Redlands VIEW Club

April has been a very busy month for our Club. A street stall raised further funds for our Learning for Life students.

Members enjoyed brunch at the Pere Palace Ottoman in a neighbouring suburb, with delicious food and friendship in classical Ottoman surroundings. Our monthly lunch with an Easter theme featured a presentation on Pain Management  by the Guest Speaker.

As this was in the lead up to Anzac Day, Retired Defence Force member Marion B read the Ode of Remembrance and the Last Post and Reveille were played

Our new Committee conducted their first meeting since taking office which was an enjoyable lunch and get together.

Our Guest Speaker was May Wild, a local author who travelled Australia for 326 days, resulting in the writing of a book of her experiences, A lap of Australia for Beginners. Her talk was illustrated with wonderful pictures, funny antidotes and great information for those contemplating such a trip. This was enjoyed by everyone present along with good food and friendship and lots of catchup chatter.

Our final club meeting for 2024 was a festive celebration of Christmas. With a Christmas lunch, members dressed in Christmas colours, fun and friendship and entertainment by a singer what more we could ask for. The tables were decorated with a Christmas theme and every member received lovely Christmas goodies. A wonderful end to the year.

With the support of Sharks Rugby League Club in Victoria Point, our Members held a very successful fundraising night in September. Special thanks go to the Sharks Club. 
The prizes were amazing and the Committee worked very hard to make this a grand success raising in excess of $5,000, to support our 10 Learning for Life students. 

Members, friends and the general public all contributed to a marvelous evening of fun, friendship and fundraising for a wonderful cause.  Program Officers Erin and Anna who organised the night were absolutely thrilled with the result.

The ‘E’ in VIEW was definitely the focus of our August lunch meeting when our entertaining and interesting guest speaker, Emily, from Summerland Camels educated us about all things to do with camels - history, habits, breeding and the many and varied uses of camel milk and other products it is used for as well as the health benefits.

Great interest was expressed in the skin products. We had a very good attendance as we continue planning for the big fundraising Trivia Night in September.

Twenty Members enjoyed celebrating Christmas in July  at Harrigan’s Irish Hotel at Calypso Bay the Gold Coast.  The tables reflected the Christmas theme and a roaring fire was enjoyed on a very cold Winter’s day which warmed our hearts and bodies. 

Secret Santa provided a fun element to the day.  Thank you to Erin and Anna for organizing this very enjoyable day.

We had a  joyous  celebration at our July meeting, and were joined by Zone Councillor Irene who presented 30 year pins to Carol and Anna, as can be seen in the accompanying photo.  Congratulations to these members who have contributed so much to VIEW and our Club over many years.

Carol was an inaugural member of Redlands Evening, transferring from Carindale. Anna originally joined Menai Evening in 1987, then moved to Burleigh-Palm Beach 2016 and then rejoined Redlands in 2023..

Irene provided an update on VIEW and the work of The Smith Family which was very informative, especially for our newer members.

During July Zone Councillor Irene also presented a 10 year pin to Carolyn. Congratulations to these Members who have contributed so much to VIEW and our Club over many years.

Accompanying photo shows Carolyn (R) receiving her pin from ZC Irene (L).

Members celebrated our Club's 27th birthday with a spots theme.  Zone Councillor, Irene and National Councillor Lyall attended and assisted President Edwina and Delegate and longest serving member Carol to cut the cake. Entertainment was provided by the U3A Redlands Choir.

A Bunnings barbecue has been organized for  late in June as well as a Chinese lunch at a local restaurant.  Our Members really enjoy these social functions and fundraising to assist our ten Learning for Life students.

Photo: L-R National Councillor Lyall, President Edwina, Zone Councillor Irene, and Carol who is our Club Delegate as well as our longest serving Member.

As can be seen by the accompanying photo, a well attended social morning tea was held at the Bush Pantry in a wonderful bush setting.

A very busy, but enjoyable couple of months. Much more to come as we have our May lunch meeting later in the month and a Chinese lunch and a Bunnings BBQ, all in June.

May saw our annual Mother's Day stall in Cleveland which raised a very significant sum towards sponsoring our 10 Learning for Life students for another year.