Thanet

Events Held in the Past

These are some of the events held in the past. More recent events will be added shortly

The Barn Dance, called by Margaret Fairbrass, in February, was great fun with regulars from the Country Dancing Group mixed with total beginners. Amazingly it was not total chaos. Being set up with excellent varied versions of Shepherds Pie beforehand obviously focused the mind, and feet.

A bright day in March for the Open Day. A lot of interest from members as well as the general public. Many of the Groups displayed their work from the past year and the hall was a buzz even after the closing time. We have 50 new members joined since January. The membership is now near 500.

Courses Programme Winter/Spring 2015
Please note all courses full.
Architecture - Mainly Modern.
Why Stuff Happened.
Reading Shakespeare for Fun.
Movement to Music.
Country Dancing.
Franz Liszt - His Life and Music.
Poetry Plus.
Little Dorrit.
Body Works 8 - Are you Getting Enough?
Science.
Basic Heraldry.
Handmade Felt.
French.
An Introduction to Bridge.
Croquet Appreciation.

Thank you to Margaret Fairbrass for organising a wonderful trip to the William Morris Gallery and the Lee Valley on the 15th April, we all had a fantastic time and the weather could not have been better. Sadly those of us on the trip couldn't attend Terry Green's last Lunch Club at the Ambrette. We thank Terry very much for his time and effort organising the lovely lunches for us and still hope that someone will decide to come forward and take on the job.

The AGM in May brought over 100 members to the Meeting in St.Peter's. The Chairman gave his report informing us that we now have 460 Members, 42 Interest Groups, but there were only 20 Courses offered last time and this was not enough. The Treasurer was away in America and so the Chairman gave the Treasurers report as well. All the Committee were re elected but a replacement for the Lunch Organiser was not found. After the AGM we were treated to the poetry of Clare Baldry who had come from Bexhill with her husband who is diabetic. All the proceeds of her poetry books go to a Diabetes Charity. The cakes supplied by U3A Members were varied and delicious with tea and coffee and conversations that may provide us with a Lunch Club Organiser.

The Strawberries and Cream Tea held in Broadstairs in July, organised by Margaret Fairbrass, was a great success. Lots of strawberries, scones,jam, and clotted cream with some amazing cakes to choose from as well. There were two quizzes on the tables. One fiendishly difficult and one easy if you can put a name to a face. Lots of conversation with the tea and coffee.

In spite of the heat in July a packed audience enjoyed Steven Alexander's 'Part Two' slide show presentation of his father, Christopher's extrordinary range of paintings and other art media. His Parkinson's did not detract from his enthusiasm and love of his Father's work. He urged us all to go to the Turner Contemporary where some of the work is being exhibited.

Thanet U3A Courses - Autumn 2015
All Courses Full.
Try Throwing a Pot.
Gifts and Decorations for Christmas.
Sights, Sounds and Tastes of China.
The River Thames in the Novels of Dickens and a Detailed Study of 'Our Mutual Friend'.
Cooking For Foodies.
Esperanto for Beginners.
Women Who Impacted on Science.
Consort Music for Singers and Players.
Herbs Are Good For Us?
Stately Structures Along the River Thames in Medieval and Tudor Times.
Mah-Jong - An Introduction.
Emile Zola's "Germinal".
Bodyworks - Relaxation.
Country Dancing.
Movement to Music.
Through the Bamboo Curtain.
Spanish for Backpackers.
Modern Novels on Film.

Margaret Swan would like to thank everyone for their support at the Garden Party in August and to the gods who made the sun shine.

HANDICRAFT WORKSHOPS - Margaret Swan
I am extremely pleased to tell you that the first series of Handicraft Workshops have been highly successful. All those who came along have taken home their hand made treasures with great plans to keep their new skills going. Time will tell!
These ‘workshops’ are a new venture for Thanet U3A falling between courses and groups. They were four weekly sessions of about 2 hours each, self funding with time for those in the group, if they came to one session or all four, to have a chat over the tea break and find out what other members were doing. I was really pleased to welcome several new members to U3A.
The crafts covered were Basic Knitting with Shirley Williams and Crochet with Pat Griffin; Embroidery and Tapestry both taken by Margaret Fairbrass; Design for Cross Stitch with Sue Cole and Rug Making with Sue Holton and finally two hours of papier machee with me. My thanks to all these ladies for their time and enthusiasm.
I am planning to run another four sessions on Wednesday afternoons in February 2016 and would love to hear from you if you have a favourite craft you would be happy to share with a group of about 8 people. It would be great to hear from some of the gentlemen – do we have any whittlers?

The Thanet Leaders Lunch was held in October at the Royal Temple Yacht Club. Waitress service brought the pre ordered food in convivial surroundings. The chairman thanked Margaret Fairbrass and Peggy Rogers.

A big thank you to Margaret Fairbrass and Janet McBride for organising a wonderful Murder Mystery Evening in November, and special thanks to all the helpers and everyone who was involved with the event.

Thanet U3A Courses - Winter/Spring 2016
All courses full.
The Science of Medicines.
Six Decades of Stately Homes.
Franz Liszt - His Life and Music.
Sculpture/Sculpors - Research.
Sights, Sounds and Tastes of China.
Herbs are Good for Us?
The Monstrous Regiment of Women.
Dickens - Our Mutual Friend 9cont'd) + 2 Short Stories by Dickens and Hardy.
J.S.Bach - A Journey through His Life and Work.
L'Assommoir by Emile Zola.
History.
Country Dancing.
Movement to Music.
My Word.
Exploring the Techniques of Film.
Ted Talks - Ideas Worth Spreading.
Croquet Appreciation.
Gardening on an Allotment.
Throught the Bamboo Curtain.
Learn to Sketch - From the Beginning.

Like last year, 100 or so members attended the Christmas Lunch at St. Augustine's and once again members were impressed by the venue and quality of the meal. Thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. It was the last function Terry Green organised for us before he stepped down and the chairman took the opportunity to thank him for his massive contribution to the social life of Thanet U3A during his years in the post.

Thank you to Margaret Fairbrass and her team of merry helpers for organising 'Cheer up the New Year' Party yesterday afternoon, it was very enjoyable and a great start to the new year!

Also, thank you to Avril Kilner and all the speakers from the Art Study Group for the talks on Women Artists. A big thank you also, to all of you who came out in terrible weather to support the event.

The January Talk about the WW2 camps for refugees in Sandwich was so well attended the room was packed with barely enough seats to accomodate everyone. Clare Ungersoll spoke clearly without microphone and gave such information that surprised everyone that no one knew about the camps before.There was lots of conversation to accompany the tea and biscuits afterwards.