THE recent annual general meeting of Bathurst University of the Third Age saw a changing of the guard with the retirements of longstanding leaders Sue Doolan and Judy Pederson.
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After serving on the committee for over 10 years, including two terms as president, Sue has stepped aside due to family commitments.
During her term as president, our organisation has grown enormously, with membership increasing from 200 in 2007 to the present enrolment of 480.
Judy served on the committee for 13 years and had been the secretary for many years.
Clearly the departure of these two stalwarts left large vacancies to be filled.
Fortunately, experienced incoming president Lindsay Cox along with vice president Pixie Lincoln, secretary Susan Lasky and treasurer Andrew Wells have already indicated they are an executive up to the task, heading a committee of new and old with plenty of enthusiasm.
New term ready to go
TERM two of Bathurst U3A’s 2017 program commences on May 1, 2017, with over 40 varied programs to stimulate mind, body and spirit.
New courses have been added to the existing program, including two woodcraft courses which partner with the Central Tablelands Woodcraft Inc who will offer training at their wonderful facility in Dorman Place for woodwork, and Bathurst Seymour Centre who have made their Men’s Shed available to us for wood carving.
Partnering with these wonderful organisations provides networking opportunities for us all.
Another new program is Memorable Movies, with specially selected films to be shown on a medium-biggish screen. Movies such as Places In The Heart, starring Sally Field and Danny Glover, and the more recent Withnail And I, starring Richard E Grant, will be screened.
These are thought-provoking movies that generate discussion and stay with you for quite a while.
Something for everyone
TO join U3A you have to be aged over 50 years, and the annual membership fee is just $30, which allows you to join in as many activities as you wish, depending on class vacancies. It’s that simple.
The program of courses offered by Bathurst U3A caters for a wide range of interests and tastes.
You can have fun getting fit with yoga, tai chi, Flex-it and modern dance groups, or for a different approach, there are opportunities to learn to play lawn bowls or table tennis to get fit, have fun and learn a new skill.
(Most people who are new to table tennis initially spend more time and energy picking up the ball than actually hitting it, but never mind, it’s all good exercise and you soon get the hang of it.)
Classes to exercise the brain include Cryptic Crossword Solving, chess (with coffee afterwards), bridge, scrabble, mah jong, philosophy, current affairs, various book clubs and language courses, to name a few.
Geocaching provides both physical and mental challenges and has proved to be very popular with members.
Of course, U3A offers many artistic opportunities including Art Attack, various recorder groups, Playing Shakespeare, a number of craft classes, writing groups and a singing group.
Members of the Bathurst U3A writing class, Getting It All Down, have published two volumes of members’ life stories, including their journeys to Bathurst.
The first collection was read over the airwaves from Community Radio 2MCE in 2015 and 2016, and proved very popular with audiences.
Both volumes of Getting It All Down are available for purchase at Books Plus in Howick Street, Bathurst.
