Residents at the retirement village and the students have conversed on a vast array of subjects.

Allan Dufty conducted a show-and-tell of his World Masters Games swimming medals. 

This created an abundance of questions from the children and the enjoyment of reminiscing could be seen on Allan and the children’s faces.

Coin collections, old photos and memorabilia have enthralled the children making for great conversations between the young and the elderly. 

The school ended the year’s visits with a Christmas musical event and students and elderly sang carols together.

The smiles and interactions these visits create are blessings to be observed.

A huge thank-you to teacher Rob Russack, the school and the children.

I take strong issue with the argument put by Jeff de Jäger (Narooma News, December 6) in which he seems to be saying that, as the Narooma pool is old and needs work, a replacement 50m pool should be built in Batemans Bay (presumably at Narooma's expense).

I have watched, in recent years, the continual stream of demands made by Batemans Bay residents for a replacement pool, with the argument being that they have some sort of entitlement to the facility, and that governments, presumably local, state and federal, should cough up the money for it, and Mr de Jäger wants it to be at the expense of Narooma's facility, because it's old and needs work. 

To reiterate the history (most of the Bay proponents should know this), Narooma has a covered 50m heated pool because Narooma residents raised the money over a quarter of a century to pay for it. Following a generous bequest by Ted Street in the early 1960s, Narooma people raised hundreds of thousands of dollars (millions in today's money) to pay for their pool. Contrast this with the Bay's effort of $50,000 over the past 25 years. Mr de Jäger thinks it's reasonable that Narooma ratepayers, having paid for their own facility, should now pay for one in the Bay, because residents up there can't be bothered raising the money.

Mr de Jäger should consider applying some elbow grease to cake stalls, trivia nights and communal barbecues rather than writing letters to newspapers looking for government handouts and dumping on the great facility that Narooma residents gained through their sweat and huge effort over decades.

The Eurobodalla branch of the Animal Welfare League has had a wonderful year, with great friendships, great fun and wonderful achievements. 

Thanks to the community’s support, we have managed to raise funds to help unwanted, unloved and abandoned pets. The de-sexing month in July was so successful we extended it to August and broke all previous records for de-sexing cats and dogs, with the occasional ferret and rabbit in the mix. 

We run this with the RSPCA and Eurobodalla Shire Council, so many thanks to them and all the vets in the area who support this vital piece of our work. We rehomed so many kittens and cats that, until the new kitten season got under way, we were almost out of animals! Sadly, our result with dogs was not so good as we are still desperate for carers for medium and large breeds. Phone 0410 016 612.