Letter from the President
December 2011
Kia Ora,
Season's greetings to everyone.
I hope you all have a restful and yet stimulating summer break. Of course, the real stimulation commences with the International Festival of the Arts in February and then on March 20th we begin the 2012 Lecture Series. There will be an increase to 50 lectures for next year, ending on November 2nd. Thank you to all who sent us suggestions for the next series. It was a great response and has given us loads of thoughts and contacts. The Programme group met in early November and is now hard at work getting the speakers organized. Thank you especially to our own members who offered themselves as speakers. What a pleasure it will be to hear them.
At the Committee meeting on November 14th, a decision was made to limit the membership numbers to 875 financial members annually. People wishing to join will apply for membership as per usual (the form is on the website) and when a vacancy occurs, they will be contacted by the Membership Secretary. This together with the extra seating available should ensure that members are not turned away from well supported lectures – but, of course, there are no guarantees!
Many members have asked about donating to some of our speakers’ causes such as the Malaghan Institute and the McIndoe-Gillies centre. The committee has decided that apart from the book voucher provided for the speaker, Wellington City U3A will donate $100 to groups that qualify, a decision that will be made by the President, Secretary and Programme Convener.
The Study Groups have had a successful year and were able to celebrate at the Cocktail Party in late October. Our special thanks go to Bruce Garton, who has retired as convener of the Music Group after many years, and a warm welcome to Dilys Jones who has taken up the role. The music group is most stimulating and innovative. The writing group (Convener: John Bonallack) would like new members this year. If you have any queries about any groups or wish to start on, please contact Gaynor Stewart.
We now have two Life Members, an accolade to members who have given exceptional service to Wellington City U3A. These recipients no longer pay membership fees and entry fees. The Committee is to draw up guidelines for any future awards. Our congratulations this year were to Rodger Sparks who is the ultimate Mr. Fixit electronically and almost everything else. He spent the last 5 years on the committee organizing the Front of House volunteers and all the speakers. He was presented with a small certificate at the AGM and features in his frequent pose below.
A less favourable topic also occupied the Committee discussions. I would like to call it commitment. We had some stellar events during the October holiday, including trips to Efil Doog and the Island Bay Marine Centre. For both these events, people who had committed to come withdrew at the last minute. The coach to Efil Doog was therefore only part full but the cost was still the same. The shortfall was made up from U3A funds including the 14 uneaten lunches. I am sure that we all have competing interests and that booking in advance means making a choice. I suspect that future choices will be just as difficult but maybe not by coach.
Best wishes
Karen Palmer, President
