President's Message
I thought that we had a great general meeting last week. Those who attended were treated to an excellent presentation by Kristene Steed, owner operator of Rheo Thompson Candies in Stratford and to some very tasty Rheo Thompson chocolates as well! Thank you so much to Karen and Marian for all your work to bring speakers to talk to our members at each of our general meetings.
Our membership is growing; as of Oct 26, we have 102 members. In July 2022 we were at 87 members. Please reach out to our new members as they start to participate in our club meetings and interest groups. It helps everyone if we remember to wear our name badges to general and interest group meetings. We can each remember what it was like to be a new member and now pleasant it feels for members to introduce themselves and make a new member more comfortable in the group.
Thanks to the work of our past presidents Shirley and Bob Harris, I am happy to report to you that we have ‘Who Am I’ and ‘Slice of Life’ presenters lined up for our general meetings till the end of the 2022/23 meeting year. This is also a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know each other better.
We joined forces with the London North Probus club in supporting the City of London Climate Change and You event at Gateway Church on Oct 25th. It was an excellent opportunity to learn about our city’s approach to climate change and what we can each do to make a difference in our collective future living here in London Ontario. There were door prizes and treats to add to the excitement of the event. We were outnumbered by the London North club in terms of the numbers of members attending. Greg Belz, the London North Probus Club president, and I agree that this combined club support was a good idea that we may repeat in the future.
Thank you to all our members who participate in general meetings and interest groups and, in doing so, help us meet the Probus goals of friendship, fellowship and fun.
General Meeting & Speaker, October 19, 2022
Kristene Steed is the owner-operator of Rheo Thompson Candies and has 32 years of experience in the retail industry, starting out with the Hudson Bay Company. She was part of the team which created the concept store for Home Outfitters and then was recruited to become the Eastern Canadian Director of Photolabs and Electronics for the Loblaws Companies. She moved back to her hometown to purchase Rheo Thompson Candies in 2003 with husband Marc Johnstone.
Kristene wears many hats in running a small business including leading a customer-focused retail and e-commerce operation, merchandising, sourcing giftware and packaging, procurement of all non-confection materials, human resources, financial analysis, and inventory controls. She maintains up-to-date industry knowledge through regular attendance at industry tradeshows and seminars in Canada, United States and Europe.
She graduated from Western University (Bachelor of Arts, Sociology) and then received her Bachelor of Arts Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. The Gallery Stratford, Stratford Tourism Alliance/ Destination Stratford Board and the Stratford Middle Years School’s Parent Advisory Group are organizations to which she has lent her expertise. Kristene joined the Stratford Festival’s Board in March 2021 and serves on the Marketing and Communications committee.
Climate Change Meeting
Click here to see our new photo page! View our participants at the Climate Change meeting hosted jointly by the North and South London PROBUS Club on Tuesday, October 25.
Birthdays
November:
Ellen Wright, Fred Wright, Linda Decker, Heather Buchan, Moira Connell, Wendy Dickinson, Norma Bryce, Sandra Gilmour
Social Events
The sign-up sheets for the events below will be available at the next several meetings. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact Nancy Fazackerley .
Dec 14 – our annual Christmas lunch at Highland Golf and Country Club. Cost is $33.00 for a full turkey dinner, entertainment and door prizes. This event is open to guests as well as members.
January 24- Glow in the Dark Mini Putt at Fleetway at 10:00 a.m. followed by lunch at a local restaurant. Cost is $13.50
Please pay for all events ahead of time, by cheque made payable to Probus Club of South London and note on the cheque which event it is for. This will secure you a place at the event. There will be more information about events in February, March, April and May at the next general meeting on Nov 16.
- June 13, 2023: "Four by Four" Musical at Walters Theatre, Bright ON
Cost $70. Car pooling will be organized closer to the event
There are 6 tickets paid for and 7 more registered but not yet paid, so we should have no problem selling all. We will attempt to get more tickets if needed. More details to follow.
Contact: Sheila James.
Website
Most of our current club documents/records are now available on the website. We have just added new "buttons" on the right hand side of our Home Page for NEWSLETTER, CALENDAR and DIRECTORY (Membership Listing).
Hot off the press! We have just added a PHOTOS button. You can click on it, or click here to see all of our photos this year!
Most of the information is available on our website without the need to login. However to use the online membership Directory or update your profile, you will need to LOG IN—as this information is for members only.
To access the site, just copy and paste: https://www.southlondonprobus.ca into your web browser. Please note: everyone needs to have their own email address to log in—two people sharing an email will not work.
To create your password:
- Click on the Log In icon on the top right corner of the home page
- Type in your email address, then click on Forgot password beside the LOG IN button
- You’ll be sent to a RESET PASSWORD page where you can enter your email address and the code you see there
- Click Submit, then reset instructions for a new password will be emailed to you
- After you have reset the password, if you click on the “Remember Me” box when signing in, the computer will remember your password and signing in should be semi-automatic from then on.
If you have any questions about how to log in to the website, please contact Patrick Scott .
Activities
Lunch After General Meeting:
Join us for lunch after the November meeting. Location to be announced.
Dine Out:
The next Dine Out is at Mandarin Chinese Restaurant, on November 2nd @ 12:00 noon at . Located at 1790 Hyde Park Road, lots of parking at the rear. Senior discounts. If you wish to have your name added to the registration listing please contact Deana Wright by October 31, 2022
Mandarin has an extensive buffet in a casual space offering local and Chinese dishes, as well as Sushi. Come and enjoy a wonderful "CELEBRATION OF TASTE”! For more information, see the event on our calendar.
Coffee Mornings
Men's Coffee:
2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 10:00 a.m. except 4th Monday in December. Call Norman Eligh if you are planning to attend by Sunday evening prior to the coffee meet-up.
Women's Coffee:
2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 10:00 a.m., except 4th Monday in December. See the photos from our October coffee, in the photo section at the end of the newsletter! Convenor: Shirley Harris.
Investment Club:
The Investment group typically meets for about 90 minutes once a month on the second Wednesday. Discussions focus on 1) Canadian and international issues and events that are likely to impact our finances and investments; 2) the performance of and expected prospects for companies which the group "holds" in a virtual Portfolio or might wish to acquire; and 3) finance and investing questions and issues raised by group members. Decisions taken at the most recent meeting included selling a portion of our "shares" in the stocks of Apple and of Nuvista energy, to capture profits and maintain an appropriate balance relative to other holdings. contact Don Jamieson, for more information.
A new member's Account:
I recently joined Probus and have benefited from my attendance in the satellite investor group. My particular circumstance is such that I do not have a previous understanding and contacts within the stock investment realm but have a strong motivation to learn as much as possible to best manage my own personal finances. The two meetings that I have attended have already benefited me and I have acted on some initial advice. The breadth of knowledge the members have is substantial and during and after the second meeting I attended I have been provided with even more information to assist in and accelerate my learning curve. I really appreciate the educational dynamic of the meeting as a 'think tank'. The parallel impetus of the meeting to review past virtual share investments lends itself to getting a more detailed understanding of past and current stock behaviour. I strongly recommend that other members of Probus participate in this group to help them navigate the complex world of investments. I look forward to attending the future meetings. -- Meredith.
Euchre:
4th Thursday of the month (except December) at 1 pm in a member’s home. 8 players maximum plus spares. Usually over in about 3 hours. There is one opening available as well as sub positions. Convenor: Gail Clarke.
Support:
If you know someone who is feeling under the weather or needs cheering up, please contact Connnie Mabb.
Book Club: 
Book Club meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at 2:00 p.m. except December, July & August in a member’s home. Our book club membership is now at capacity. If interested in joining, please call Susan Wolnik or Liz Gordon, to be added to the waiting list. If the waiting list grows to 4-5 members, we will help prospective members form a second book club.
Photo Corner
A big welcome to our newest members!
Left to Right: Susan Wolnik (President), John Wolnik, Nancy Holmes, Moira Connell, Andrea Graham
Women's Coffee: Click here to see more coffee photos.
Men's Coffee: Click here to see more coffee photos.
October20: Anderson Craft Ales Tour. Fun time was had by all who attended. Click here to see the photos!
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