From time to time, we organise morning tears, either for the whole membership or for new members. Thanks to Carole Meade, Dianne Parslow, Pam Griffith, Rhonda McPhee and Suzanne McNally for organising. Here are some of the morning teas over the past few years.
On a cold wintery morning on Thursday, 18th July, around 30 of our tutors gathered together to participate in a game to remember names (thanks to Denise) and then heard from Karen Redrup about the new database system that will be introduced next year. Members will be able to log on and see all their details including what classes and events they are enrolled in. After lots of questions, the tutors then enjoyed a morning tea. Thanks to the presenters and the caterers.
Another year, another successful Biggest Morning Tea. We raised $2,550 for Cancer Council ($1,000 more than last year) and listened to an interesting presentation by Alan and Fiona White from the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
Alan and Fiona provided information bags for each member and stressed the importance of regular prostate checks for all male family members. Their recommended websites include: the prostate zone, a touchy subject, connectAble therapies, prostate cancer foundation Australia, healthy male, passionfruit, continence foundation of Australia and mensLine Australia. A resource sheet and some other resources are now in the Old Courthouse library.
The homemade food provided by our U3A bakers was a hit, as usual. First prize, Wendy Price; second price, Kathryn Best; and third prize, Trisha Weller.
The raffle went well. This year we sold tickets to members outside of those attending on the day and thanks to all the tutors who made the effort to sell these tickets.
Thanks for Carol Seymour and Joan Denison, who collected most of the raffle prizes; Judy Vizzari, who created all the advertising posters; Alison Pieper, Anne Rohrer, Barbara Knell, Carol Seymour, Dianne Fitzmaurice, Helen Clark, Joan Denison, Kathy Allan, Sue Bailey, Sue Brenkovich, Terry Marston, Trisha Wellers and Val Harrop for baking; and Alison Pieper, Carmen Breust, Hector Hart, Jane Hammett, Julie Smith, Karenne Lack, Laraine Hussey, Marianne Peterson, Maureen Meaney and Sue Brenkovich for helping.
Thanks to all of our members who bought tickets.
[And, of course, thanks to Carole Meade for organising everything.]
On 13th September, we held our Footy morning tea. Christina Polatajko, forwards coach for the Carlton AFLW team spoke about her journey to becoming an AFLW coach team. U3A members of the Diamond Valley Big Band started off the morning by playing some of the AFL footy theme songs, with many of our members singing along.
We held a raffle with proceeds of $186 being donated to the Eltham Senior Women’s Football Team, who were appreciative of our donation. We would like to thank the following local businesses for donating raffle prizes: Baker’s Delight – Eltham, Grill’d – Eltham, Harvest Fresh Fruit Market, Patty Smith’s Healthy Burgers, Pieross Italian Cake and Pizza and Shane McVeigh. A special thank you to Joan Dennison, our U3A ISO chook creator, who donated Some ISO footy chooks for the raffle.
The morning would have not happened without the following people: Alison Pieper, Carmen Breust, Dennis Smith, Hector Hart, Jane Hammett, Judy Vizzari, Julie Smith, Karenne Lack, Laraine Hussey, Marianne Petersen, Sue Bailey, Sue Brenkovich and Wayne Meade.
On 11th July, around 20 tutors got together and discussed their experiences. The topics raised included health & safety, hearing difficulties, managing groups and wearing name tags. Plenty of advice was shared, especially the importance of wearing your name tags to help others remember names and also to ensure your emergency contact is readily available if needed.
The session ended with a morning tea provided by Barbara, Carol, Carole, Dianne, Kate, Kathy, Sandra, Sophie and Trisha.
Around 70 people attending our Biggest Morning Tea on 2nd June to enjoy a morning tea, a talk by David Kettle from the Cancer Council and a chance to socialise with other members. We raised a total of $1,500(!), comprising $800 from raffle ticket sales, $400 from online donations and $300 from a special raffle of ISO chook palings organised by Joan Denison. The raffle prize winners were Ankie Box, Denise Ferguson, Liz Byrne, Marg Schooneveldt and Sophie Skenderis.
Thanks to our bakers: Alison Pieper, Carol Seymour, Julie Smith, Kathy Allan, Laraine Hussey, Liz Richardson, 
Sophie Skenderis, Sue Bailey, Sue Brenkovich and Val Harrop. Thanks to those that helped out on the day: Carol Seymour, Dennis Smith, Hector Hart, Helen Clark, Julie Smith, Karenne Lack, Laraine Hussey, Marianne Petersen and Ruth Goddard. Thanks to the sponsors of our raffle: ACMI, Eltham Bookshop, Jonar in Diamond Creek, Kuzina in Eltham and Victorian Artist supplies in Eltham. And thanks to Carole Meade for organising everything.
On 22nd March, we held our latest morning tea for new members. There was a presentation, followed by questions & answers, followed by refreshments & chatting.
Thanks to everyone who baked or otherwise helped out, namely Anne Rohrer, Barbara Knell, Carol Seymour, Carole Meade, Dianne Parslow, Helen Clark, Robyn Goodrich, Rosemarie Jaeger, Sandra Barnes, Sandra Walls, Sue Brenkovich, Trisha Wells and Yvonne Torrico.
On Monday, 12th September, we held our footy morning tea at Eltham Central Pavilion. Around 50 people attended and, from the comments received, it is clear that everyone had a great time. Tony Shaw, ex Collingwood player and coach, was very entertaining and had the audience in the palm of his hand as he shared stories of his upbringing and his footy career. Tony is a local (Doreen) and kindly donated his time freely for this event, so thank you Tony!
We held a raffle with the proceeds of $170 being donated to the Eltham Junior Football club, who expressed thanks for our donation. Thank you to the Greensborough Hotel and Dan Murphy’s of Eltham for the prizes. Maureen Meaney was the lucky winner.
A huge thank you to everyone who attended the event and a special thank you to the volunteers who assisted with setting up, serving and then cleaning up at the end.
On 20th July, we held our second new members’ morning tea for 2022. Anyone who has joined us since November 2020 was eligible to come along and many did. As before, well done to Dianne Parslow and Pam Griffith for organising.
On 14th July, we held our second morning tea for 2022. Although it was only a relatively small gathering, those who attended were pleased with the chance to socialise, share stories of their heritage and sample some treats from other cultures. The Persian love cake and English eccles cakes deserve a special mention. Thanks to those members who sent their apologies for not attending. Nillumbik U3A member Gillian Essex shared some of her involvements with different cultures and helped create an awareness and appreciation of how multi-cultural Australia now is. Thanks to both Gillian and to our volunteer helpers!
Carole Meade and Suzanne McNally organised our 2022 Biggest Morning Tea on 1st June.
A huge thank you to:
We raised $715, much of it from our raffle.
A few members wanted us to tell you a little more about some of the services that the Cancer Council provides. They include cancer education programs, cancer support groups, one to one support program, counselling, wig service and financial, legal and work related advice. For information, support and to confirm eligibility for these services, contact the cancer nurse on 13 11 20 during working hours or email them. All discussions are, of course, confidential. If you would like to keep up to date with initiatives of the Cancer Council, you can subscribe to their e-newsletter.
On 18th May, we held our first post-Covid new members’ morning tea. Anyone who has joined us since November 2020 was eligible to come along and many did. The feedback was very positive. Well done to Dianne Parslow and Pam Griffith for organising.
Rhonda McPhee reports in on our Biggest Morning Tea event held on 26th May: "A huge thank you to everyone who attended the Biggest Morning Tea. Thank you as well to those unable to attend but who left donations at the office. We raised around $350. A special thank you to the helpers who assisted with setting up, serving food and then cleaning up at the end."
A number of us gathered in the Old Eltham Courthouse for a morning tea that was organised by Dianne Parslow to raise funds for the Cancer Council. It was part of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea initiative, during which thousands of organisations and individuals ran morning tea functions, all with the goal of gathering together over a cuppa and raising money to help beat the disease that affects so many people.
Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea is Cancer Council’s most popular fundraising event. Last year $12 million was raised to fund research, prevention and support services for those affected by cancer. Our event raised $308. Thanks to those who attended the event, who made donations to the cause, who provided the food, and who set up and packed up the venue.