WHAT'S ON
General Meeting – Wednesday 6th October 9:30 a.m
St. Heliers Church Community Centre – Centennial Hall - 100 St Heliers Bay Road
Welcome
I think that Spring has sprung with certainly warmer days and loads of blossoms on the trees. The sun
has risen before I am out of the door for a walk in the mornings.
Last month we hosted two delightful women from Te Hawere-A-Maki
Marine Reserve (Goat Island). They each spent some time discussing the
marine protection of the Tikapa Moana (Hauraki Gulf) and then
individually discussed their own Master’s research. We learnt a little
about underwater acoustics of sharks and its role in conservation and the
distribution of phytoplankton & commercial fishing around the Chatham
Islands.
For our October Meeting, we are delighted to have Peter Morgan from his
Halter Dairy Farm in Pokuru, near Te Awamutu. Peter runs a 230~265-
hectare dairy farm milking around 630 crossbred cows and is one of the
earliest commercial adopters and trial partners of Halter – utilizing solarpowered
GPS smart collar technology for virtual fencing.
Peter’s talk is titled ‘Virtual Farming: Our future relationship with food perspectives
Main Speaker –Main Speaker – Peter Morgan - Farming with Halter Virtual Fencing
The farm has a mix of contour, aspects and fertility, and the pasture management, cropping programme
and herd management have been undertaken with this variance in mind. In recent years the farm has
peak-milked around 610 - 620 cows and produced 210,000 to 215,0000 kilograms of milk solids
(kgMS).
Halter virtual fencing has been run on the farm since 2022 and was
instrumental in making significant changes to the farming system.
The importance of staff welfare is also a feature of the farm, and
Peter and Ann actively seek opportunities for their staff to grow and
develop.
In 2021 Peter and Ann were named the Fonterra Responsible Dairy Award winners. They want to
continue to focus on home grown pasture and feed and turning that into milk as efficiently as practical,
but this has to be done in a way that makes the farm an attractive and interesting place for staff to work
and develop.
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Please Note- St. Heliers Church Community Centre does not open their doors on the morning of our meeting before 8:30am.
EMERGENCY MEDICAL EVENT
The Community Centre have advised us that every group that uses this centre needs to have their own Emergency plan.
Jill Towers is looking for volunteers, either medical or non-medical members. A list for your names will be available at morning tea and at the end of our meeting.
Study Group Presentations: - Modern History – Martin Haworth
Mini Speaker: - Preparing your phones for Emergencies (Margaret Waters & Christine Fryer)
Kitchen Duty: - Heritage Group (Margaret Waters) and Countries of the World (Heather Baigent)
New Members:
Susan Fredericksen, Patricia (Tricia) Stevenson
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NEXT MONTH – Wednesday 4th November
NEXT MONTH – General Meeting and AGM, Wednesday, 4th November
Main Speaker: - Michelle Brinsden - Easter Bays Song Bird Project
Mini Speaker & Study Group Presentations: - No Study Group Presentations or Mini Speaker due to
The Annual General Meeting will precede our general meeting.
Kitchen Duty: - Memorable Movies (Katherine Swift) & Gallery Visits 2 (Margaret Horsburgh)
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Study Group News
Christmas is 89 days away and I’m sure many of you are getting into the spirit of the festive season.
Our Scribbles group are sharing their Christmas limericks. In fact, they are giving us a challenge and
encouraging us to write our own Christmas Limerick.
If you would like to accept the challenge then forward your limerick to
membership.u3astheliers@gmail.com before 29th Octobers It must be original and AI is not to be
used.
There will be a small prize for the three best selected by the Scribbles group, the results to be published
in the December newsletter.
There was once was a group from St Helier,
A bright lot who couldn’t be merrier!
They were all in their prime,
What a wonderful time!
When Santa arrived with a terrier.
Turkey at Christmas is good,
We all like a bit of fruit pud
But Santa says he
Likes rum for his tea
And then takes more than he should.
There once was a mean Christmas Grinch
Who'd never give even an inch
He moaned and he whined
All favours declined…
P’raps an underhand bribe at a pinch?
There once were some Christmas elves
Those job was to stock up the shelves
There was so much stuff
And they’d just had enough
So they packed it all up for themselves.
There was an old Santa from Perth,
Who was filled with much laughter and mirth,
His belly was fat,
His sled broke when he sat,
And Rudolph was caught in his girth.
Rudolf with his nose so bright
Kept the others awake all night
Too tired they would be
To pull Santa's ski
The Tesla a comical sight
Up and coming events
Visiting Peter
Up and coming event
Visiting Peter Morgan’s family dairy farm Wednesday, 25 November.
The meeting point is at the Community Centre 9:15 for a prompt departure at 9:30, returning back to
this location at around 4pm.
An email will be sent to all members on 12th October, covering how to sign up as well as the payment
instructions.
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Welfare
Please note we rely on our members to advise our Almoner if you are aware of any member who is ill or incapacitated, or suffering bereavement. Wendy Jeffrey would appreciate you contacting her either by phone 02102579792 or email:- Almoner.stheliersu3a@gmail.com
Monthly Meeting Protocol.
Please ensure that you register at the Greeting Table when you arrive.
Monthly Meeting Protocol:
Please note sending an apology for non-attendance of the monthly meeting is no long a requirement.
St Heliers U3A Website
Our website www.stheliersu3aauckland.com is updated every month by Kathy Slater. Newsletters, relevant information on study groups and much more can be found on this interesting site.
Name Badge.
A reminder to all members, and especially our new members, that you should put the name and contact details of your preferred contact person on the back on your name badge in case of any emergency. Please ensure that you wear your Name Badge to all U3A meetings.
Study Group Presentations: - Gallery Visits 2 (Margaret Horsburgh)
Mini Speaker: - Adrienne Joyce, A House on the Move: by barge, by sea and by sheer determination.
Kitchen Duty: - Art History (Sue Bhargav) and Famous and Infamous (Gary Preston)
New Members:
- Olga Moule
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NEXT MONTH –
Main Speaker: Professor John Collins Breaking Barriers: The Evolution of women’s education.
Study Group Presentations: - Famous and Infamous (Gary Preston)
Mini Speaker: - Leslie Skelton and Diane Hankins, Personal careers and experiences in
Special Education.
Kitchen Duty: - The Scribblers (Helen Jakobi) and Gallery Visits 1 (Inie Knoef)
Study Group News
Provided by Helen Jakobi, Quote from Maria Callas – “I will always be as difficult as possible, to achieve the best”
One of the relatable Diva’s featuring at the latest exhibition at the Auckland War Memorial on loan from V&A is Maria Callas.
Heritage Walking Group made a visit to Auckland Grammar School. The archivist has been for some time transferring their historical records into digital form. If you are interested go to the website: https://ags.recollect.co.nz
Up and coming events
Digital Seniors – FREE one-on-one tech help for Seniors
Heliers Community Centre: Thursday mornings 10-12. No booking or membership needed – just pop in and we’ll do our best to help you, please remember to bring your device along.
Welfare
Please note we rely on our members to advise our Almoner if you are aware of any member who is ill or incapacitated, or suffering bereavement. Wendy Jeffrey would appreciate you contacting her either by phone 02102579792 or email:- Almoner.stheliersu3a@gmail.com
Monthly Meeting Protocol.
Please ensure that you register at the Greeting Table when you arrive.
Monthly Meeting Protocol:
Please note sending an apology for non-attendance of the monthly meeting is no long a requirement.
St Heliers U3A Website
Our website www.stheliersu3aauckland.com is updated every month by Kathy Slater. Newsletters, relevant information on study groups and much more can be found on this interesting site.
Name Badge.
A reminder to all members, and especially our new members, that you should put the name and contact details of your preferred contact person on the back on your name badge in case of any emergency. Please ensure that you wear your Name Badge to all U3A meetings.