October 2014 newsletter

Forthcoming Meetings 

Thursday 2rd October 2014 Main Meeting at Cleethorpes Memorial Hall. Annual General Meeting and Quiz 

Friday 24th October YAHR annual meeting in Doncaster

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Monday 27th October 2014 Committee Meeting From 2.00pm to 4.00pm at 97 Abbey Road, Grimsby, DN32 0HN

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Tuesday 28th October 2014,Lincs network AGM at Great Hale

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Thursday 6th November 2014 Main Meeting at Cleethorpes Memorial Hal from 2.00pm to 4.00pm Speaker; Steven Lovell on Tibet 

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Monday 17th November 2014 Group Leader/Coordinators’ meeting at Waltham Library from 10.00am to 12noon

Tuesday 25th November 2014 Committee Meeting from 2.00 to 4.00pm at 97 Abbey Road, Grimsby, DN32 0HN

Grimsby & Cleethorpes U3A Committee changes 2014/15 Committee members standing down:

Jill Maltby, Marj Dalby, Geoff Lenthall

Members (nominees) wishing to join Committee: Sissons, Janet Parratt, Frank Ward

Pauline Campbell, Margaret

Continuing Committee members: Chairman – John Wilkinson, Treasurer – Himanshu Ghadiali, Secretary – Anne Mann, Janet Cullum, Gill Clarke, Jenny Dutton, Christina Hanson, Anne Easterbrook

FESTIVE LUNCH - 8TH January 2015 at the Pelham Suite, Grimsby The lunch will include 3 courses + tea/coffee and will cost £18.50

There will be 3 choices for each course + a vegetarian choice.

Dates For 2015 Thursday 8th January 2015 Festive Lunch No Member’s Meeting Thursday 5th February 2015 Thursday 5th March 2015 Thursday 9th April 2015 (Second Thursday) Thursday 7th May 2015 Thursday 4th June 2015 Thursday 2nd July 2015 Thursday 6th August 2015 Thursday 3rd September 2015 Thursday 1st October 2015 (AGM) Thursday 5th November 2015 Thursday 3rd December 2015

If you would like to join us please put your name on the list – this will be situated on the Raffle Table at the General Meeting.

Luncheon Club The next Indian meal will be at Spice of Life on Monday 13th October at 12.30pm The meal will include Veg Pakora and Meat Samosa as starters. Chicken Makhani and Chicken Rogan Josh, Veg Bhuna, Pillow Rice and Nan as main meal. At £5.50 it is a great value for money.

We are changing from Third Tuesday to Third Wednesday at Seven Seas. One can have lamb on Wednesday, which was a preferred by some members.

At the Members Meeting register your name with Anne Mann. Later you can contact Himanshu on 01472 343474. If you are planning to attend regularly Himanshu will add you the the permanent list. You then cancel when you are unable to go.

October 2014

Chairman’s note Quiz for the Annual General Meeting There will be ten double tables (back to back) with ten chairs for ten members to be seated.

Each table will have three answer sheets with only one master copy. Answers are to be collected after all questions are complete. Each table will be named after a different month in the calendar, marking their team name.

Each question will be announced or read out from the stage and each question will be clarified after the last question of the quiz.

Each answer sheet will have the title of the calendar month for each table for team identification.

Please have a pen for writing down answers. ************We have booked dates for 2015 for the members meeting at the memorial hall. Except in April we will meet on the first Thursday, in April we will meet on 2 nd Thursday. All dates are published in this newsletter, please note them in your diary. Our Festive Lunch is being held on Thursday 8th January, hence there will not be a member’s meeting in January. ***********A group of members would like the return of the quarterly members magazine, which will be discussed at the committee meeting. This will be in addition to the monthly newsletter.**************Himanshu and I attended the national U3A AGM at Cirencester in the Costwalds. There were 300 hundred delegates at the event which was held at the University of Agriculture. Evening discussions with other delegates were very interesting, trying to resolve problems in groups. The total U3A membership is approaching one million members through out UK with the East midlands having second highest total membership per 100 people.

John Wilkinson Gill Clarke and Jenny Dutton are the strength of our U3A. Their non-assuming service in the kitchen is unparalleled. They contribute enormously to the economy of our organisation.

When we asked them both join us in various trainings, they came and actively participated without any reservation.

Gill was born in chesterfield and lived in Balbrough for 15 months, when her father was killed in a mining accident. She moved with her mother to Creswell and lived with her grandmother and two uncles. When she was 15, her future husband Edward came to live next door, but she did not know her future until she was 21.

In 1963 Gill moved to Donnington-on-Bain near Louth, with her mother, uncle and Edward.

Her uncle and Edward bought a nursery, which was in a rundown state

. With a lot of hard work, they turned it into a successful venture. Later in the year she and Edward started selling produce in Freeman Street market. In 1972 Julie was born.

Gill had stopped working to be at home with the baby. Several months later, Edward spoke of opportunity to buy a florist business in Cleethorpes. Gill wanted to extend her family, she was reluctant to embark in the new venture. But after some persuasion and support of her mother started at the shop in January 1973. She was novice at this new business. She did everything in order to master the business and develop her own working method.

Gill had her tonsils removed when she was seven years old, following which she was diagnosed with Epilepsy. This precluded her from driving. Around Julie’s birth she tailed off medication on her own.

She never had any further attacks, she was able to learn driving in 1974, making her more independent.

In 1978 they started a wholesale flower warehouse in the Granville Street, where we have held some Committee meetings and group coordinator’s meeting. A time from which she has many happy memories. Gill went to college in 1976, to learn about floristry. Unfortunately the course was more about history than business but the wonderful outcome of doing the course was that she met her best friend Jenny Dutton. Gill left her work to look after her ill husband in 1999, but he sadly did not survive his ailment for long. Gill had spent all her time working and did not have much time for a social life, so with Jenny she joined Gy & Clps flower club. They won numerous prizes at the flowers Club and at the Lincoln Show. She also learnt swimming at age of 50, and made friends, with whom she has lunch meeting every month.

She joined U3A four years ago and fairly soon become part of the committee. She is a member of the Mah-jong Group. Gill has been in Grimsby for last 36 years, and is an active member of community, where she attends the Baptist Church social group, and is part of the Rummy Club. She enjoys nature, including gardening and she has a small rescue dog, who she walks daily. In that process she has got to know her neighbours. She is really enjoying her retirement. Even though it was a hard life, she feels very proud of what she achieved. She feels that it was her hard work ethic that gave her the lifestyle she achieved, and alongside this she made numerous friends. She told me that we are never too old to learn new things.