Fortnightly News 13/10/2017

Woden Senior Concert and the Club 45th Anniversary Day!

Sunday 22 October at 1.30 pm

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

We’re on the Way

To Showcase our Club’s 45th Anniversary Day!

To all the Members of the Woden Seniors’ Club, we extend our Special Invitation for your attendance on the Sunday 22nd October, 2017, at 1.30pm for the 45th Anniversary of our Club.

The Woden Seniors’ Club will open its doors at 1.00pm for Members and Visitors to sign the 45th Anniversary Book, to collect the Concert Programme, to place any donations of ‘Afternoon Tea Goodies’ in the dining area of Hall 1 and to kindly donate a gold coin for the afternoon’s entertainment.

The Anniversary Celebrations will officially begin at 1.30pm, with our President, Mr Paul McGlew, who will welcome all the Guests and will also inform folk of the afternoon’s special focus – to Showcase the Talents and Skills of our Club’s Seniors.

This will be in two areas:

Hall 1: To provide the Entertainment by our Talented Performers –

Recorder Group (with Margaret Wright),

Woden Senior Singers (with Gail Giuliano),

Solo Singer (Gail Giuliano),

Tuesday Bridge Group Singers,

Cha Cha Dancing (Ian Vickers and Carla Di Franco)

Argentine Tango (Paul McGlew and Magdalena Mayer)

Hall 2 and the Anne Murray Room: To display the Artistic Skills of the Water Colour Group (with Anne Baker),

The Beading Group (with Jennifer Pratten),

The Stitchers Group (with Doreen McGregor),

At the Concert’s conclusion, the Anniversary Cake will be officially cut by our President, to be accompanied by “Happy Birthday” singing and three cheers and Afternnon Tea will then be served.

Looking forward to celebrating the special occasion with our Members and Guests!

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Fortnightly News 29/9/2017

Annual General Meeting

A well-attended Annual General Meeting was held on Monday 18 September. The following members were elected to the Management Committee.

Supervised Bridge – Mondays 1:30-3:30pm

These sessions will commence on 9th October. There will be a short lesson on a specific topic followed by a relaxed duplicate session where assistance may be sought.

Book Fair 2018

The Committee has decided to hold another Book Fair. The 2018 Book Fair will be from 10 to 12 August.

Preparations are already underway. You may have noticed that all the boxes of fiction that were stacked up in the Dining Area have been put away for the 2018 Book Fair. Before they were put away they were re-sorted and re-packed by Judy B, Agatha and Jocelyn – a big task done by these amazing and hard working women.

We will need more volunteers to help prepare the books as the donations come in. So watch this space if you are interested.

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Fortnightly News 15/9/2017

Annual General Meeting

The Woden Seniors Club 2017 Annual General Meeting will be held in Hall 1, at 12 noon on Monday 18 September 2017. A light lunch of sandwiches, cakes and tea/coffee will be provided after the meeting. Please come along to the meeting.

At the AGM we are proposing a suite of by-laws for consideration by members. Our aim is to provide greater clarity in a number of areas of activity within the Club. There is a copy of the proposed by-laws posted on the notice board in the entrance to the Club and also at the end of this newsletter.

New iPad course – Photos

This course will run over two sessions from 10 am to 12 noon on Wednesday 1 November and Wednesday 8 November.

It is suitable for those who can use an iPad but know very little about the camera in an iPad. The main areas to cover will be:

• Camera settings and buttons.
• Practice at taking photos.
• The Photo App and how the photos are organised.
• Creating Albums & selecting photos
• Sharing photos including emailing
• Editing photos
• Making & viewing videos
• Photo Booth & Facetime

If you would like to enrol send an email message to the office (admin@wodenseniors.org.au). There will be six places.

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Fortnightly News 1/9/2017

Annual General Meeting

The Woden Seniors Club 2017 Annual General Meeting will be held in Hall 1, at 12 noon on Monday 18 September 2017. A light lunch of sandwiches, cakes and tea/coffee will be provided after the meeting. Please come along to the meeting.

Upcoming Club Events

The following is a list of social events planned for the Club:

22 October 2017 – Celebration of the Club’s 45th Anniversary with our Seniors Concert which was so popular last year

7 November 2017 – Melbourne Cup PARTY!!

10 November 2017 – Ms Estelle Muspratt will talk on War Graves, etc, at 10.00-12.00 in the Anne Murray Room. This will be followed by a break for coffee/tea and cake, then there will be time for questions.

December – Christmas Celebration.

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Fortnightly News 18/8/2017

2017 Big Book Fair

The BIG Book Fair held last weekend was a resounding success raising $22,000 for the Club. As a self-funded organisation, fund raising is important and these funds will benefit all members as it enables us to continue to maintain and improve the Club facilities.

We had a huge amount of books to sell and as expected there are plenty left over. Most of the leftovers will go to Lifeline, who are very happy to collect them. Some have gone to the Canberra Hospital patient library and some to the Uniting Church Yarralumla for a Spinal ACT book-stall this weekend.

Left over magazines are available for Members to take for free. You may like to give them to friends, family, or organisations e.g. medical centres – whoever may appreciate them. They are on the shelves in the veranda – so have a look and take any you like.

The success of such an event depends on the support of a large number of members. The whole Club, as a self-funded organisation, benefits from the Book Fair.

Special thanks go to:

• Judy Bartlett for a mammoth effort in undertaking the overall organisation of the books on sale.
• The fantastic team members that spent many hours every week over the last year cleaning, sorting and packing books. These teams lead by Judy Bartlett operated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and were responsible for the high quality of the books offered.
• The Special Events Committee members who organised the cafe lead by Cindy McMillan, Lutana McLeod and Sue Allen.
• The welcome team lead by Jennifer Pratten who collected entry donations and handed out information.
• Don Puttick and his helpers on the Checkout.
• Chris Mackay who managed Hall 1 and all her helpers.
• Linda Elford who managed Hall 2 and all her helpers.
• Des Davies and the table tennis group for moving hundreds of boxes.
• The members who helped set up, fill tables during the event and pack up.
• Ann Baker and the WOWs (Watercolours on Wednesdays group) for the beautiful cards, bookmarks and display of paintings.
• The family of members who ‘voluntold’ or were cajoled into helping.
• Polly for all her assistance.
• Judy Henderson for the publicity.
• Activity groups for putting up with the disruption just before and after the event.
• The generous community that donated books, and
• Last but not least all who came and bought the books and paintings.

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Fortnightly News 4/8/2017

2017 Big Book Fair, 11 – 13 August 2017

Help publicise the Book Fair

Woden Seniors BIG Book Fair

10 am to 4 pm

11 to 13 August 2017

One week to go to the BIG Book Fair

Please continue to tell as many people as possible about the Book Fair. We have many more books than previous years so it is going to be a bumper event. Now we need plenty of customers!

Book Fair Food

Volunteers are needed to donate food (cakes, sandwiches & pies etc) for the Book Fair.

Volunteers are also needed to sell food in kitchen verandah area. There will be three shifts during the Book Fair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,

10.00 am to 12.00 pm

12.00 pm to 2.00 pm

2.0 pm to 4.00 pm.

Would volunteers please give their names to Polly

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Fortnightly News 21/7/2017

Bridge Lessons

A new series of Bridge lessons began on Monday 17 July; beginners at 1:30pm; Improvers at 2pm. It’s not too late to join up.

Soup Kitchen

Sue Allen has the soup kitchen is up and running on Wednesdays. Enjoy a choice of two soups and bread for $5 in the Club or pick-up and take home for later. If you would like to help out with cooking or serving please let Sue know.

Dr Thornber’s Talk on “Animal Welfare”

On Friday, 14th July, an appreciative audience listened to an interesting and informative talk given by Dr Peter Thornber, Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics at the University of Queensland and President of the Commonwealth Veterinary Association. He spoke about the change in community attitudes from one protecting animals to thinking of their welfare, and their quality of life. He spoke in detail of Australia’s Animal Welfare Strategy Plan and its implementation. This is a huge plan because it has to cover the health and wellbeing of all creatures – land, water and air. Other countries have used this as a model for theirs.

Dr Thornber related many of his fascinating experiences overseas, illustrating them with photos. Questions were welcomed in the relaxed atmosphere, and led to a free exchange of experiences and opinions. It was easy to see his passionate involvement in his work. He now works for the Donkey Sanctuary in Devon, England, but also spends much of his time helping various countries mainly in Africa.

We thoroughly enjoyed his talk and his willingness to answer questions. Also he has kindly allowed us to put his PowerPoint presentation on the website for anyone to access. Do try it. Click here for a direct link to the presentation.

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Fortnightly News 7/7/2017

Bridge Lessons

A new series of Bridge lessons commence on Monday 17 July; beginners at 1:30pm; Improvers at 2pm.

New Art Display in the Club Foyer

The Wednesday morning art group has mounted a new exhibition of their work in the Club’s foyer and Anne Murray room, this exhibition features fur, fruit and flowers.

Soup Kitchen

Sue Allen has the soup kitchen is up and running on Wednesdays. Enjoy a choice of two soups and bread for $5 in the Club or pick-up and take home for later. If you would like to help out with cooking or serving please let Sue know.

Woden Seniors Book Club

The Book Club will meet in the Anne Murray Room on Friday 28 July to discuss ‘Price of Salt’ by Patricia Highsmith.

Friday 28 July: Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith;

Friday 25 August: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.

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Fortnightly News 23/6/2017

Bridge Lessons

A new series of Bridge lessons commence on Monday 17 July; beginners at 1:30pm; Improvers at 2pm.

New Art Display in the Club Foyer

The Wednesday morning art group has mounted a new exhibition of their work in the Club’s foyer and Anne Murray room, this exhibition features fur, fruit and flowers.

The Canberra Chordsmen – Family and Friends Concert

For the culmination of our Sing With Us! new members programme, the Canberra Chordsmen invite Club members to join them for a free performance of four part harmony singing featuring the new singers in their first public performance with the Canberra Chordsmen.

Doors open at 7:45pm and the show runs from 8 – 9pm and includes performances by:

• Canberra Chordsmen chorus;
• Corduroys men’s quartet;
• Fresh Notes men’s quartet;
• UMQ mixed quartet.

When: Thursday 6th July, 8 – 9pm

Where: Woden Seniors Club, Hall 1

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Fortnightly News 9/6/2017

ACT Budget for Seniors

There is some good news in the ACT Budget for Seniors in the Woden area:

• free off-peak bus travel for seniors;
• funding to design a nurse led walk- in Centre in Weston;
• expansion of the Woden Library.

Soup Kitchen

Sue Allen has the soup kitchen is up and running on Wednesdays only at this stage. Choice of two soups and bread for $5. If you would like to help out with cooking or serving please let Sue know.

Funding for the Club

You may have seen a recent article in the Canberra Times reporting my comments on elements of the ACT Budget, specifically in relation to the lack of regular ACT Government funding for the Seniors Clubs in Canberra.

The Woden Seniors Club is primarily funded by members through activity fees, fundraising and ad hoc hiring of rooms and to a lesser extent car parking spaces to other groups.

The ACT Government provides ad-hoc grants for specific purposes, for example the new chairs we bought recently, this funding however represents less than 2% of our annual turnover. When we have approached the ACT Government for a regular supplement to our funding, the response has been to approach the local Licensed Clubs for funds from their poker machine revenue.

The Woden Seniors Club is registered as a Charity for Taxations purposes which means that any donations made to the Club are tax deductible.

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