Doncaster VIEW Club

This was our Christmas in July luncheon, and Members wore a touch of Christmas. 

Our special guest speaker was National Councillor for the VA Region, Annette.

Annette gave us an outline of her role and tasks that she undertakes.  She writes to local members and the various Council Mayors in the VA region and explains exactly what VIEW clubs are about and how we are part of the Smith Family.  When Annette receives enquires she directs them to the closest clubs.  Annette talked about a study undertaken in regard to young people progressing through disadvantagment.  The Smith Family assists in providing practical opportunities to disadvantaged young people, enabling them to participate in training, study and work thus improving their outcomes.  Annette also shared some delightful stories about her family overseas.

Photo of our Christmas place setting, which includes the serviettes, made by our Secretary

The guest speaker, Peter Corr, was excellent.  He explained the name Paralympic as Parallel Games, not paralyzed as some people think.  He spoke of his role as Coach to many sporting teams and he enjoyed attending many paralympic games venues. 

Peter encouraged us all not to look too far forward but to look sideways for little sparkles that may turn into something unexpected and welcome.  Our June luncheon meeting was also our Make, Bake and Grow day.  Lots of items were brought along for the trading table and purchased.  Our Learning for Life Co-ordinator read out two reports of students, successfully completing their education.

Photo shows: Guest speaker Peter Corr, Paralympic Coach

Early in the month of May a group of eight Members from our club enjoyed the Bunnings special activity,  It was Planting a Bulb Lasagna.  The activity involved placing layers of potting mix in a large black pot and between each layer, different varieties of spring bulbs were planted. The session concluded with a complimentary coffee or tea.

At our May Luncheon Meeting we had a special event - a massive display of Winter fashion garments by Cliche Clothing.  Fredrik gave a very comprehensive commentary of the various designs, colours available and prices and Vikki assisted by displaying the items.  In recent times, with the closure of many retail clothing stores, our members enjoyed the opportunity to browse, try on and make purchases.  This event was an excellent fundraiser for our Learning for Life students.

Accompanying photo shows Fredrik and Vikki, amongst the Cliche Clothing.

Our special guest was Councillor Jim Grivas, Mayor of Manningham.  He talked about the numerous and diverse communities in Manningham and the goal to ensure that everyone in Manningham stays safe, feels connected and included.  Our members enjoyed hearing about the redevelopment of Aquarena and the upgrade of it's facilities.  Cr Grivas also complimented and thanked our club for our ongoing contributions to the community.

Accompanying photo shows Cr Jim Grivas, Mayor of Manningham with Doncaster VIEW Committee Members

Members enjoyed a special demonstration by Yvonne, The Gadget Girl.  Yvonne had a huge range of products and explained their uses and costs. Many members purchased some very useful items. 

A couple of examples are - a very long duster that can reach the ceiling and is washable plus an extending tool with a magnetic end for picking up small, dropped parts out of tricky places like under the bonnet of a car or down the side of a car seat.

Accompanying photo shows a Display of gadgets.

Our VIEW Christmas luncheon was a happy affair. All members arrived wearing fancy Christmas aprons. The raffle table was filled with prizes and our two raffle ladies did a marvellous job, calling out numbers. Most members were lucky and received two prizes.

In preparation for our move to the Pavilion Room next year, our President led those interested on a tour. Trading table books and goodies went for 50 cents to clear. Our guest speaker, Rochelle from Malvern VIEW club spoke on ways to de-clutter. Members offered ideas too. Many members circulated, handing out cards and good wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

It was our 42nd Birthday Luncheon celebration. The ladies arrived in their favourite colours; beautiful pot plants adorned the tables and numerous raffle prizes were on display.  Our President read a history of Doncaster VIEW Club with special mention to our last inaugural member, presenting her with a beautiful boxed arrangement of flowers, from the garden of one of our members, as a thank you gift.  Another lady crochet bags that contained soap, as a birthday gift to all and our President baked cupcakes for our birthday treat.  The winner was announced for our “special raffle” held to raise funds for our Learning for Life students.  The donated prize was beautifully sewn by an ex-VIEW member of our club.  Our thanks to her family for the magnificent donated prize (see photo).

Early October a group of members attended a gardening activity and morning tea at Bunnings Doncaster and made terrariums. These were constructed using layers of pebbles, charcoal, potting mix and finished off with some miniature plants to complete the look.

The guest speaker at our October Luncheon Meeting was from Al-Anon Family Groups. The presentation was about supporting family members and friends affected by a loved one’s alcohol use disorder and about challenges and problems.  A 12-step program is used and it was mentioned that changing attitudes can change outcomes.

The theme for our September Luncheon Meeting was “Footy Fever" and members wore their team colours. 

Our guest speaker was Jessie Mulholland, General Manager, AFLW St Kilda. Jessie talked about her journey, playing football as a youngster, promoting women in football and working in football today. Jessie answered numerous questions from our members.

August was our make, bake or grow luncheon.  Contributions of home-made goods, plants and books were greatly appreciated for our trading table.  Our guest speaker was Alan McLean and the topic was Mystery at Moon Light Head. 

Alan was a bush boy from Rushworth in central Victoria.  At 33 he became Secretary General of the Australian Red Cross, and later was CEO of the Organ Donor Registry, Crime Stoppers Victoria, and the overseas aid agency Red R Australia.  At 60 he shook off those responsibilities and then became far too busy to work!  He has researched and written seven local history books, not for any profit, but just for the satisfaction of placing certain events on the accessible public record.  Alan, who can be seen in the accompanying photo, centred his talk to us on the story behind one of those books.
 
While July was our annual Christmas in July and members wore some Christmas finery.  A special raffle was organised and everyone brought a small gift for the Chris Kringle raffle.