U3A Newsletter No. 129 May – June 2026
Dear U3A Members
It’s Keats’ ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’. ‘How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and colour are their last days’. John Burroughs
MEMBERS
A very warm welcome to new members Lynette Beal, Marlene du Preez, Mark Hansen, Louise Hansen, Willem Barkhuizen, Linda Barkhuizen and Sandra Pitchford. We are delighted to have you and trust that you will soon make new friends and enjoy the many interesting and entertaining activities at U3A.
Our condolences to the family and friends of John Pearson and Viv Viljoen who passed away recently, and our very best wishes to those who are not in good health.
THE TRIBUTE TO JOHN PEARSON [from the General Meeting on 9 April 2026]
I’m sure that all those who knew him were just as shocked as we were at the very sudden passing away of one of our U3A East London stalwarts, John Pearson, on Good Friday last week.
John wore many hats. He was first and foremost a family man, a husband, a father and a grandfather. He was an adventurer, whose sense of adventure brought him out from Scotland at a young age to take up employment at the Rogana Café in East London. He was a devout Presbyterian and sometime preacher, a sportsman who loved his golf and tennis, a baker of note, and a successful businessman. He enjoyed travel and used his timeshare to travel to various places around SA and the world. We enjoyed his presentations at Armchair Travel very much.
John was a U3A member for at least 16 years, perhaps longer, and a regular attendee at the General Meetings and many and various courses. He served as Chairman from 2012 to 2014, while I was Secretary. This was a very busy and fulfilling time for us and our membership touched 240. He would always come to our house before meetings to discuss the Agenda - after which we’d enjoy a nice glass of red wine!
When the long running and very popular Current Affairs course came to an end many years ago, John put up his hand to replace this with his Financial Affairs course. He always put in an enormous effort preparing for each meeting and it is indeed fitting that his last Financial Affairs meeting 2 weeks ago had the best attendance ever.
During Covid, when U3A was under threat to shut down completely, we formed an Interim Committee of five to keep our chapter alive with access to various Zoom courses, and John was
happy to chair this Committee. In this way, we kept U3A in the hearts and minds of members, and once the isolation period ended, there was a smooth transition back to normal events.
Rest in Peace, John. We shall miss your support and contributions, your sense of humour and your broad Scottish accent.
Gill Ansell
NEW COURSE LEADERS
There will, sadly, be no further Financial Affairs courses after John’s sudden and untimely passing, until a new Course Leader with his considerable expertise takes over. If you, or anyone you know of, would like to lead this very worthwhile course, please contact Janet on 076 428 1111.
We are still in urgent need of someone willing and able to take over John Stoddard’s hugely popular Armchair Travels as well, please.
GUEST SPEAKER MEETINGS
Guest Speaker Meetings are held in the Roof Garden at The Valley on the 2nd Thursday of the month and start at 10:00, with tea and coffee available from 09:30. The cost is R5 per member and R10 per visitor.
U3A’s guest speakers are always very well received. Our recent speaker, Andy Andrews, gave an amazingly informative and very sobering talk on the need to adapt to the increasingly rapid rate of change in the world today and Alan Weiman gave a fascinating talk on Homing Pigeons - how they are trained and the vital role they played during the 1st World War. Some were so successful at delivering messages that they were awarded medals. Interestingly, celebrity pigeon fanciers include Queen Elizabeth II, Elvis Presley and Cyril Ramaphosa.
Speakers to look forward to are:
14 May: Russell Bradfield who will speak on ‘A German in East London: internment, a painting and a shipwreck’.
11 June: Estelle Cox who will be talking on ‘the circular economy - making the most of very little’.
U3A courses provide members with a wide range of interesting, informative and enjoyable activities to choose from. Details of these courses are available from Course Leaders; dates, times and venues are listed on the Course Schedules; and Janet’s News Flashes are invaluable weekly reminders.
Members pay R5 per meeting and visitors, who are always most welcome, pay R10.
COURSES
MOSS WALKS [Shirley Baxter]
There will be 10 monthly MOSS [Metropolitan Open Space System] walks this year on the 1st Monday of the month. The approximately 4 km walks take about an hour and a half and the cost per member per year is R20. Everyone is welcome.
4 May: Walkers are to meet at Parklands reception at 8:00 sharp, or at the Aquarium entrance at 8:30, for a walk along the Quigney Esplanade. Some 15 shipwreck sites will be observed. Suggested parking is in the street behind the German monument.
1 June: Walkers are to meet at Parklands reception at 8:00 sharp, or at the Edly Symons weir and cul de sac in Beacon Bay at 8:30 for a picturesque short walk along the river in the Quinera Nature Reserve, observing bird life and natural vegetation.
Wear sun hats, sensible walking shoes - and enjoy!
MAHJONGH/ MHING [Gill Ansell]
Mahjongh/Mhing meetings are held twice monthly on Fridays in the Oak Room at Parklands at 09:30.
This is a closed course.
COMPUTERS [Pam Hobson]
Meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of the month in the Oak Room at Parklands at 10:00. This is an open course and all are welcome.
FILM CLUB [Janet Ross-Thompson and Shirley Baxter]
Film Club meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month in the Oak Room at Parklands at 14:00,
and the Course Leaders would be very grateful for loans or donations of DVDs of good films.
Everyone is welcome.
SAMBA [Gill Ansell]
The Samba group meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month in the Oak Room at Parklands at 09:30.
This is a closed course.
GUEST SPEAKERS AT MONTHLY MEETING
Meetings with talks by a wide variety of guest speakers are held in the Roof Garden at The Valley on the 2nd Thursday of the month and start at 10:00, with tea and coffee available from 09:30. The cost is R5 per member and R10 per visitor.
MEMORABLE MUSICALS [Dave Donkin]
Memorable Musical meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of the month in the Oak Room at Parklands at 10:00. Everyone is welcome.
The musicals for 18 May and 15 June will be announced in a News Flash.
MUSIC APPRECIATION [Jeff Sadler]
Music Appreciation meetings are held on the 3rd Wednesday of the month in the Oak Room at Parklands at 10:00. Everyone is welcome.
U3A SINGERS [Joy Marshall]
The U3A Singers meet on the 4th Monday of the month in the Oak Room at Parklands at 10:00.
The Singers are a small but enthusiastic group of ladies and gentlemen who meet once a month to sing for fun. No vocal training/choir experience is necessary to join. Reading of music is also not required as we read lyrics only, and anyone who enjoys singing is very welcome to join us.
BOOK CLUB [Shirley Baxter]
The Book Club meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month in the Oak Room at Parklands at 09:30. This is an open course.
Book Club meetings begin with refreshments. Members each bring a book, [not necessarily a new best seller], to loan to the club. They then discuss the book they have read previously, and members suggest some tempting new reads for the future.
Everyone is welcome.
FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
Financial Affairs meetings will, sadly, not take place for the foreseeable future.
WRITING GROUP [Sobhna Poona]
The Writing Group meets on the 4th Friday of the month in the Oak Room at Parklands at 13:30. Do look up the Writing Group page on the U3A website. There are lots of interesting stories there.
FUN FACTS: Some Statistics for the US in 1910
The average wage was 22c per hour
Sugar cost 4c per lb; eggs were 14c per dozen and coffee was 15c per lb
Only 14 percent of homes had a bathtub
Most women washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo
The population of Las Vegas Nevada was 30
Key 1910 USA Statistics
U3A EAST LONDON WEBSITE
The website, u3ael.co.za, is updated every two months with the latest newsletter, course schedule, and guest speakers.
NEWS FOR THE NEWSLETTER
Will anyone with news for the next edition of the newsletter email it to me at carlsonsba@gmail.com by mid-June, please.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
There are people in this life who make things happen; those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened . . .
BIRTHDAYS
An especially ‘Happy Birthday’ to all those on the birthday lists below.
MAY
01 Larry Kelley; 03 Lorraine Long, Alvan Mandy; 05 George Mountjoy, Maria Vorster, Willem Barkhuizen; 10 Pat Hill, Sheila Slinger; 12 Donald Schaefer, Mandy Perks; 17 Annelies Boeke, Denis Ansell; 21 Annemarie Hammerschmidt; 26 Sandra Johnston.
JUNE
02 Nita Laing; 03 Jill Vietch, Lorraine Hartwig, Andy Knight; 09 Peter Vietch, Laureen Falkenberg;, 15 Bev Owen, Sandra Epstein, Stuart Johnston; 17 Pat Kumm; 20 Shirley Hartwig; 21 Paddy Garrett; 24 Maria Vorster; 25 Dorte Hennings, Kathy Mogg; 29 Gill Ansell.
Thought for the day: ‘Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows’. In Search of the Perfect Happiness: Santa Montefiore
Until next time
Angie Carlson