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.