“I always come home having learnt something new!”
That’s the general opinion of members who attend Beaudesert U3A’s weekly trivia puzzling sessions. And it’s just the way things should be, they agree, since the whole aim of U3A is to encourage growth and learning in the third stage of life (retirement).
The trivia group of 15-18 regular attendees meets every Wednesday afternoon in St Thomas’ Church Hall, but the afternoon’s regular 75 questions are never an onerous job for one quizmaster, because the group members volunteer to take turns in setting the questions.
Organiser Jenny Hughes says that the questions come from a wide range of sources, including TV, magazines, Google, local knowledge or news bulletins.
“Because we all have different interests there is a wide variety, some easy, some hard.
“We don’t play for sheep stations or have any prizes as it’s all about playing against yourself and seeing how much you can retrieve from your memory bank…. trivia is a great way to keep your brain active.
“Our focus is on having fun and socialising.”
Keen group members Liz Avery and Denise Martin are longterm local residents and have always enjoyed quizzes.
Both see an interesting gender difference in attendees, with males and females both preferring questions from their own gender.
“It’s yes to footy, cars, stuff like that, from the men!” Liz says, adding that her own particular favourite, literature, does not rate with the male members and nor do questions about movies.
Denise agrees that having so many quiz masters makes for “interesting” results, although as she points out, “what goes around comes around” so that one week’s sport and motor car questions give way next time to books, history, geography etc. and as she says, “we all like it, we must as we go each week!”
Her personal preference is general knowledge and she’s not very keen on modern pop music…which however “tends not to arise as of course we are all old!”
All three say they feel privileged to be part of a “great group of people who all muck in to get the job done and provide a relaxed afternoon.”
Jenny joined U3A in 2017 after moving from New Zealand as a means of meeting people and getting to know the district and has been a member of the trivia group from its inception in 2018.
“There’s an amazing number of different activities in U3A and I defy any older person in Beaudesert to say they are bored”, she says.
“All you need to do is take the first step – there’s just so much to do here.”
For more information, ring Jenny on 0439 138 212.
Check out U3A Beaudesert on the website, www.beaudesertu3a.com or find us on Facebook.