Louise Wilson spoke about how her and Marcia Daniel went to Bathurst in 1998 to attend their showcase and enrolment day as they looked to establish a branch in the local area.

And how they held their inaugural Mudgee meeting expecting 30-40 interested locals, putting out chairs for 60, and getting 90 people attend.

“It think that it’s continued to follow much of what was set out at that time and been, thankfully, a very great success,” she said.

First president of the local organisation, Ian Chapman, was invited to the luncheon and said, “I’m glad to see that the work is continuing because it’s been a great success and in this society it’s becoming evident that you need something like U3A”.

And joked that ‘University of the Fourth Age’ might be more his speed.

Current president Judith Darling closed formalities with a toast “to Mudgee District U3A, the achievements of the past and present, and may there be many more achievements in the future”.

As a memento a copy of the Term 4 programme from 1998 was reprinted, which offered eight courses for the Mudgee’s retirees/semi-retirees.

The local branch now offers around five times that, in fields including art, history, language, literature, music, photography, and technology.

The 2019 showcase and enrolment day will be held in January, visit www.mudgeedistrictu3a.org.au for more information.