From the President: Sadly, I have to report that we have lost one of our members. Arthur Pike died of cancer of the bile duct last August at the age of 88, but we have only just learned of his passing. Arthur worked as a stock and station agent out at Trundle in the Central West but owned a flat in Sydney. He joined our club in March 2013 with his friend Lin Bloomfield and was a popular member who came to meetings when in town. I’m sure those who knew him will be sad to hear this news.
At last month’s committee meeting our vice-president Robin Solomon made a suggestion. She enjoyed my recommendation of the Judith Brett book, From Secret Ballotl to Democracy Sausage and thought it a good idea for members to recommend a book they may have recently read. To this end she would like to mention Red Notice by Bill Browder. The author was raised in America in a Communist family but moved to Russia where he founded Hermitage Capital Management, the largest foreign investor in Russia. His lawyer was brutally murdered in police custody after exposing State corruption and as a result the author has been leading a global campaign to expose human rights abuses endemic in Russia. His actions have made him an enemy of Putin.
If anyone else would like to recommend a book, let me know and we’ll include it in the next newsletter.
Membership Report: Our membership stands at 55 (35 women and 20 men).
Many Happy Returns of the Day for Your June Birthday: Judy C 06, Sally J 06, Ivan B 08, Judy M 10, Janice G 16, and Ches W 21.
Guest Speaker: Today we welcome Annette Janic, whose topic is “A Refugee Story”.
Last month’s speaker, Dr. Frenn Aben, has requested feedback on his presentation about Home Care Services, and has provided the following link to a survey for members: ttps://tinyurl.com/y44wyumc.
Also today, Douglas Irvin will give a brief talk about Internet Search Engines, which includes the following Search Engine web site: Duckduckgo.com.
Note: All our Probus meetings are generally held on the third Tuesday of every month at 10:15am. The next meeting will be held on 16th July 2019. The committee meetings are conducted in the Northbridge Golf Club at 9:15am on the same day as the meeting. Members are welcome to attend.
Programme of Activities:
Probus Walkers
Tuesday 9th July 2019. Bay Run—Birkenhead to Rozelle
This is an easy flat walk around
the Bay stopping for coffee at a café about 30 minutes into our walk. We continue along the path which follows
Henry Marine Drive and will end our walk at Rozelle. Easy flat walking approx. 6 klms. Return to city for lunch/refreshments. MEET: Druitt Street in the city at bus stop
Stand L, situated between Kent and Sussex Sts. at 9:30am to catch the next bus
passing to Birkenhead.
Probus Outings:
Tuesday 25th June 2019: Dangar Island on the Hawkesbury River. On the T1 train leaving North Sydney Station at 08:40am, giving us 6 minutes at Hornsby to change for the train to Hawkesbury River Station. The ferry to Dangar Island leaves Brooklyn at 10:15am, arriving Dangar at 10:55am. Reverse trip leaves Dangar at 2:30pm, with the train leaving Hawkesbury River Station at 15:26pm. An earlier ferry leaves at 1:15pm, departing train leaving at 14:27pm. Opal fare is $2.50, the ferry is $7 each way.
Tuesday 23rd July SPASM Museum at Gladesville Hospital. The Society for Preservation of the Artefacts of Surgery & Medicine is the sole owner and governing body of the SPASM Museum. The society consists of a group of volunteer members who have a keen interest in portable heritage items and memorabilia related to nursing and medicine. (Further details of the collection in the July newsletter). Lunch at Nth Ryde RSL, Bus fare $30; leave Northbridge at 9:00am.
Meet a Member—Paul B.
My parents and I arrived from Budapest in August 1939 after my father was offered a job to work with the agricultural implement company John Shearer. I was 8 years old. Much of my early boyhood was spent at Mannum on the Murray River—an idyllic existence for a young lad! I completed my education in Adelaide, winning a scholarship to Adelaide University. A year later we moved to Sydney, but the scholarship was not transferrable so I went to work in various capacities and later took over my father’s business. I married and had a son who became a butterfly swimmer and the Australian champion in the under 15, 16 and 17 age groups, much to our delight and to that of his coach, Forbes Carlisle. In addition to our son, we adopted a baby girl from Sri Lanka. I travelled extensively with tour groups to Italy, France, many Eastern bloc countries as well as Greece and Turkey and later to South America. Some of these educational tours were led by Margaret and Gough Whitlam, who regaled us with his encyclopaedic knowledge and wit. After retirement I joined Rostrum, Probus and U3A. Like my father, I enjoyed public speaking and quite soon was asked to perform at a great many U3As, including in Adelaide and Melbourne. Most of my talks centred around famous historical figures, but my most popular topic by far was “The History of Our Calendar” which I have delivered more than 100 times. It was recorded on a CD and has been posted on U Tube. It was during my “19th Century Opera” series that I met my new partner Annika in 2004. These days I enjoy being a grandparent to my grandson, granddaughter and recently to a ‘brown’ baby girl. I no longer deliver talks, but I like attending U3A presentations which provide a constant source of new and interesting knowledge.
Here are photos from our June walk:
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