Welcome to the season of colds and sniffles. Keep an eye out for when the flu jabs are available and if you regularly have them, make use of the service. The U3A is a national organisation, with branches all over the country. The branch in Retford has been running nine years and plans are already being put together for their tenth anniversary, which will be held next August. Some ideas are more likely than others, a Pimms and Strawberry tea or even sending chairman Chris Clifford up in an aeroplane and getting him to do a parachute jump, he wouldn’t be on his own of course, he would want his vice-chairman with him.
Some ideas are better than others. However, if you can think of anything you think would appeal to the membership please let Brenda Wilson or Sue Ross know, as they have formed a little sub-committee to look at ideas.
It maybe you already have friends who go along to U3A and are members of an interest group, and the committee, at a recent meeting, issued an open invitation for non-members to visit as a guest, any of the interest groups and you will be made welcome.
The three history groups, Local, Family and Military are all popular and will probably be joined by another history group, looking at Social History. Keep an eye on these pages for more information, but if you are interested in becoming a member of Retford’s U3A do have a look at their website.
The U3A have started their autumn series of monthly general meetings at The Well Baptist Church in Retford. These meetings take place on the fourth Thursday of each month. Usually people start arriving around 1.00pm and the formal meeting starts around 1.30pm. In the upstairs room of The Well, you will find representatives of some of the interest groups, and a trip up the stairs is always useful.
The speaker this month is scheduled to be Phillip Caine, and he will be giving an interesting talk entitled, ‘From Barrow to Bagdad’.
Please remember the U3A is a national organisation with other 1,000 branches in the UK. The ethos of the U3A, which stands for The University of the Third Age, is very simple. They try to keep themselves active in body and mind, learning from each other, with shared knowledge and experiences. If you want to know more about the Retford U3A, have a look at the comprehensive website, or contact the membership secretary, Paul Bacon at membership@retford-u3a.org.uk or 01427 880502 for more details.