October 2026 newsletter 406
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PROBUS CLUB NORTH SYDNEY
president’s report
October got off to a great start with the Probus 50th anniversary celebration at the Crows Nest Centre on the first Friday of the month. It was great to see so many North Sydney Probus members celebrating the Probus landmark. I know how much planning and effort goes into such a successful event, an I am sure you will all join me in thanking Maryann Irvin and the other members of the cluster group for organising such a successful and enjoyable event.
The year’s end is approaching, with only 2 more meetings before Christmas. I would encourage all of you who are in a position to do so to consider taking on a role on the committee - next March we will need to elect a new president and new treasurer, as both these roles will become vacant (under the constitution there are maximum terms permissible for these roles). Elizabeth and I would be happy to discuss what is required for these roles with anyone who is interested. There are also many other roles on the committee (vice president, walks, outings, talks and film organisers) which you may be interested in.
And finally, a reminder that I need your lunch orders for next Tuesday emailed to me by 9am on Monday 19 October. The menu options are the same as for last month. You will need to pay for your meal on arrival at the club before the meeting on Tuesday morning to ensure timely arrival of your meal at lunchtime.
I look forward to seeing you all at next week’s meeting
Barbara B, President
membership
Membership is currently 57 in total 40 females and 17 males. Prue T has resigned; we thank Prue for her contribution.
A suggestion box will be left on the table at the upcoming meeting. We welcome any suggestions, comments or ideas the members would like to pass on to the Committee.
Deon C
Membership Officer
october birthdays
Joan B
Eleanor S
Bill B
polly g is now a 
centenarian!
Probus North Sydney Life Member Polly Gow celebrated her 100th birthday on the 29th September 2026. We
congratulate her on a life well lived.
Club Vice President Lis T has provided some details of Polly’s life and her association with Probus:
★ Polly joined our club in August 1998!
★ I think on her retirement and move to Sydney from Adelaide.
★ Polly moved to Adelaide from California in the late 60's or early 70's.
★ She produced our Newsletters from Jan 2013 until March 2022!
★ She was made a Life Member in 2021!
★ She has one surviving son in California and 8
grandchildren (some here, some in California) and
several great grandchildren.
★ She moved into Aged Care 5 years ago when she
had to stop coming to meetings.
october movie
Tuesday 27th October 2026. Cremorne Orpheum, Time
tba, meet prior at Siborg Café.
Shaun the Sheep - The Beast of Mossy Bottom.
The residents of Mossy Bottom look forward to
Halloween, until the clumsy Farmer trashes the Flock’s
beloved pumpkin patch. Shaun turns Mad Scientist to fix
the problem. The farmer is missing & a wild beast is
roaming the woods of Mossingham. A monstrously fun
family adventure.
Susan G on behalf of
Peter W Movies Organiser
october outing report
On Saturday October 10, a party of 20 members and friends went to this year's performance of the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera at Shore School, North Sydney. It was a double bill of the hilarious one-act operetta Trial By Jury, followed by a longer piece, The Savoyards, written by two of the
company's long-serving members Dawn Pugh and Nicole Taylor and featuring many of Sullivan's glorious tunes. The singing was wonderful and the costumes spectacular!
Ivan B, Outings Co-Organiser
november outing - melbourne cup day
On Tuesday 3rd November we will be celebrating Melbourne Cup Day at the Cammeray Golf Club. The following people have already made bookings:
Susan G., Peter W., Margaret B., Noreen B. and friend, Lyn M., Carol-anne B., and Jocelyn M. If there is anyone else who would like to join this group please contact Jocelyn ASAP.
december outing – christmas lunch
Our “modern” Christmas Lunch will be held on Tuesday 8th December at Infusions at Cammeray. Cost will be around $50 pp. Please note that this will not be a traditional Christmas dinner. Over the past few years members have been unhappy about the quality of the food as well as the ever-increasing rise in prices. At the last meeting members overwhelmingly voted for a change. We will be seeking numbers at the next meeting.
Jocelyn M Outings Organiser
october speaker
This month's speaker is Sandra Lyall, a foundation member of Wollstonecraft Probus Club. Her presentation is entitled 'The Kimberley'.
Sandra had a long career in both advertising and broadcast media and following retirement, her main hobby is travel. She has travelled extensively throughout Australia and has visited 75 different countries. However, the Kimberly is a favourite place and her presentation covers history, geography, its unique landscape and some interesting stories of people who have lived there. Ivan B, Speakers Organiser
october walk report - artarmon byways Six intrepid (foolhardy?) Probian walkers braved the sprinkling rain to do the Artarmon By-ways Walk. Starting with coffee at Youge Cafe in Chatswood, we proceeded to Cordia Way in Artarmon. We met a woman who was adding books to a street library. One particular one was written about a woman who pushed for the creation of the Cordia Way! She kindly took the group photo. As it would be quite muddy, the Artarmon Reserve was by-passed by going along Burra Road. Then through the lanes of Artarmon to the Pacific Highway and onto The Great Northern Hotel for lunch. A few more joined us there. A walk of about 4km with some trivia thrown in. It took about an hour and a half.
Douglas I, Walks Organiser
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member spotlight - Lyn M
Editor’s Note: In this new section of the Probus Newsletter members are invited to share a short story about their life. The aim is simple: help us get to know each other better and to spark conversations. Here is Lyn’s Story:
Hi,
I’ve always lived in this part of the world – I grew up in Willoughby, the family business was in Northbridge, I went to school at North Sydney Girls High and now I live in Cremorne Point. As a young woman in the 1960’s I went to secretarial college.
My first job was with Unilever – a large and wonderful English company that really looked after its staff. Marriage at 20 and 2 children shortly thereafter followed – again, a sign of the times. When I went back to work it was with a computer company – Wang Computers. Many of you may remember them, an American company, with big ambitions in Australia. It was exciting times in the mid 80’s as computers were rapidly introduced to the business world. And my career progressed too – now a Human Resources Manager, my job was busy and interesting which I thoroughly enjoyed. I travelled to their Head Office in Boston, USA, and I was posted to London for a short time to manage a worldwide project
– travelling all over Europe – what a buzz. And when I ‘retired’ I found myself doing Consulting work on big projects for some big companies – Optus being one and Burns Philp another. In between all this activity, I obtained a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Macquarie University Business School.
I learnt the love of travel – and have been to all seven continents in the world – the ones I loved the most were Antarctica and Africa. Such different and amazing experiences. Staying on the banks of the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe watching hippos go by, and then canoeing down the river for a few days seeing elephants, crocodiles and birds galore; and several years later seeing a sea (thousands) of King Penguins on an icy beach on South Georgia Island in the middle of the southern Atlantic Ocean, followed by frozen ice and snow in Antarctica - these images are forever etched in my memory. For the Antarctic trip I was travelling on a Russian scientific ship with world famous guides which added to the experiences not many get to enjoy. I have just returned from a trip with my son to Canada and Alaska. It was great.
I love to swim (am happy that North Sydney Pool is now open again), reading, catching up with friends, sewing (all types – clothes, projects, quilts – anything that requires a needle and thread), playing Mahjong, gardening (in the Community Garden in the front of my apartment, which we created during Covid) – and just being me. My son is a graphic designer with News Ltd, working crazy hours, having enjoyed being Art Director for Qantas Magazine and Australian Geographic. He lives not far from me, and we enjoy spending time together on his days off. Two favourite activities are swimming at Balmoral Beach then having lunch at Kazi’s – and going to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
My daughter was raised in the city but is now deeply entrenched in the world of agriculture in Wagga Wagga. She is busy on their farm and at the same time is a Board Director with a Government Agency. My three grown up grandchildren are all involved in agriculture and I feel the future is in good hands. It’s never dull in their house and I am always amused by tales and photos from the farm.
I love coming to Probus. There is always something happening and friends to see. I enjoy the meetings and the guest speakers, the outings, the special events like the Melbourne Cup Lunch, opportunities to go walking and to the cinema – there are always endless ways to get involved. Thanks go to all those who make it happen.
november walk - bronte to bondi The November walk will be the annual Bronte to Bondi with lunch at Bondi Icebergs. Unfortunately the Sculptures by the Sea will finish on November the 2nd so we will have to imagine what that was like.
Meet at Town Hall Station Platform 5 at about 9:55am for the 10:02am train to Bondi Junction. At Stand K catch Bus 379 at 10:21 to Bronte for coffee. Stroll around to the
Bondi Icebergs for lunch. Times may be updated.
december walk
December walk is the Kent Memorial Walk held on the 1st of December.
probus 50th anniversary morning tea report
Judging from the number of positive responses, the 50th anniversary morning tea was a great success. Just over 70 people attended and were welcomed and congratulated on the milestone by the Mayor, Zoe Baker, the member for North Shore, Felicity Wilson, MP and a member of Lane Cove Rotary, Sue Raveane.
Graeme Spindler and his Celtic Band then encouraged those present to sing along with the chorus to several well-known celtic tunes. It was a real treat. Members were then able to mix and mingle with Probians from other clubs over morning tea and a wonderful array of food provided by Vanilla Blue in Artarmon.
Our master of ceremonies for the morning was Bev Carlyon, who was an enormous help in finalising all arrangements. The game of heads and tails was over in a trice, and North Sydney missed out on the champagne. However, our very own Jackie Mavlian won one of the lucky door prizes - a book of ten movie tickets for the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace. cluster muster
Lane Cove Probus is organising an OnCourse tour of the Rookwood Cemetery for Monday 22nd March 2027. This includes luxury bus transport, morning tea, a guided tour of the cemetery, a place of remembrance, beauty and heritage, and a break for lunch which is also provided. Mary Ann will have a couple of brochures available for this.
Cost is $110 (based on a minimum of 30); or $128 (based on a minimum of 20). Pickup and drop off will be at the Lane Cove Bowling Club, 151 Burns Bay Rd, Lane Cove.
Mary Ann I - co-organiser for outings
member spotlight - Susan G
Editor’s Note: In this new section of the Probus Newsletter members are invited to share a short story about their life. The aim is simple: help us get to know each other better and to spark conversations. Here is Susan’s Story:
EARLY LIFE: Growing up in Killara, our family home had a huge garden on the edge of the Lane Cove National Park. I enjoyed a wonderful childhood, was involved with the local community, Anglican church, Brownies, Guides, bike riding, family holidays, tennis & ballet lessons. I attended
Beaumont Road Public School & Roseville College, both of which I enjoyed greatly & my closest friends are from those happy times.
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WORK: I had always wanted to become a nurse, completing my General Nursing & Midwifery training at Hornsby & Ku-Ring-Gai Hospital and Intensive Care training at RNSH. Later followed by a Bachelor of Nursing at UTS & several other courses. In 1989 I began nursing with the Bush Church Aid Society along the railway line in remote South Australia. I loved remote area nursing & spent ten years working in NSW, SA & WA, including pastoral, indigenous & mining communities & as a Flight Nurse with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. In 2007 I spent several weeks volunteering at the Port Vila Hospital in Vanuatu. I then returned to
Sydney as a Flight Nurse with the NSW Air Ambulance Service for many years. My final role was a Community Health Nurse at Concord Hospital. My parents became ill & I took early retirement to care for them.
HOBBIES: Travel and experiencing the wonders of the world is a great passion. I have been fortunate to visit many fascinating & beautiful places within Australia & overseas & am constantly looking for new adventures. I enjoy bushwalking, gardening, the arts, music, movies, reading, church activities, volunteering & seeing my friends. I recently renovated & moved into my grandparent’s house in Cammeray & have enjoyed becoming part of this lovely community.
MEMORABLE STORY: Whilst working with the RFDS the ABC TV department produced a series “Flight for Life” & I was featured in episode 3. Life in the outback is challenging. I met many extra ordinary & inspiring people who displayed true courage in the face of great adversity. It was a privilege to live in this unique & wonderful part of Australia.
JOINING PROBUS: In January 2026 I joined North Sydney Probus. Everyone is very warm, welcoming & friendly. I am enjoying meeting new people & attending the various interesting activities. Long may it continue.
our regular tuesday monthly schedule 1st Tuesday outing
2nd Tuesday walk
3rd Tuesday committee meeting 9.15 am followed by general meeting 10.15 am 4th Tuesday movie
5th Tuesday picnic/lunch/other activity
dates for the diary:
october, november, december
Tuesday 20 October, 9.15am Probus Committee meeting, followed by
Tuesday 20 October, 10.15am Probus General meeting, Northbridge Golf Club Tuesday 27th October Cremorne Orpheum, Shaun the Sheep - The Beast of Mossy Bottom. Time tba, meet prior at Siborg Café. Time tba.
Tuesday 3rd November Melbourne Cup Outing
Tuesday 10th November Walk - Bronte to Bondi
Tuesday 17th November 9.15am Probus Committee meeting, followed by Tuesday 17th November 10.15am Probus General meeting, Northbridge Golf Club Tuesday 24th November Movie tba.
Tuesday 1st December - Kent Memorial Walk
Tuesday 8th December - Christmas Lunch at Infusions at Cammeray
Monday 22nd March 2027 - Lane Cove Probus is organising an OnCourse tour of the Rookwood Cemetery.
probus north sydney blogspot
http://probusnorthsydney.blogspot.com/
probus nth sydney general email address: probusnthsyd@gmail.com
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