Attending the Awards Ceremony to support Ann and Brian were Committee of Management members (from left) Lindsay Glen, Colin Carter, Valerie Donlon, Elsie Mutton and Ken Briscoe.
Congratulations to Ann and Brian Ruck and Helen Smith who were recently recognised for their outstanding voluntary efforts with a 2022 Deakin Community Award. They were nominated by the U3A Nunawading Committee of Management on behalf of members for their highly valued contribution to the organisation.
Ann’s passion for French was infectious
Ann Ruck volunteered as a Class Leader at U3A Nunawading for over 20 years sharing her love of the French language and culture with hundreds of members over that time.
Having lived in France as a teenager, and loving all things French, Ann joined a French language Conversation Class. Demand for the French courses escalated, so in 2000, Ann took on the leadership of a class that would be suitable for beginners to move into after their first year as they progressed from a basic understanding of the French language.
As member interest in French continued to grow, Ann took on two more classes at a slightly higher level, whilst still enrolled in an advanced class to further her own level of experience, and doing classes aimed at full-time French teachers to enhance her skills and professional development.
In addition to her teaching Ann also spent many hours promoting U3A at events and festivals before she retired in 2020.
Brian – master of many talents
Brian retired from full-time work in 2000 and joined U3A Nunawading as his wife Ann was already involved in the organisation.
He has led many classes including French for Beginners; Cooking for Men; Charles Dickens; and Clarinet and other brass instruments, which turned into an 18-piece swing band. In 2012, Brian left the swing band to start a small six-piece traditional jazz band known as The Silver Bell Jazz Band and they played at regional festivals, local fetes, retirement villages and aged care homes. By 2017, Brian was leading a Jazz Improvisation class which finished in 2020, when COVID-19 made it impossible to continue.
Over the years, Brian also taught various topics during summer schools.
In addition to Brian’s outstanding contribution to U3A, he was a ‘fill-in presenter’ at the community radio station 3MDR and now produces a one-hour weekly segment of music, mostly classical, but with a sprinkling of traditional jazz and poetry.
Helen’s savvy technical expertise
Helen Smith joined U3A Nunawading more than five years ago following her retirement from a career in Information Technology.
Helen has conducted classes on various software packages, shown members how to get the best out of their hand-held devices, and most importantly, provided education about online safety.
With the onset of lockdowns in 2020, Helen joined U3A Network Victoria’s Zoom Mentors group to train volunteers at many other U3As on how to use Zoom so that they could continue to run their classes online. She also taught U3A Nunawading members how to participate in Zoom classes.
In addition to her teaching duties, Helen took over the role of U3A Nunawading webmaster in January 2017 and helped the organisation migrate to a more sophisticated and user-friendly website and move its member communications, including the monthly newsletter, online in 2019, which was an enormous asset during Melbourne’s lockdowns.
