Newsletter

From the Chairman

At our November meeting, Michael Boyes was our speaker and his subject was .A Victorian Rector and Nine Old Maids. Soon after retirement, he had been asked to write a short history to celebrate the centenary of a primary school in Little Rissington. This had led to his detailed investigations of local Cotswold history and three books. He gave us a fascinating insight into the lives and social customs of people at that time. Oh, by the way, the nine old maids were his nine unmarried daughters, characters in their own rights.

Our December meeting was something completely different, as the punningly entitled "Blitz and Peaces" provided our Christmas entertainment. They performed a splendid range of Second World War songs which were from before my time. The amount of audience participation perhaps suggested that some of our members remembered the last war. Perhaps we‘d all heard them on "Dad‘s Army". Thanks are due to those who organised and served mince pies and non-alcoholic wine during the interval.

We are organising two visits in 2012. The first is to the Malvern Spring Flower show on Friday May 11th. Details are available on the form included with this newsletter and Jane Davis will be delighted to take your booking.

2012 sees the end of 30p charges for attending group meetings, and this makes our U3A even better value for money. At the same time, please note that groups are self-supporting in the sense that they will charge group members for refreshments, room hire etc.

As I was new to Cirencester U3A when I became chairman last April, I‘ve been grateful to Bob Davis for staying on as vice-chairman for one year and providing help and continuity. If anyone would like to volunteer to be vice-chairman for the next two years and perhaps then become chairman, I‘d be delighted to hear from him or her.

Sandra Coleman is currently our overall groups coordinator and I‘m grateful to her for all she has done in this role. Sandra is unable to continue in this role after our April AGM. A volunteer to take over this role would also be very welcome, especially as the subject groups are a key part of our U3A. If you‘d like to know what‘s involved, please ask Sandra or me.

WELCOME! 
We are delighted to welcome a further 16 new members this month

Forthcoming meetings -

January 17th - New Year Lunch at the Crown of Crucis)

February 21st - Gloucestershire Pub Signs - Angela Panrucker.

March 20th - Bletchley Park & Cirencester U3A 20th Anniversary Celebration. N.B. Starts at 2p.m.

Meetings held in the Ashcroft Centre, at 2.30 pm on the third Tuesday of the month unless otherwise stated.