Congratulations to Vice President Valerie Donlon who was presented with her 2021 Council of The Ageing (COTA) Senior Achiever Award at the combined 2021 and 2022 Victorian Senior of the Year Awards Ceremony at Government House in late October. The 2021 awards ceremony was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Valerie’s COTA award recognised her contribution as President, Vice President and Communications Co-ordinator at U3A Nunawading and for her volunteer work in the broader community over the past decade. She is pictured with the Governor of Victoria, Linda Dessau and The Hon. Colin Brooks, Victorian Government Minister for Ageing.
In congratulating award recipients, the Governor said, “Such a large percentage of senior Victorians choose to volunteer, and the annual economic impact of their contribution is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. But that goes nowhere near explaining the wider impact, the specific differences that they make, the support that they give, the wisdom, energy and enthusiasm that they bring to the many ways in which they give of their time and their skills.”
Valerie has always been a leader and a great team player within our organisation and has made a huge contribution to the growth and success of U3A Nunawading. She was supported at the awards ceremony by her family and friends, who all enjoyed a wonderful day at Government House.
Spring Festival
U3A Nunawading was well represented at the Whitehorse Spring Festival held at the Hub on October 23 with a marquee advertising our activities as well as many of our classes performing in Studios 1 and 2 and on the Deakin Stage. A big thank you to Frank Basedon and Paulina Chong for all their efforts in organising the day as well as those volunteers who were rostered on at the marquee.
Another successful social event
The Social Committee once again put on a great function on Monday 31 October in the form of a Melbourne Cup Eve afternoon tea, which turned out to be a fun day for all who attended. Thank you to all involved.
2023 enrolments
Monday 28 November is the day when enrolments for 2023 commence for current members and we can look forward to a great spread of classes for next year as well as a very interesting Summer School program, including some great excursions. Preparing for enrolments is a huge task so thank you to Elsie, Ken and their sub-committee for all their work.
Until next time,
Gary