FROM OUR CHAIRMAN
We are entering into a very difficult period and we all need to take actions to protect ourselves.
SBU3A has purchased two ZOOM licences to enable our convenors to run virtual activity and for the Committee to run general meetings. As we proceed we are gaining more confidence and skill in using this technology so I really implore you to get involved and log in to your group Zoom meetings. This will be with us way into next year so we all have to learn new ways of keeping in touch and getting involved with our groups. After all that is the ethos of the TAT....Learn Laugh Live. This is just a new way of adopting those principles.
(We have included a very simple 'step by step' video below to help those of you who are not confident about using Zoom. Please view it to see just how simple it is).
Last month I articulated the committee's view on not endorsing any indoor or outdoor meetings currently. Many of your convenors have taken centre stage and organised virtual activity on a grand scale, so a BIG thank you to them. We also know that some of you are meeting informally outside, following Government guidelines. Any convenors who wish to join those who have already signed up to use our ZOOMPRO Licence for their group, please contact Nicky Smith on secretary@sbu3a.org.uk.
As we move forward with the planning of our General Meetings we would welcome our members coming forward with their own knowledge and experiences to share with an online audience. I get emails from all sorts of people, not our members, to talk about a variety of obscure topics and admittedly some relevant ideas but I would rather use the accumulated knowledge and skills of our 470 members to educate and entertain us. Do not be coy....we want to hear about your favourite subjects. I like to talk about US presidents or our Plantagenets ...what do you like to talk about?
Finally a BIG thank you to everyone for staying with us and looking forward positively. WE are SBU3A and we will outlive this virus and continue to thrive and move onwards guided by the principles of the Third Age Trust. We are looking forward to many of you joining us on ZOOM for what should be an interesting afternoon. Firstly we will be running our 2020 AGM - We require a minimum of 58 participants to join us for the necessary quorum. The limit of our ZOOMPRO licence is 99, so members will be admitted to the meeting on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED basis This is usually a short meeting and will follow the agenda already e-mailed to you. The AGM will be followed by what is sure to be an absorbing and very contemporary take on US Presidents by our Chairman, Phil Taylor You can join the meeting from 1.45 pm onwards by following this link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5605050776?pwd=ME5Ib2svU0NPWW53Yk9RcGF2UTVBUT09
Meeting ID: 560 505 0776 Nicky Smith: Secretary
If you need help joining ZOOM for the first time please watch the video below with very simple instructions
NEWS FROM YOUR GROUPS SCIENCE 25 members joined the Zoom meeting on 1 October to hear Richard Eastmond, the Science Convenor from Chiltern U3A, talk about the safety of foods and additives. Richard debunked a number of myths about food safety although he did confirm that nitrites used as a preservative may have adverse effects. A lively debate ensued covering GM foods, seed types and food security.
The next meeting is on 5 November 2020 at 2pm by Zoom. Professor Richard Mitchell from Reading University will talk to us about a Cybernetic Approach to Robotics. This should be a fascinating talk and a Zoom link will be sent out nearer the date. Paul LeBlonde MONDAY AFTERNOON BRIDGE The future continues to be ‘unknown’. What is known is that we are unlikely to be meeting as our Monday afternoon group in the near future. I would still recommend that anyone who hasn't yet tried Bridge Base Online should give it a go. Bridge Base Online is free (although you do pay to enter Tournaments) and competitive in that you compare your score with other tables who have played the same boards. Amanda or I would be very happy to talk you through setting up and playing your first boards. Please feel free to contact either of us: Liz 01494 815294 lizpratt9@outlook.com I am pretty sure you won't regret it. Welcome to all you History lovers! Our group have still met with monthly bulletins during' lockdown' plus quizzes, tv programmes and YouTube recommendations from Trevor, Sue and I. In November Colin has kindly agreed to be our Host for our first Zoom edition. Helen will be reading from a wartime diary of a person known to James who was in Paris at this time.
Future Zoom Meetings November 3rd - Helen Tippins reads " The Liberation of Paris " written by a friend of James Barrett December 1st - Trevor Coe - Christmas Presentation on YouTube ( title later ) January 5th - James Cadle ( Chesham U3A) " 1944 " February 2nd - Christine Phillips " The Chatham Chest " March 2nd - Phil Taylor " The Plantagenets " Links for these meetings will be sent to History Group members nearer the time. Christine Phillips LINKING WITH BELARUS
Our group managed to meet during the Summer when garden visits were allowed. Unfortunately, the weather was not kind to us! We are now back to meetings on Zoom but are guaranteed plenty to discuss while the current situation in Belarus continues. Two items of news have been particularly interesting of late: • Alexander Lukashenko held an unexpected meeting with political prisoners in the jail where they are currently detained. State Media said he had called the meeting “to discuss constitutional reform with his imprisoned opponents.” Apparently, the participants at the meeting “agreed to keep the four-and-a-half-hour conversation "secret", according to a Press statement. • Police have been authorised to use lethal force if necessary against anti-government protesters, a senior government official said, adding that the move was “in response to increasingly radicalised, violent anti-Lukashenko groups”.
We are now organising a programme of meetings on Zoom : November 5th - Ruti Sobel will start the meeting with further input from her Belarusian contact and Sandra Hurst will talk about Belarus: What now? December 3rd - A talk by Hilda Bronstein on Polotsk: Historic European City which will be followed by an on-line celebration of Christmas.
Our monthly SKYPE or ZOOM sessions with students of Grodno Golden University will resume shortly. Sandra Hurst U3A ON FACEBOOK Social media may be anathema to a number of you, but some of our Committee members find it useful and entertaining to visit the U3A's 'Keeping In Touch' Facebook page u3a: Keeping In Touch and connect with 4,500 from members across the nation. It is a real potpourri of items, ranging from impressively complicated Maths puzzles, anecdotes of times gone by, the sharing of photographs from all over the world (U3A does exist in other countries), feedback on how different U3As are coping in these strange times and peppered with some very amusing pictorial jokes, a couple of examples shown below. A quick look can give you a lift to the day and makes you appreciate that it doesn't matter where you are from, by sharing their experiences, fellow U3A members are all dealing in different ways. Why not give it a try? FROM OUR MEMBERS A doctor and a lawyer are talking at a party. Their conversation is constantly interrupted by people describing their ailments and asking the doctor for free medical advice. After an hour of this, the exasperated doctor asks the lawyer, “What do you do to stop people from asking you for legal advice when you’re out of the office?” “I give it to them,” replies the lawyer, “and then I send them a bill.” The doctor is shocked, but agrees to give it a try. The next day, still feeling slightly guilty, the doctor prepares the bills. When he goes to place them in his mailbox, he finds a bill from the lawyer!
As a member of each Liz's "Bridge" & "Better Bridge" groups I was intrigued by the September article written by the Times bridge guru Andrew Robson. Apparently "a satirical study in 2015 claimed the prospect of Donald Trump becoming president unconsciously affected US bridge players so much they became 'subtly deranged.' "
Andrew continues "Trump does not play bridge. George Washington did and his favourite partner was his wife Martha.
The most fanatical bridge-playing ex president was Dwight Eisenhower. He played throughout his military career and into the White House. A famous US player said of Eisenhower 'He's the nicest person at the bridge table I've ever played with. He doesn't get excited about winning or losing but he plays hard. He plays better bridge than golf.'" More worryingly Andrew concludes Dwight often chose a trump as his opening lead. Keep Well... Keep Safe... Keep Laughing! From your SB U3A Committee |