Newsletter 322 20 November 2018
From the President: Firstly, following Susan Myer’s recent resignation as Vice President, it gives me much pleasure to advise that Ivan Blake has kindly agreed to be our new Vice President. He has also agreed to retain his role as Membership Convenor until the next AGM. I’m sure you will all join me in thanking Ivan for agreeing to take on both jobs.
Secondly, as advised at the last meeting, this month’s newsletter will start a new item under the heading “Meet a Member”, on page 2, which we hope will be of interest to everyone. To get the ball rolling, the Committee has agreed to provide their individual vignettes by rotation, and they’ve ‘volunteered’ me as the first guinea pig!
Membership Report: With the induction of Wilma Johnson last month, our membership now stands at 56 (34 ladies, 22 men). This does exceed the one third/two third ratio, but hopefully we will find some more male members soon!
Many Happy Returns of the Day for Your November Birthday: Linda Appleton 06, Geoffrey Caton 07, Clive Williams 09, Robin Solomon 14, Marie Ayres 15, Mary Ann Irvin 21 and Evelyn Kelly 26.
Program of Activities
Guest Speaker: Today we welcome Harvey Broadbent, whose talk is entitled “Weird and not so Wonderful Histories”.
Probus Walkers:
Tuesday 4th December. Cremorne to Mosman Bay.
Our traditional “Kent Memorial Walk” will again this year take us by ferry to Cremorne, where a coffee can be enjoyed at the wharf before proceeding to Cremorne Point to see the views. We continue along the harbourside scenic path to Mosman Bay. At Mosman we catch a bus to Spit Junction for lunch at The Mosman Hotel. Non-walkers are welcome to join us at the hotel around 12 noon.
MEET: At Circular Quay 9:20am Wharf 4, to catch the 9:30am ferry.
Probus Outings:
Tuesday 27th November. Cruise on the Hawkesbury River.
The Cruise will be ‘The Riverboat Postman Run’. We have done this fairly recently, but it will give us a lovely day on the water—it rained last time we went, let’s hope for sunshine! Morning tea and lunch provided for $45.00. Drink purchases are extra. We will go to Brooklyn by train to the Hawkesbury River Station. Taking T1 rail line to Hornsby, departing St. Leonards at 7:50am. Change at Hornsby to Central Coast and Newcastle line departing 8:23am, platform 5. Let’s meet at the second last carriage.
Tuesday 11th December: Christmas Luncheon at Northbridge Golf Club.
Tuesday 22 January: Train to Richmond. Details TBA.
Meet a Member
I was born in England during the Second World War. After the war, with London seriously bombed and rationing at its peak, my parents decided to emigrate to South Africa. After 6 years in South Africa they became concerned with the introduction of apartheid, following the change of Government in that country, and we emigrated again to New Zealand. As with many people of our vintage, the war had a big influence on my family’s lives.
We settled into NZ well, and my brother and sister still live there. After school, I joined an insurance company and was excited to learn they sometimes transferred staff overseas (my earlier experiences had probably given me the travel bug?). After 5 years I was lucky enough to be selected for the international staff, though my first posting to Nigeria wasn’t very high on my list of exciting destinations! However, I got luckier, and spent the next 40 years living in some very interesting countries including India, South Africa (again), Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.
The highlight of working in India for 2 years was meeting my wife, Gillian. Along the way we have been blessed with a son, a daughter, and 5 grandchildren. When I retired in 2008, Gillian and I were faced with several choices as to where we would spend the rest of our lives. By then our son was married and had settled in the UK and our daughter had married and settled in Sydney. Keeping in close contact with our family was a high priority during our retirement years. We opted to Settle in Sydney, and ‘disappear’ to the UK for lengthy trips each year to see our son and family.
Patrick
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 January 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.
Recent Probus Activities: On the left, the tour of Kids Research at Westmead last month, and on the right the walk from Bondi to Bronte this month.
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