On Sunday, 11th December, we partnered with both Allwood House and Hurstbridge Men’s Shed to create an afternoon of fun at Allwood House in Hurstbridge.

Our activities included:

• Our information marquee (see left hand photo below).
• Some live painting en plein air (aka in the open air) to entertain the adults.
• The Pie Face game to entertain the children (see right hand photo below).

The Pie Face game was a major success with the children but it needed someone to break the ice. Cue Leanne Ipsen. Watch a video of Leanne playing the Pie Face game.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to help with the event. This includes Anne Rohrer, Barbara Knell, Heather Cobham, Jeff Norfolk, Jenn Palmer, Judy Vizzari, Karen Redrup, Kay Bichard, Mark Connell, Pam Kemeys, Teresa Mancino and Violeta Gorgievska.

On 17th June, we had an information stall in Eltham Village. Thanks to Cath Bauman, Pam Kemeys, Trish Weller and Judy Vizarri for staffing the stall.

On Saturday, 2nd April, we had an information stall outside of Coles.

Diane Fitzmaurice, Giselle Buller, Kay Bichard, Laraine Hussey, Martin Winfield and Sabi Buehler staffed the stall; Janet Vague and Tony Lee provided the musical entertainment; Huguette De Rycke took the photos below; and Judy Vizzari organised everything.

Note that the two people in the lefthand photo – Sabi Buehler and Laraine Hussey – were our first ever President and Secretary, all the way back in 2008. Read Sabi’s article about the early years of Nillumbik U3A.

Here it is.

Thanks to Judy Vizzari for choosing, and then purchasing, the marquee.

If you ever want to use the marquee for a U3A event, contact the Office.

On 18th April, we had a stall at Eltham Farmers Market to tell interested members of the public about our activities and courses. Thanks to Cathy Romeo and Judy Vizzari for organising.

The photobomber in the right hand photo is called Marquisa D’Or.

We had a table at the 2020 Healthy and Active Ageing Expo at Eltham High School (first picture).

We were one of around 50 tables at the event (second picture).

And some of us took part in the belly dancing session (third picture)!

Thanks to Gail Clayton for organising. Thanks also to Alan Clayton, Barbara Owen, Colleen Gardner, Gayle Considine, Joy Barham, Kay Bichard, Laraine Hussey, Pam Kemeys, Rex Paine and Yvonne Torrico for staffing our table.

Although we didn’t have our own stall at this year’s Wattle Festival, some of our members manned the Council’s Positive Ageing stall. The picture right is of Gail Clayton and Sabi Buehler together with the Council’s Positive Ageing Officer, Katie Camilleri.

Roughly once every six months, we have an information stall in Eltham Village.

By Lesley Wing Jan

Did you know that it is ten years since Hurstbridge resident, Sabi Buehler, began the process of establishing Nillumbik U3A? She was joined by Laraine Hussey (who took on the role of Secretary), Colleen Gardener, Donna Kilgour, Doug Rutherford, Jill Holmes, John O’Connor, Suzanne Hay, and (a little later) Brian McLean. The first classes began in 2008 at the Community Centre in Hurstbridge.

To celebrate ten years of our organisation, we ran an information stall at the Hurstbridge Wattle Festival . The stall was set up in the Hurstbridge Community Hub.

This was the first outing for our new promotional video produced by Judy Vizzari (thanks, Judy!), which ran all day on a loop and showcased some of the courses on offer. We were able to display posters about our activities and chatted to the many visitors about our U3A.

We were determined to capture the interest of as many folk as possible so one brave, creative member (Gail Clayton) donned a sandwich board and eye-catching wig and wandered around the festival area. She certainly was noticed and she distributed our new brochure designed by Henry Haszler (thanks, Henry!).

At noon, we sang ‘happy birthday’ and a cake was cut. It was fitting to celebrate the birthday at Hurstbridge Hub because that was where the initial meeting to start Nillumbik U3A took place (then called Hurstbridge Community Centre).