Redlands VIEW Club

Our club April lunch meeting used an Italian theme for table decorations which included the ingredients to make an Italian pasta dish and a Holy Basil plant.  These would later become raffle prizes; a very novel and practical idea from our clever Program Officers, Margie and Nerelle.  Nerelle provided information on growing Holy Basil and its culinary and medicinal uses. Thank you Margie and 
Nerelle. Members dressed in the colours of the Italian flag – red, white and green. 

Marlene and Debbie were presented with their badges and welcomed to the Club.

A new menu with several choices was well received and the food was both delicious and nicely served. To complete the meeting, Daryl from Seniors Tech, a service provided for Seniors through Star Community Services  locally, presented a visual presentation  on staying safe and becoming confident on our computers and the Web, recognizing scams and being aware, as well as information on AI 
which we need to become accustomed to.

Beautifully decorated tables in purple, organised by Margie, Nerelle and Michelle and 24 members enjoyed an interesting and informative presentation by member Helen B., a passionate perfume collector, with brilliant knowledge of the perfume industry.

Helen’s focus was on the rise of the perfume industry and the immense contribution made by women to the industry, including some of the earliest fragrances  still in production; Yardley English Lavender, 1873; Tabac Blonde, 1919; Chanel No5, 1921; Arpege by Lanvin, 1927; Blue Grass by Elizabeth Arden, 1936; Miss Dior, 1946; Youth Dew by Estee Lauder, 1953; Charlie by Revlon, 1973 and more recently White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor, CK One by Calvin Klein,  J’adore by Dior, Armani Si, and Outlands by Amouage amongst many others.  Many women, some celebrities, have paved the way to develop  what women love most – beautiful perfume.   

Calice Becker from Dior has a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fragrance Foundation and has had a significant role in perfumery schools and has created for many other companies of men’s and women’s perfumes. Libertine Parfumerie at New Farm provided a wonderful raffle prize of a $500 voucher which was won by Michelle K. Lucky lady! Helen put together lovely sample bags of perfumes for our Members which they enjoyed immensely. A delightful lunch completed the day.

A New Year, a great start!  Commencing with a delightful Morning tea at the Blue Tongue Pantry and lots of catch up chat over coffee and cake. 

We moved on to the February lunch meeting where we were greeted with a sea of red and hearts and beautiful floral table decorations.  Ten year pins were presented to Brenda and Helen.  Our Guest Speakers Susie and Amanda from Task Tamers provided some helpful and useful gifts and provided an interesting and informative presentation on Downsizing and Decluttering emphasizing the importance of planning. 

A Delightful 2 course lunch followed along with some beautiful raffle and lucky door prizes.  It will be a great year ahead judging on the planning that our Program Offices have undertaken so far.

October has been a very busy but interesting and fun month for our Club. Early in the month we enjoyed a great day out on a bus trip to the Farm Shop near Kalbar and enjoyed a beautiful morning tea and browsed the shops on site as well. The countryside looked magnificent in the area known as the Scenic Rim in South-East Queensland. Some retail therapy in the delightful village followed along with lunch at the local hotel.

A pink theme to acknowledge Breast Cancer month saw beautiful table decorations by our extraordinary talented Program Officer, Margie and her helper Nerelle. Our tables have looked stunning all year thanks to their efforts.

Our Guest Speaker was J. J. Cowley, Manager of our local Bendigo Bank, who spoke about the Community Raffle they sponsor which supports local organisations from the profits and which has benefitted our Club in 2025.

Members decorated their own table with a tropical theme for the September lunch meeting. They were absolutely stunning!  The quilt raffle was drawn and won by Dawn. This was one of major fundraisers for the year to support our ten students.

Trevor Hamley, a glaciologist on the Mawson Base in Antarctica gave a wonderful visual presentation about working on secondment to the Soviets and working at the coldest place on Earth. We learnt a lot about Antarctica, emphasising the ‘É’ in VIEW.

Members marked this momentous occasion at their birthday meeting in May 2025.

A great lunch meeting again in August, with wonderful table decorations thanks to Margie and Nerelle.  Congratulations to Nerelle on receiving a Making a Difference award; this was so well deserved.

Our Guest speaker was Chief Inspector/Detective, Mel Anderson who spoke about bravery and fear and the many Honors that have been received in her Family Tree over several generations dating back to 1764 and the feats of bravery that these represented, both military and civilian. Amazing speaker and also a member of a VIEW Club in Brisbane.

The June lunch meeting was one in which we belatedly acknowledged International Women’s Day.  Our special event had been cancelled due to Cyclone Alfred.

Gorgeous table arrangements in purple which can be seen in the photos. brought wonderful comments.  Zone Councillor Irene presented an update on VIEW and The Smith Family; Delegate Carolyn presented a segment on the meaning of our VIEW colours and their historical connections.

Members enjoyed exciting lucky door and raffle prizes all decked out in purple.

Our 28th birthday in May was a beautiful, happy and friendly celebration. Using a Blue Sapphire theme to acknowledge 65 years of VIEW, more than 40 members including Zone Councillor Irene, National Councillor Lyall and other guests enjoyed a delicious lunch. Gorgeous table decorations made by Margie and Nerelle made the room look very special. A Black Forest cake was cut by President Vivien, ZC Irene and NC Lyall. Members enjoyed lots of raffle and lucky door prizes to end an enjoyable day.