friday)

Play Reading Group (Thursday)

Stitchers (Thursday)

Craft Group (Thursday)

Tai Chi & Gentle Exercise (Thursday)

Painting and Drawing (Friday)

These are activities where we can easily maintain a 1.5metre distance from each other. It is also essential that we maintain good hand hygiene and cough or sneeze into our elbows. There should be no communal refreshment breaks and members should bring their own drink bottles and snacks.

Each group leader will have to ensure that any commonly used areas such as tables and chairs are cleaned with the disinfectant wipes provided before and after the activity. Group leaders will be provided with a checklist of what must be done.

All groups must include each person’s full name and telephone number in the activity book to enable contact tracing in the event that there is a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19. Please bring the correct money for each activity to minimise handling of cash.

The Management Committee will continuously review activities and wellbeing over the coming months to ensure that we reduce the risk of infection by COVID-19.

Please Do Not Enter the Club if:

• You are feeling unwell and developing cold or flu like symptoms (including fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue or shortness of breath); or
• You have been in close contact with someone with these symptoms or is a confirmed COVID-19 case; or
• You or someone you have been in close contact with has recently returned from interstate or overseas.

All Memberships Extended by Three Months

The Management Committee has agreed to extend everyone’s membership by three months.

Car Parking

We have entered into a contract with Wilson Parking to manage our car park. The annual parking fee for members will remain the same. Wilson Parking uses number plate recognition to identify cars that should not be in our car park. They will issue a fine to vehicles that should not be in the car park. They will tow vehicles away that are repeat offenders. It is essential that we have the current registration number of the car you will be bringing to the Club car park on our system. You can check by looking at your blue parking ticket.

If a Club member does receive a parking fine whilst participating in a Club activity please bring it to the office and we will have it waived.

As you may be aware local workers have used the car park while the Club has been closed.

Fortnightly News 6/3/2020

Covid-19 (Coronavirus)

Members will know from the public information available that the likelihood of the virus spreading into the community is becoming more likely. As many of our members already have underlying health issues and thus increased vulnerability, we would emphasize that anyone who is feeling unwell should, in the interests of everyone, refrain from attending activities at the Club until recovered.

Advance Care Planning

On Friday 27 March at 11.00am, members of the ACT Advance Care Planning Program team will be at the Club. They will talk to us about what is meant by Advance Care Planning – the steps you can take to plan for your future health care. Setting up a formal Advance Care Plan gives you an opportunity to think about, discuss and record ahead of time your choices for treatment if you should become unable to do so in the future. The team will guide those in attendance through the ways and legal documents required to set up your Advance Care Plan, and can make individual appointments to guide you through the process if desired. Light refreshments will be available.

Please let Polly know if you would like to attend so we can set up appropriate seating and catering.

Read More

Fortnightly News 21/2/2020

Advance Care Planning

Woden Seniors has organised for the Advance Care Planning Team to give a presentation at the Club on Friday 27 March at 11.00 in the Sitting Room. Jenny Gregory and Sue Allen will organise some light refreshments for this. If you are interested to attend please let Polly know.

Bridge Classes

Classes for improving bridge players will be held on Mondays at 1.30 pm. Any interested beginners should contact Cathie Padovan on 62313334.

Woden Seniors Website

For full details of all that is offered at Woden Seniors such as the list of activities and the timetable check out the Club’s website at www.wodenseniors.org.au.

Also if if you are wanting to go back and check on something in a previous issue the Fortnightly News can be found on the Internet site.

2020 Seniors Week Forum

The Public Trustee and Guardian will present two Forums during Seniors Week on the importance of having a valid and up-to-date Will and Enduring Power of Attorney. The Public Trustee and Guardian offer a free professionally drafted Will for anybody aged 60 years and older.

Date: Tuesday 24th March 2020

Time: 9:30am – 12:00pm

Venue: Dickson Tradesman Union Club (The Tradies)

Address: 2 Badham Street, Dickson

Date: Wednesday 25th March 2020

Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Venue: Town Centre Vikings

Address: Cnr Athllon Dr & Rowland Rees Crescent, Greenway

• • Lucky door prizes

• • Free PTG Will voucher for all attendees up to 60 years of age.

• • Light refreshment provided

Bookings essential Call 62079800 or ptg_marketing

We will also be at the Senior Week Expo at Exhibition Park on Thursday 26th March from 10:00am – 3:00pm on Site 16.

Read More

Fortnightly News 7/2/2020

Bridge Classes

Classes for improving bridge players will be held on Mondays at 1.30 pm. Any interested beginners should contact Polly at the office.

Book Fair helpers

Preparations are well underway for the 2020 BIG Book Fair which is just over six months away.

Donations of books are rolling in and we would welcome some more helpers. At present we are sorting, cleaning and categorising the large number of donations we are receiving. We have two groups of volunteers operating – one on Wednesday mornings from 10 am and the other on Friday mornings from 10 am. If you have some spare time and would like to come in on one of those mornings to see how it is done we would love to see you. You will find us surrounded by books in the veranda area. If you would like more information leave your contact details with Polly.

Do you have a spare wheel chair?

The Bridge Group is seeking the donation of a wheel chair to be used while playing on Thursdays. If you would like to donate a wheel chair you are no longer using please bring it into the club or phone Polly to arrange collection.

SPIRAL PROGRAM – meets at the Uniting Church, Curtin at 10am on Thursdays

My name is Brett Yeats, and on behalf of all of us who put this community group together, I welcome you to the first Spiral program of 2020. As you will see in a minute, we are off to a great start next Thursday, February 13.

Many of you know what to expect but before I tell you about the treats we have in front of us, I’ll remind those who are less familiar with Spiral about who we are and what we do. We are a group of people who have been meeting in the hall at the St James Uniting Church for 50 years. There is no religious nature to our meetings and our members come from varied backgrounds, occupations and origins. We are mostly retired, aged from our 60s to our 90s but we won’t turn you away if you are younger or older. There are good numbers of both men and women. We do ask that you make a gold coin donation when you attend. There are no membership fees, no forms to fill in. You can come to as many or as few of our entertainments-and-morning-teas as you like, and you don’t have to book in.

We are a volunteer-run not-for-profit group largely funded by the Canberra Southern Cross Club’s Community Rewards scheme (check out this link). Whether you attend Spiral or not, any CSCC member can support us by nominating us to receive 7.5% of your food and/ or beverage expenditure.

St James is at 40 Gillies Street in Curtin. This link will give you directions from your place to the large carpark if you have transport. There is a bus stop at the Curtin shops directly opposite.

We ask you to arrive by 10.00 am and we aim to start our ‘entertainment’ by 10.10. The entertainment is either a guest speaker, sometimes in a conversation format, or a musical performance. We aim to serve a fresh, mainly home-made, morning tea at 11.00 (sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later) and we aim to finish at midday.

We welcome new faces and I ask you to share this program with anyone you think might be interested. If you have any questions you can contact Brett Yeats via email at yeatsb or on 0406 37 9119 or 6281 7684. Or you could contact Angelika Dunker at angelika.dunker or on 0491 120 556 or 6281 4023.

Now, here is what has been booked for February and March.

February 13 Dr Emma Kindred Hugh Ramsay

Emma is the Curator of 19th Century Australian Art at the National Gallery of Australia. Hugh Ramsay was an accomplished Australian artist whose portrait paintings achieved success both in Australia and in France before his untimely death at the age of just 28. Emma will talk about this wonderful retrospective not-to-be-missed exhibition. The exhibition is free and closes on March 29.

February 20 The Canberra Mandolin Orchestra

Formed in 2003, the CMO brings together players of mandolin, mandola, mandocello, guitar and bass. It keeps alive the rich tradition of the mandolingroups that emerged in the firstcouple ofdecades of the 20th century. The CMO’s repertoire is very wide showing the versatility of its musicians. They have played in the High Court, at Government House and at the National Folk Festival and we have been privileged to have them perform for us many times. Today’s concert will be a rehearsal of the material that they are about to record for their first CD.

February 27 Jan Harris

Jan, Canberra born-and-bred, spent 30+ years in the Australian Public Service. She was the first ever female deputy secretary of Treasury in its 112-year history. Highlights in her career include representing Treasury at the OECD delegation in Paris, sitting in Cabinet discussing the Global Financial Crisis and being a finalist in the 2015 Telstra ACT Business Women’s Awards. She also had a senior role in PM&C. Since 2016, Jan has been an Independent Director of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.

March 5 Bruce Chapman AM “The Economic Value of Don Bradman and Reflections of a Lifetime Bradman Tragic”.

Bruce is an ANU economist and academic known for being the architect of the HECS (Higher Education Contribution Scheme) loan system. In 2001, he became a Member of the Order of Australia “for service to the development of Australian economic, labour market and social policy”. I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying Bruce’s economic lectures which are very entertaining, I can’t wait to see how he addresses this subject.

March 12 Dame Annette King New Zealand High Commissioner

Here is a first – we’ve never been joined by a Dame before. This Dame has taken on a new challenge. Dame Annette is NZ’s longest serving female MP. Following more than 30 years in parliament, she has thrown herself into her new life as High Commissioner in Canberra with energy and enthusiasm.

Fortnightly News 24/1/2020

Welcome to the first fortnightly newsletter for 2020. Most of the regular club activities are restarting. U3A activities start first week in February. Why not try a new activity this year, there are many to choose from – Tai Chi, gentle exercise, recorder, Bridge, table tennis, singing, dancing, painting and more.

Bridge Classes

Classes for all levels (including Beginners) resume on Monday 3rd February at 1.30 pm.

Book Fair helpers

Preparations are well underway for the 2020 BIG Book Fair which is just over six months away.

Donations of books are rolling in and we would welcome some more helpers. At present we are sorting, cleaning and categorising the large number of donations we are receiving. We have two groups of volunteers operating – one on Wednesday mornings from 10 am and the other on Friday mornings from 10 am. If you have some spare time and would like to come in on one of those mornings to see how it is done we would love to see you. You will find us surrounded by books in the veranda area. If you would like more information leave your contact details with Polly.

Do you have a spare wheel chair?

The Bridge Group is seeking the donation of a wheel chair to be used while playing on Thursdays. If you would like to donate a wheel chair you are no longer using please bring it into the club or contact Polly to arrange collection.

Fortnightly News 20/12/2019

Club Closing Times for the Festive Season

The Club will close at 4pm on Friday 20 December 2019 and re-open on Monday 13 January 2020. Activity groups can continue to use the Club through this period by arrangement with the front office.

I wish you a happy and safe festive season and look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Bridge Classes

Classes for all levels have finished for the year and will re-start on Monday 3rd February 2020.

Read More

Fortnightly News 29/11/2019

Christmas Lunch

Places are filling up for Christmas lunch, there are only a few spots left. You need to pay at the time of booking so that we can organize food. We still need volunteers to bring deserts, if you can please let Polly know.

Club Closing Times for the Festive Season

The Club will close at 4pm on Friday 20 December 2019 and re-open on Monday 13 January 2020. Activity groups can continue to use the Club through this period by arrangement with the front office.

Scrabble

There is a Scrabble game every Monday afternoon in the Anne Murray Room from 2.00 – 4.00 pm. New players are welcome.

Bridge Classes

Classes for all levels have finished for the year and will re-start on Monday 3rd February 2020.

Age of eligibility lowered to 60 for Seniors Card

The ACT Government has announced that from July 2020 Canberrans aged 60 or over will be entitled to obtain a seniors card.

Minister for Seniors and Veterans Gordon Ramsay said that older Canberrans play a substantial role in the ACT community and that allowing a greater number of older Canberrans to access concessions would benefit older Canberrans and the community more broadly.

“Our community of older Canberrans has the highest rates of volunteering and caring nationally and are the healthiest and most educated in the country,” Minister Ramsay said.

“They bring significant resources through their years of experience to the social, community and economic life of our city.

“As our city continues to grow it’s important that we ensure that older Canberrans remain engaged in our community and that they have access to the appropriate services at a reasonable cost.

“Everyone benefits when the intrinsic worth of older people and their active involvement in the community, and as decision makers, is valued and fostered.

“First and foremost, the seniors card helps ease some cost of living pressures for our older Canberrans, but perhaps more importantly than a reduction in cost is how the scheme encourages social inclusion.

“I am proud that the ACT Government is working to ensure that our city continues to grow and develop and is shaped as an age-friendly city in which the infrastructure, culture and support services enable our seniors to lead rich, happy and healthy lives,” Minister Ramsay said.

The ACT Seniors Card provides –

• a 10 per cent discount on motor vehicle registration;
• 28 per cent for electric vehicle registration
• concessional public transport fares at peak times and free travel at off peak times; and
• a broad range of discounts from private businesses.

The Seniors Card also allows seniors to access reciprocal discounts in other States and Territories.

There are around 8,500 seniors in the ACT aged 60 and 61. To be eligible for the Card, seniors must not be in paid employment for more than 20 hours per week.

Program Manager at Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres.

Expression of interest –Volunteering to work with small children

The Lollipop Centre next door has lots of children in need of substitute grandparents. Would some of our members be interested in forming a small group of volunteer grandmas and/or grandpas to go and work with the children on a regular basis (e.g. once a week or a fortnight) on a day to suit. This might involve reading a story, doing craft, playing games etc.

If you are interested please give your name to Polly.

The Vegie Garden

Thanks to all those willing workers who built the wonderful vegepods. There some herbs and vegies planted. Feel free to take some leaves for your dinner. Polly has bags for you to carry your produce home. More will be planted shortly.

The gardeners meet most Fridays and plan to work on the remainder of the club surrounds. If interested in helping please leave your name with Polly.

SPIRAL PROGRAM – meets at the Uniting Church, Curtin

Spiral meets at the Uniting Church in Gillies Street, Curtin on Thursday mornings. Please arrive at or before 10.00. Speakers/ performers will commence at 10.10 and most will join us for the morning tea which will follow. A $1 contribution to costs is requested.

December 5 The Annual Spiral Christmas Lunch

A traditional lunch, starting at noon, to celebrate the end of another year where we have welcomed many new faces and been generously supported by so many people is this wonderful Canberra community. Normal service will resume on Thursday 6 February 2020.

We are people from varied backgrounds, occupations and origins. Mostly retired, ages range from 60 to 90+and there is no religious nature to our meetings. You are guaranteed a warm welcome. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me, Brett Yeats, on 6281 7684 or at yeatsb. Other contacts are Sue Driscoll on 0418 697 240 or at suedrisc and Angelika Dunker on 6281 4023 or 0491 120 556 or at angelika.dunker .

Fortnightly News 15/11/2019

Christmas Lunch

Christmas lunch will be on again this year on Monday 9th of December from 12 – 2pm. Numbers will be limited to 80 participants, cost is $5 per person. Food will mostly be provided by Café Ink with deserts provided by members. There will be table service. Please let Polly know if you are coming by 29 November. More information will be provided in subsequent newsletters.

Club Closing Times for the Festive Season

The Club will close at 4pm on Friday 20 December 2019 and re-open on Monday 13 January 2020. Activity groups can continue to use the Club through this period by arrangement with the front office.

Read More

Fortnightly News 25/10/2019

Parking Issues at the Club

It would be fair to say that we have some problems with parking at the Club, particularly on Wednesdays. We have lost our security person that used to remove wheel clamps. The Management Committee has considered these issues and will pursue the following strategies:

• Approach Urban Services for some assistance in line marking;
• Explore the cost of installing a boom gate entrance and exit system;
• Approach the Helenic Club to find another security person to assist with wheel clamping;
• Approach BLOC (the Albermarle and Alexander building rennovations team) for some assistance in stopping workers from parking in the Club’s car-park.

Melbourne Cup

It’s that time of year!

Our Melbourne Cup Party will be held on Tuesday 5th November 2019 commencing at 1.30 pm. Members and friends are invited to attend. We will provide some drinks. Please bring finger food to share. We will have a sweep or two. It would be great if you could wear a Melbourne Cup hat.

Christmas Lunch

Christmas lunch will be on again this year on Monday 9th of December from 12 – 2pm. Numbers will be limited to 80 participants. Food will mostly be provided by Café Ink with deserts provided by members. More information will be provided in subsequent newsletters.

Read More