Milton/Ulladulla VIEW Club

Inspiring start to 2020

Members enjoyed a great start to the New Year; commencing with a successful AGM, followed by our inspiring guest speaker, Andrea Tucker, who spoke of her experiences trekking to Mount Everest base camp.

Along with several other Australian Real Estate Agents, Andrea and her husband Rod, undertook this expedition last year.   Even though they expected this trip to be a gruelling experience, and trained for seven months beforehand, to ensure they were in peak physical condition, Andrea said nothing could have prepared them for the sheer physical experience that was to come. 

The party flew to Kathmandu in Nepal, the next day they had a short flight to Lukla, then a half day trek to Phakding, which is 2,650 m above sea level and where the trek begins.  The only transport from Lukla is to walk, with goods being bought in by donkey and the locals carry most on their back.  With the aid of a porter for every 2 trekkers, the trek was 9 exhausting days.  One of the biggest obstacles was experiencing altitude sickness, and to assist with acclimatising, the trekkers would ascend during the day, then descend a little to rest at night..  Their highest point during the trek was 5,644 m before descending into Mt Everest base camp which consisted of tents in the snow.

Except for one member of the group who succumbed to altitude sickness, all other trekkers were elated to successfully complete the gruelling task.   The experience concluded where it started, in Kathmandu, after the exhausted trekkers were helicoptered off the mountain

Christmas Celebrations 2019

Nearly fifty members and guests enjoyed a great day of fun, laughter and gaiety, which was combined with good food and wonderful entertainment.  The eagerly awaited performance of the VIEW Tops was again enjoyed by all.  

Photos of The VIEW Tops (above) and Christmas hampers (below)    

Photo above of November and December birthday ladies

Photo below:  Guest Roy and long time member Jean          

Planning for 2020

October was the month to get down to business for Milton Ulladulla VIEW, as elections of the 2020 Committee were held, culminating in a full Committee being endorsed for the new year, with this Committee to be fully installed in January 2020.

Photo above of 2020 Committee.  Absent from photo are Jan, Sue and Sonia

October birthday girls

Shoalhaven Community Transport at VIEW

Greg and Kathy from Shoalhaven Community Transport were wonderful guest speakers at the October luncheon.  They explained that this is a door to door service, available to people who are ‘transport challenged’.  They have depots in Nowra, Sydney, Wollongong, Ulladulla, Figtree, Canberra, Batemans Bay, Penrith and Young. 

Clients who meet the eligibility criteria, are assisted to get to medical appointments, where necessary keep business appointments such as that of a lawyer, as well as group shopping and recreational activities.

Volunteer drivers are fully trained, with priority given to the services duty of care.  The fleet of vehicles are well maintained and include, cars, buses and vans which are wheelchair friendly, and equipped with hoists when required.

Photo above: Denise with Greg and Kathy

Christmas In July

On Thursday 25 July Milton Ulladulla VIEW Club celebrated Christmas In July at their monthly meeting held at the ExServos.  The ‘Giving Tree’ featured on the day with all donations going towards The Smith Family’s 2019 Christmas Toy and Book Appeal.

The hard working helpers

 Trivia Tension

After lunch tension could be felt across the room as everyone in attendance prepared for the annual Christmas In July Trivia Quiz. President Denise self appointed ‘Quizmaster and Adjudicator’ read the riot act to those who in previous years had used Google for the answers. She roamed the room looking for mobiles being used as members racked their brains for answers to the questions. New members were stunned at the decibel level coming from some tables. When the winning table was announced a protest was lodged but failed as Denise upheld her decision. Although disappointment was rife it was obvious that ‘fun was had by all’.

The nine July Birthday Girls were presented with the highly coveted ‘Happy Hangers’

Learning about Local Organisations

Guest speaker was Maria Mitchell from the Ulladulla & Districts Community Resources Centre (CRC).  Maria explained that the CRC is an information and referral centre that offers free community services to all who seek assistance.  The CRC receives funding from the NSW Government, Family and Community Services (FACS) and  is required to deliver services in line with FACS Strategic Plan, assisting:

• Aboriginal children, families and communities;  
• Keeping children safe at home with their families
• People to oversee their own lives and feel a real sense of choice and control; and
• More people have a safe and stable place to live.

The Centre has a full time Manger and there are currently 35 volunteers, who really want to make the difference in fulfilling the critical services required in the community.  The Centre management is supported by the guidance and decision-making skills of the Board of Management.

There are currently several visiting services including:

• Legal Aid;
• Disability Services; and
• Parole and Probation Services. 

 Programs currently offered by the Centre are Computer lessons for seniors, Literacy, Justice of the Peace, Food Store and Tax Help.

New Member In June 

 Photo above: New member Jenny with Jenni

                                                                               Photo above:  Denise with Maria

Learning about StoryFest in May

The 30 ladies present at the May luncheon were enthralled with our delightful guest speakers, Alison Pakes from Milton Library, and Meredith Jaffe, a local author and Festival Director of the upcoming StoryFest.

Alison briefly spoke of her association with The Friends of Milton Library, and the inception of the idea of StoryFest; both events have involved a lot of hard work, with a team of dedicated people.

In her capacity of Festival Director, Meredith spoke of the upcoming StoryFest, which will run from 21-23 June.  This Festival will feature an exciting line up of authors, historians, scientists, and filmmakers who are coming to the Milton-Mollymook-Ulladulla region to celebrate storytelling.

President Denise (Centre), with Alison (left) and Meredith (right)

The Schools Program will run in the week leading up to the main festival and will introduce students to some leaders in their creative fields.

It will also include the opportunity to participate in writing workshops with award-winning bestselling authors.  Meredith said, the StoryFest team has arranged to bring some very talented writers, performers and celebrities to our region, and urged people to go along to one or more of the sessions; they will be truly amazing.

The authors/artists coming to StoryFest

Easter April Birthday

A wonderful 28th birthday was celebrated by members and guests during April

Canberra guests, Zone Councillor Marilynne Weston and National President Jan Roberts, with President Denise and Past Zone Councillor Glennis.

                 Serenity entertained during lunch

Great Easter Raffle prizes

30 Year Member Badge for Peggy

Much loved member Peggy Lee received her badge from National President Jan Roberts in recognition of her 30 years of VIEW membership.

April birthday ladies sharing their birthday with Milton Ulladulla VIEW

      Daughter and Mother, Gail and Joyce

Emergency Planning In March  

During March members enjoyed the company, and learnt prudent information from two guest speakers, Margaret Peppitt from Red Cross and Garry Barton from the Rural Fire Service, on positive planning in case of emergencies.

Margaret has been with the Red Cross for 15 years and spoke of her first-hand experiences during the recent Queensland Floods.  She advised the need for everybody to have an ‘Emergency Plan’; of which an emergency kit with essential items is an integral part.   

Garry moved to Manyana on Boxing Day 2001, during the Black Christmas Bushfires and knew nothing about coping in a bush fire, so he joined the RFS as a volunteer, and has been actively involved ever since.  He spoke of the importance of having smoke alarms in our houses and the importance of having a ‘plan’ for the possibility of a bushfire.  There are around 30 coastal villages in the Shoalhaven area, all having just one road in and out, so if that road is blocked there is no way out, and the beach is not necessarily the best place to go.

Both Margaret and Garry provided some great ‘food’ for thought, and happily answered a number of questions from members.

Garry and Margaret show how to be pro-active during an emergency

Planning for Ageing 

In February 2019, thirty-four members enjoyed an enlightening talk from guest speaker, Carol Tomlinson, who explained the benefits of forward planning in our latter years.  Everyone is unique, requiring individual planning.  The steps towards aged care are:

• Planning
• Assessing options;
• Searching for services to meet individual needs;
• Understanding costs;
• Covering the costs;
• Estate planning; and
• Moving into care facility.

                                                     Carol with Denise

 January AGM

Milton Ulladulla VIEW Club’s January luncheon meeting which incorporated the AGM, was held on Thursday 24 January at the Milton Ulladulla ExServos Function room.   The new Committee for 2019 is President Denise; Vice President and Program Officer Cherrie, Secretary Sue; Assistant Secretary Maureen; Treasurer Sonia; Assistant Treasurer Jan; Delegate Jeni; Program Officer Lorraine; Welfare Officer Wendy; and Publicity Officer Sonia.

2018 was another successful year for Milton Ulladulla VIEW; as well as supporting our four Learning For Life Students, the Club again donated significant funds to the Smith Family’s Book and Toy Appeal.  

Peggy, Jean and Pat had birthdays during January

Trekking the Kokoda Trail with Eleanor 

Members enjoyed a great start to the New Year, with our outstanding guest speaker, Eleanor Drury, who spoke of her experiences trekking the Kokoda Trail as a year 12 student representing Ulladulla High School.

Eleanor said this was a gruelling experience, both physically and mentally, however she felt extremely privileged to having been chosen, especially as her Pop, who she was very close too, had served there during WW2.  

20 trekkers, with the aid of 22 porters and a former soldier as leader commenced this journey, with 17 trekkers managing to finish.  Prior to commencement of the trek, they were introduced to a Port Moresby school where students were taught life skills such as literacy, cooking, agriculture etc, quite different from Australian schools, and Eleanor was thrilled to be offered a teaching position there if she ever wished too. 

The trek commenced at 4am on 25^th September 2018, with the next 10 days encompassing both memorable and exhausting experiences.  The trek is 96km and along the way students were able to comprehend the bravery, and hardships experienced by the soldiers who served there.  The trekkers were also able to see first hand the incredible poverty of the Papua New Guinea people. 

The final evening was both exciting and sad, as it had been such an amazing experience and Eleanor said at that time, she did not want it to end; she now views the world through different eyes and feels it has made her a better person with a greater perspective on life.  Eleanor recently commenced a double degree in law and psychology at UNSW; she plans to use these skills to give back to the community.   We wish her well.

Denise with Eleanor