The NGV is the largest art gallery in Australia. This illustrated talk by Graham Ray, who is an erstwhile NGV Voluntary Guide, looked at a selection of works from the NGV, from different countries, and across different periods of time. The talk revealed the richness and diversity in the collection, and also some of the less well-known intriguing stories behind these works (Which work of art was stolen from the wall of the NGV? Which well-known artist has his artistic design work on the wrapping paper of lollies available in Coles?).

John Boothroyd talked about bluegrass music, a genre of American roots music that evolved in the 1940s by the ‘father of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe. The talk centred on how the music developed from early settlers from Britain and Ireland in the 18th century to the Appalachian region of America. They brought their musical traditions with them and their old ballads, love songs, instrumental and dance tunes lived on in their often isolated mountain communities over many years.

Bluegrass today enjoys a large following in America and elsewhere. Its down to earth feel, with its influences of folk, blues, Americana and old-time country music giving it wide appeal. It often features fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar and upright bass and close vocal harmonies.

John also played some examples of the music from recordings during the presentation.

John has been involved with old-time country music and bluegrass since the late 1960s, as teacher, performer and author.

Wiebke Wenzel, who works for North East Link, discussed two current major road projects that will transform the Greensborough to Rosanna area. The 6.5km North East Link tunnels from Watsonia to Bulleen will fix the missing link in our city’s freeway network, hopefully take 15,000 trucks off local roads a day and reduce travel times by up to 35 minutes. The M80 Ring Road Completion will upgrade the M80 Ring Road, connect to the new North East Link tunnels and move through-traffic under a new Grimshaw Street interchange.

As Les Miserables approached its 40th anniversary in the West End, Fiona Malcolm discussed what makes this show so popular and how has it changed since its first performance. She showed clips from different productions and discussed the phenomenon that is Les Mis.

On 29th November, Louise discussed her 2022 1,000 km walk from Pau in France to Santiago in Spain. She found it an interesting way to see Spain, meet different people, slow travel, immerse herself in the camino culture and community of non-judgement and gratitude, reflect on life and know herself better. She talked about what it means to be a pilgrim and to follow the pilgrim way.

The presentation was a bit of a travel diary, interspersed with some stories about getting lost, the kindness of strangers and being curious and adventurous.

Chris Durham shared how some of her experiences led to her searching for and finding answers.

Left with a damaged brain and body and crushed spirit and hope after a car accident, she searched for ways to get going again, and ways to help people with brain injury. She realised that, as a young child having spent time going on ‘thinking walks’ with her dad, these walks played a significant role in getting going again. This led to her searching for ways to empower students to think for themselves, through workshops at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School.

The experience of moving to Thailand in the late 1970s forced her to search for answers as to why the family of six were hit for six with drugs planted on them, children kidnapped and death threats. Was it all her fault? Epiphanies, answers and resolution showed that it is possible to find what we are looking for.

On 6th September, Philomena Holman gave a presentation on the Montmorency Asylum Seekers Support Group (MASSG). MASSG has been advocating for humane treatment of asylum seekers in Australia for the last 20 years. Their membership of around 200 people includes many Nillumbik residents. Philomena discussed: MASSG’s current campaigns and activities to support people still seeking official acceptance of their claims; their personal experiences of supporting individuals; and their experience of communicating with politicians, their successes & failures, with a few tips for others wanting to lobby.

On 9th August, Geoff Paine discussed various aspects of his working life.

As well as being one of the Eltham Councillors, Geoff currently works at BehaviourWorks at Monash University, helping explain behavioural science. Geoff has spent much of his life as an actor. He began his career on the TV show Neighbours in 1986, and then worked as an actor for decades in the film, theatre, TV and radio industries. He has written for stage and TV, worked as an event producer and facilitator.

The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s pre-eminent memorial to the service and sacrifice of Australian servicemen and women in conflicts and peacekeeping. On 7th June, Daryl Bolton discussed the Shrine’s heritage from its conception to the present day and included stories of the brave men and women that served during the conflict that was the First World War.

On 10th May, Guy Palmer gave a talk about getting the most out of Google Maps and, in so doing, illustrated some of the sorts of things that you can now do with your phone. Particular aspects that he covered included: controlling your phone by voice; controlling your car’s audiovisual system; searching for types of thing (e.g. nearby cafes that are open now); interacting with businesses (e.g. ringing them); creating multi-stop routes; saving routes; sharing your location with others; using maps whilst offline; creating your own maps; your history and timeline; and streetview.

On 29th March, Jim Connor explored the history of the Maroondah Aqueduct, why and how it was constructed, some of the technology utilised and how it supported the development of Melbourne.

On 15th February, Dianne shared the highlights and photos of her recent trip to South America and Antarctica. Dianne and her husband travelled to Quito and Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Lima (Peru), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Antarctica and Patagonia (southern Chile). Dianne’s main interest is the wide variety of animals and birds seen on the trip.

On 16th November, Professor David Ranson, a professor at both Monash Medical School and the La Trobe University Law School, took us behind the doors of the Melbourne mortuary and explained what goes on when a death is reported to the Coroner.

On 19th October, Nillumbik U3A member Cathy Guinness gave a talk about being a white woman in an Aboriginal world. For 40 years, Cathy has been the partner of a prominent Yorta Yorta man, Wayne Atkinson, as he has journeyed through the political upheavals of these years as a leader – putting Aboriginal voices into history, reclaiming ownership of Aboriginal heritage, the Native Title court cases, the campaign for joint management of national parks, and now the work to tell the truth about our past. Cathy has learned from Wayne what it is to be an Aboriginal activist, and she has come to understand about being white in an Aboriginal community.

On 24th August, Nick Szwed gave a talk entitled back to the USSR to a sellout crowd. The talk covered: the origin of Slavic peoples, the Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians; how they live today – where Nick’s parents were born; Nick’s parents’ journey from Belarus to Australia; the breakup of the USSR – a missed opportunity; the dictator of Belarus vs people wanting democracy; Kazakhstan and Ukraine; and Putin’s plan to go back to the USSR.

On 27th July, Nillumbik U3A member Brenda Fitzpatrick gave a talk to a packed audience about the many unlikely heroes that she has met in unlikely places during her work for an international humanitarian agency, writing and speaking about human rights – especially about women and girls in war – and reporting on humanitarian needs in places of conflict and disasters. Her book, Tactical Rape in War and Conflict (2016) was about the use of rape as a deliberate tactic of war and how this is a serious human rights issue that needs to be addressed as a threat to human and international security. Her more recent novel, Gwennie’s Girl (2019) was her first foray into fiction and used stories that she heard and experienced.

On Wednesday, 22nd June, Gabby Seymour, who is a physiotherapist based in Eltham, provided an educative and practical session on maintaining bone health as you age. She demonstrated practical balance exercises that you can do at home to maintain bone health, mobility, balance and prevent falls.

On Wednesday, 25th May, Guy Palmer gave a talk on social exclusion to a full house at Old Eltham Courthouse.

Download a copy of Guy’s slides

On Wednesday, 11th May, Brian Devenish gave a talk on worldwide scamming. One of his main suggestions was that you shouldn’t buy directly from social media.

On 16th February, Graham Parslow, who is the president of the Historical Radio Society of Australia, gave around 20 of us a presentation on 150 years of radio, from scientific curiosity to mature technology.

Radios from the 20th century were illustrated by examples from Graham’s collection of 600 radios. It is likely that you grew up at a time when radio was a major home entertainment and fondly recollect that radio and the times your family spent by it in the kitchen or lounge. Radios are now highly collectable for their beauty and their technology, with the cabinets reflecting the tastes of society spanning art-deco to modern minimalist.

On 17th November, a full house at Eltham Central Pavilion voted on the best painting of the last 150 years.

The eventual winner was Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s The luncheon of the boating party (1881).

The runner up was Frederick McCubbin’s The pioneer (1904).

The following painters were represented in the competition: Bazille, Bouguereau, Braque, Caillebotte, Cezanne, Chagall, Church, Dali, De Chirico, De Kooning, Degas, Derain, Dobell, Ernst, Gauguin, Gorky, Gris, Hamilton, Harris, Heysen, Hockney, Hopper, Johns, Kahlo, Kandinsky, Kinkade, Kirchner, Klee, Klimt, Leger, Lichtenstein, Lowry, Magritte, Manet, Marc, Matisse, McCubbin, Miro, Modigliani, Mondrian, Monet, Munch, Namatjira, Newman, Nolan, Nolde, O’Keefe, Palmer, Picasso, Pissarro, Pollock, Rauschenberg, Renoir, Richter, Robinson, Rockwell, Rothko, Rousseau, Schiele, Seurat, Shishkin, Sisley, Smart, Tanguy, Thiebaud, Toulouse-Lautrec, Turton, Van Gogh, Vlaminck, Warhol, Waterhouse, Whiteley and Wood.

On 15th September, Guy Palmer talked about 10 animals who, for genetic or other reasons, make for interesting life stories.

Click here to view/download a copy of Guy’s slides (pdf).

On 28th July, Louis Roller, from Monash University, gave a talk on Zoom about human smiles, their function and the various meanings given to different types of smiles.

Among humans, a smile expresses delight, sociability, happiness, joy or amusement. It is distinct from a similar, but usually involuntary, expression of anxiety known as a grimace.

Although cross-cultural studies have shown that smiling is a means of communication throughout the world, there are large differences among different cultures, religions and societies, with some using smiles to convey confusion or embarrassment.

Click here to view/download Louis’ slides (all 120 of them!).

On 11th May, U3A member June Rushton gave a talk about what it was like being the daughter of a lighthouse keeper, living variously at Bruny Island, Swan Island, Cape Sorrell, Wilsons Promontory, Cape Otway and Cape Nelson. Everyone who attended found it very interesting.

On 5th May, Louis Roller, from Monash University, gave a talk on music and well-being, investigating the effects of music on all sorts of conditions.

Click here to view/download Louis’ handout notes.

Click here to view/download Louis’ presentation.