Central Otago retirees have the opportunity to strengthen both those parts of their wellbeing with the U3A series of talks in Alexandra, with the first starting in Alexandra tomorrow.
U3A co-ordinator Roger Browne said the first series topic this year was local democracy with a different speaker for each of the three talks. First up tomorrow is the recently appointed Central Otago District Council (CODC) chief executive Peter Kelly. Following Mr Kelly on March 15 would be CODC councillor Tamah Alley on the future of local government and what to expect with the changes that are coming.
Cr Alley is a second-term councillor and the council lead for the Future for Local Government Review.
Central Otago District Mayor Tim Cadogan would be the final speaker in the series on April 5 reflecting on the unprecedented escalation of costs facing councils and how they got to that point.
Dr Browne said each year he called a meeting to gather ideas for future series and topics. People then sourced speakers from the lower South Island and Dr Browne drew up the timetable for the year.
The area was well placed for interesting speakers with many people retiring to Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes areas as well as the proximity to Dunedin with the University of Otago and museums also supplying speakers at times, he said.
The group meets at St Enoch’s Church in Alexandra each week and those attending pay $5 per session.
There is no obligation to attend every talk.
Seats can be booked through Central Otago Reap at Community House.
U3A — the University of the Third Age — is an international organisation which began in France in 1973 to educate and interest retired people. The third age is the time when people are no longer involved in raising a family or working fulltime.
