President’s Report: As I am away in the UK at present I thought this month I would give you a little background to the origins of the Probus movement. When I began my research I was intrigued to learn that the first ‘Probus’ club was set up in 1965 by Rotary members in the Hertfordshire town of Welwyn Garden City. It is a place very familiar to me as I grew up only six miles away and for some time worked as a reporter on the Welwyn Times. I may well be visiting friends there while you read this newsletter.
The Club was called the Campus Club after the name of a park in the town centre, somewhere I spent many a lunchbreak! I notice the club is still known as that although it operates under the Probus banner. The idea was to provide a club for retired and semi-retired business and professional men—often ex-commuters to London—and even today it still operates as a ‘men only’ club! A second similar club in Caterham, Surrey began in 1966, introducing the name ‘Probus’ for Professional Business. This too is still a ‘men only’ club, meeting once a month for lunch followed by a speaker.
Probus arrived in the Southern Hemisphere after a New Zealand Rotarian, Gordon Roatz, visited his wife’s family in Scotland. One of the cousins went to a Probus club and it transpired that Rotary had sponsored it. Gordon felt the concept was worth introducing to the growing number of retired residents in his hometown not far north of Wellington. The Probus Club of Kapiti Coast began in 1974 with 12 members and it is recorded at the first meeting that the ladies served morning tea! The success soon spread to Australia when Hunters Hill opened a club in 1976. Seven years later The Probus Club of North Sydney became the first mixed Probus club in Australia—quite a claim to fame! Across the world Probus is now in 23 countries with over 4000 clubs and almost half a million members.
Membership Report: Our membership stands at 56 (36 women and 20 men). News was received a few days ago that long term member Geoff C passed away recently. Geoff had been inactive for quite some time, but his son Ross wrote that his father had very much enjoyed his time spent in our Club.
Many Happy Returns of the Day for your September Birthday: Paul O 01, Gary P 13, Douglas I 17, Margaret R 20, Patrick W 20, Polly G 29.
Guest Speaker: Today we welcome Robin Brookfield, who will discuss (and demonstrate!) the world of music. Next month Sue Brian will talk to us about Norfolk Island.
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 15th October. The committee meetings are conducted in the Northbridge Golf Club at 9:15 on the same day. Members are welcome to attend.
Activities:
Probus Walkers Tuesday 8th October: Stoney Range Botanic Reserve + Bada Muru Walk to Curl Curl Beach.
On this walk we will visit the Stoney Ridge Botanic Reserve where many of the species have their botanical identification tags. From here we will continue along Harbor Road and take the Bada
Muru Walk following Greendale Creek to John Fisher Park and ending at Curl Curl Beach and a bus to Manly.
Refreshment/lunch at Manly or en route at Harbord Diggers Club.
MEET: 9:15am at Stand D in Carrington Street, Wynyard to catch the 180 bus at 9:34am to Dee Why.
Probus Outings:
Tuesday 24th September: Fairground Follies, Bowral.
Fairground Follies offers a fascinating space, filled with an Antique Mechanical Music Museum. This warehouse space displays a replica of a traditional fairground. It houses some pieces which are now unique. Bowral is a long trip, so departure by bus is at 8 am. Costs: Bus $30, Entry $33. Morning tea on arrival, and the tour commences at 10:15am. Lunch TBA.
Tuesday 22nd October. Maritime Museum. The Australian National Maritime Museum is a federally operated maritime museum at 2 Murray St. in Darling Harbour, Sydney. Meet at the Museum at 10:30am. We will have a tour conducted by volunteers. Entry fee is $16 (a 20% discount), and a list of transport options is available on the Museum website, or from Evelyn.
Extra Tuesday Lunch 1st October: A table has been booked at the Watergrill Restaurant in the Sydney Rowers Club, 613 Great North Road, Abbotsford for 12 midday. The car park holds 101 spaces but it is highly recommended we take the ferry from Wharf 5 in Circular Quay at 11:07am to arrive at Abbotsford Wharf at 11:44am. The wharf is only a 50 metre stroll to the club. Note that identification is required at the club if you are not a member.
Recent Books of Interest
Educated, by Tara Westover. In this memoir, Westover details her childhood as the daughter of Mormon fundamentalists in rural Idaho. She grew up without doctors or an awareness of world history or formal schooling. But with the encouragement of one of her brothers, she got into University and now holds a doctorate from Cambridge. Educated was No. 1 on the New York Times Bestsellers for several weeks.
A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. This novel is a fun, clever and surprisingly upbeat look at Russian history through the eyes of one man. At the beginning of the book, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is sentenced to spend his life under house arrest in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel. It’s 1922, and the Bolsheviks have just taken power of the newly formed Soviet Union. The book follows the Count for the next thirty years as he makes the most of his life despite its limitations.
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