Minutes of Monthly Meeting 4th December 2017

University of the Third Age Moraira-Teulada
Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on 4th December 2017
at the Salon G.L. Teulada at 10:30

It is confirmed that the President and Secretary attended this General Meeting as voted in at the Meeting on 6th March 2017.

John Hopwood welcomed everybody to the Meeting and confirmed the usual Security checks had been completed, advised the emergency procedures and asked for all mobile phones to be switched off.

David Haxon, the Vice President, read the synopsis of the minutes of the Meeting held on 6th November 2017. The full minutes had been posted on the website and were proposed by Ray Guise-Smith and seconded by Ian Brown.

President’s Address:
John said Christmas was fast approaching, a time for all to eat and drink, sometimes to excess, without reproach from wives for doing so and for wives to spend money without complaint from husbands for reducing the Bank balance. John explained that the quiz, organised by Frank and Jenny Lee, would be marked by members as Frank read out the answers, before the Ukulele Group played and the raffle was drawn.

Reports:
Travel: Carol Mantle said there were still places on the day trip to Valencia on 13th December. In 2018 there are day trips planned – to Ikea in Murcia, to Oceanographic in Valencia, to Shopping in Elche and to the Ducal Palace in Gandia. Overnight trips in 2018 include – Madrid for 4 days, Cordoba and Granada for 3 days, Cofrentes for 3 days, Galicia for 8 days and in 2019 a trip to New Zealand for 42 days. Details of all these trips and others can be found on the display boards at the Monthly Meetings and on the website.

Treasurer: Carin Derksen said at the moment there was a total of € 18.191,83 and after income and expenses the balance stood at €19.300,26. However, after further expenses to be paid before the January Meeting, the balance would reduce drastically. Rona Hurst asked for an explanation of the figures, which Carin was able to clarify. The report will be put on the Website.
John advised that the Committee had agreed to recommend the fees for 2018, and that this now required the sanction of the Members – Renewals up to and including the 1st March 2018 to be €5:00, however, after March the renewal fee would be €10:00. New Members fee to be €10:00. This was proposed by Colin McNae, seconded by Patricia Adams and carried unanimously by a show of hands from the U3A Members present.

Group Coordinator: Prue Jackson said looking back over the year, there were four new groups – a second Solos Amigos led by Sheran Williams, Egyptology led by David Rohl, Fine Art Printmaking led by Phil Sims and Modern Sequence Dancing led by John Pittaway. The proposed two new music Groups – Folk/pop Music and Live Music, had not received enough interest to really take off. The Golden Oldies Band were no longer part of the U3A, therefore no longer a Group. Prue took the opportunity to thank the Band and Group Leader John Hopwood for all the entertainment over the years as well as the Charity performances. The new Ukulele group was doing very well and now had 30 members, some of them would be playing at the end of the meeting. New leaders for the film group – Ian Brown and Trevor Kemp, Healthy Walking Group – Brian Cummins, Cribbage Group – Graham Foot and The Quiz Group – Frank and Jenny Lee. There were now 60 Groups, including Associate Groups and a new Deputy Group Coordinator – Elaine Ross. Prue thanked all the group leaders for all their hard work and thanks goes to Piotr for looking after the bookings for the room and La Senieta.
David Haxon presented John Hopwood with a voucher for his favourite Restaurant, as thanks for having been the Group Leader of GOMG; this was followed by a round of applause from all the Members.

Members/Committee Liaison: Prue had nothing to report.

Cultural Arts Events: John said how pleased he was that Hugh Stewart had now recovered from his difficult health problems and a round of applause followed from the Members. Beverly S gave information on the many events in December which included Afternoon Tea followed by Christmas Carols at la Ermita San Josep, La Fustera on 4th December, The Annual Christmas Concert by Montgo Chorale at the Loreto Church, Javea Port (known as the Fisherman´s Church) on 10th December and The Carol Service at the Teulada Church on 14th December. Full details and additional information and events can be found on the website.

John thanked the people looking after the sound equipment for the meeting, especially as some leads had gone missing and they had to purchase replacements before they could set up the system today.
Any Other Business: Laura Hillstead asked to speak to the Members, she gave a big thank you to all U3A Members for the new equipment purchased and donated to the Ambulance Services – A cover for the defibrillator and vacuum used to treat people who had difficulty breathing after an accident. Laura then presented John with a framed certificate to congratulate the U3A, inscribed – ´The Town Hall of Teulada awards this Certificate of Appreciation to U3A Moraira-Teulada 4th December 2017 in recognition of the amazing achievement of reaching and surpassing the 2,000 Members mark! Congratulations and keep up the great work!´ Signed by the Mayor, Carlos Linares Benon and The Councillor for International Residents, Laura Hillstead.

Laura also gave the U3A Members some traditional Spanish cakes, one made with almonds and one with chocolate. Rosa from the Kitchens of the Salon brought out another, iced in blue and yellow, piped with ¡felizidades U3A! +2000. This was later cut and available to all Members to enjoy.

Quiz: Frank Lee gave the answers to the quiz, each member marking their own sheets, twenty questions in all. No-one had 20 or 19 correct answers. Sue McNae and Raymond Hodson each had 18 correct answers so Frank asked a tie breaker. Raymond Hodson’s answer was the nearest to the correct one, therefore Sue McNae came in second place. Eileen Haxon presented Raymond with 1st prize and Sue with 2nd prize.

The Ukulele Group played several numbers, some with audience participation. A good sing song was had by all, a fun way to end the year of U3A Monthly Meetings. John thanked Roger Royce who had set up the group and then helped people to learn or improve playing the Ukulele.
The raffle was then drawn, the winning ticket number 24 held by Linda West who received a voucher for the food store, Iceland.

The Meeting closed at 11:40

The next meeting will be held on 8th January 2018

Proposed as a true and accurate record of the meeting held on 4th December 2017

Proposed by……………………….Seconded by………………………….Dated………………………………….

Secretary of the Meeting…………………………………………………..Titch Crossfield

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