At the January meeting of Gainsborough and District u3a, Roger Browne, a highly skilled musician, provided a thoroughly enjoyable hour that left everyone wanting more—despite having set off from Stockport at around 6.00am in challenging weather conditions.
His talk, The American Playbook, featured numerous musical examples, all played without a score, alongside an informative and humorous narrative. He explained the reason behind the rapid tempo of ragtime music – performers played faster to encourage more money to be placed in their collection hats. To demonstrate this, he performed The Maple Leaf Rag, increasing the tempo with each rendition.
Roger also shared that he had recently been approached to appear on Britain’s Got Talent. Given his age, he humorously remarked that it had taken them rather a long time to notice him!
The Annual General Meeting will take place in March.
The Thursday morning meetings are well worth attending, as both past and present Speaker Secretaries have provided a fantastic range of topics, with speakers of an exceptionally high standard.
All members are encouraged to attend the AGM, even if they do not usually go to the Thursday meetings. It offers an opportunity to experience the good fellowship within the group and to share ideas.
Feedback is particularly welcome on the new electronic newsletter, which was trialled in January. Technically, the trial was successful, with the vast majority of email addresses working as expected – though, naturally, a few issues arose.
It is also worth noting that all current committee members are willing to continue for another year, so members can attend the AGM without concern that they may be called upon to join – unless, of course, they wish to!