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WELCOME TO THE ENDEAVOUR NEWSPAGE

Have a look what is happening in the Southern Region of Sydney U3A !

FIFTH TUESDAY OCCASIONAL LECTURE

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The AGM of U3A Endeavour (Southern) Region was held on 12th February 2010 at Sutherland United Services Club.

Bill Leach, the President, addressed the well-attended meeting . He took the opportunity to thank everybody for their contribution in the past year, especially the Committee Members who resigned from their positions. He recounted the highlights of 2009, among them Sydney U3A’s 21st Birthday Conference, our own region’s 20th Anniversary Luncheon and the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Award for Dorothy Clarke.

The course leaders present gave a lively account of their groups’ endeavours. Various discussion groups, music, literature, history, poetry, film classes were represented – not to forget the intrepid armchair travellers.

The Returning Officer, Bill Nay, declared all positions vacant and the new U3A Endeavour (Southern) Region Committee was duly elected. The members are –

·         Bill Leach - President

·         Jacki Hallahan - Vice President

·         Denis Miller - Treasurer

·         Ted Watson – Course Co-ordinator and representative to the Cronulla School of Arts

·         Elisabeth Peters – Publicity Officer and Web Editor

·         Sam Adams, Jack Bell, Nan Bennett, Dorothy Clarke, Frank Daniel, Helen Hall, John Hall

              (Committee Members)




ENDEAVOUR COMMITTEE MEETING

The next meeting of the Endeavour Committee has been scheduled for Friday 9th April 2010, at the Supper Room of the Cronulla School of Arts, at 9.30 am.

As usual, all members are most welcome to attend.


OUR VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

Our Committee Member and Publicity Officer, Dorothy Clarke, was presented with the Volunteer of the Year Award for the Southern Sydney region at the Volunteer Expo at Hurstville on 22nd October 2009. This award, recognizing Dorothy's involvement in many community organizations, caught her completely by surprise. She was also invited to attend the State Award Ceremony at Parliament House, Sydney, where the NSW award winners were announced and honoured.  

Dorothy Clarke is also featured under the heading "Interesting Members".

To read more about this remarkable lady, click here.

A CELEBRITY AMONG US

Many of you have long known what your web editor stumbled on when reading the ‘The Leader’ in early October.

Mary Small, who leads the popular “Armchair Travellers” class, is a well known author, with books of various genres to her credit. While she is perhaps best known for Tracey Mc Bean’s Stretching Machine, which was turned into a children’s television series, Mary has also written a number of books in co-operation with the Anzac Day Commemoration Committee.

It does not stop there; she has penned books with an environmental theme, books about horses (a childhood obsession of hers), and picture books for kids.

To call Mary an established writer would be an understatement. She started writing at the tender age of seven and had her first book, A Bear in my Bedroom, published in 1976.

By this time she had migrated from Plymouth in England to Australia and travelled widely in her new home country, finding ideas for new books along the way. Mary feels the 10 Pounds for her passage to Australia were the best value for money she has ever spent. Her readers surely feel they got an even better return for the investment.

Although some of her titles are out of print now, they can still be found on the library shelves. Mary has the following advice for other aspiring writers: Don’t be discouraged if a publisher knocks you back; re-think your story and try again!

Mary Small’s latest book Seek! is all about the tracker dogs in the Vietnam War, packed with background history and photos. It was launched on Saturday, 21st November, at the Sutherland Shire Historical Society (see photos above).

Not content to rest on her laurels, she is in the process of self-publishing Lennie’s Ride , the story of a 9-year old Gippsland boy, Lennie Gwyther, who was determined to witness the opening of the Harbour Bridge, and rode 6oo miles on his pony ‘Ginger Mick’ to fulfil his dream.

Amazingly, the hero’s sister, Beryl Ferrier, linked up with Mary, providing enthusiastic support. Beryl, by the way, is a member of Coolangatta U3A. Another U3A friend, Margaret Knowlden from St. Ives, has joined the team to work on the lay-out of the book.

Mary Small and her band of supporters expect Lennie’s Ride to be available early next year. 

Your friends from U3A Endeavour (Southern) Region wish you continued success, Mary! 



If you wish to make a suggestion, provide feedback or supply material for this website, please contact Liz Peters on heinzliz(at)optusnet.com.au or phone 9523 3743.

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