PROBUS CLUB OF SOUTH LONDON

President's Message: April 27, 2023

I hope that you are all enjoying the spring weather we are having; even the dull rainy days help the trees to ‘green up’ and the spring flowers to bloom. 

Yesterday I enjoyed seeing a play in Stratford. I feel very lucky to be back ‘in person’ for these treasured spring and summer events in our communities and with our families. We have waited a long time for a more normal way of living, and it seems that we are getting back to a more normal way of life as we move outdoors this spring and summer. 

We had an excellent turnout of guests at our April meeting. Thank you for inviting your friends to attend. Our guest speaker – Bill Shepard of the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association – was terrific. I learned a lot about the folks who maintain and fly these planes and the Association which is located so close to us in Tillsonburg. I encourage you to visit their website ( https://harvards.com/ ) to learn more about their activities and their upcoming Fly Days in May and June. 

Several of the Management Committee attended the District 5 Probus Clubs’ meeting in Stratford on April 20th. We met members of about 18 clubs from our area. Working through the day, we shared ideas and left the meeting with lots of suggestions for speakers for general meetings, activities and outings. We are planning to develop some shared outings in future with the London North Club; we know that this works well as we worked together on the Climate Change workshop last fall. We can always learn from what other clubs are doing. I came away thankful that we have an effective website for our club. We are starting to use the website even more for our social events. We also have a good number of interest groups in our Club, thanks to the efforts of many of our members. 

Your Nominations Committee is making good progress in recruiting new members of the Management Committee for coming year. And we still need to recruit new members. If you would like to join the Management Committee or if you have ideas for next year, please let us know. 

For our May general meeting we have our member Hilda Smeltzer speaking about her experiences and memories of World War II. We are continuing our “Be a Friend, Bring a Friend” membership campaign for the May meeting. Please bring someone who you think might enjoy getting to know our club and our members.  

In closing, I hope that you are enjoying getting outside these days, whether it is gardening, walking, golfing, reading or whatever you like. In the words of Horace – “Carpe Diem – Seize the Day”. Each spring day is a gift for us to enjoy.

General Meeting & Speaker, May 17, 2023

Hilda will be our speaker for May, speaking about her World War II experiences.

Bill Shepard was our April speaker. He spoke on the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association.  Check out their website!!

Pictured with Bill is Nancy

Birthdays:

Dianne , Carole, Inez, Meredith, Marg, Bill, Andrea, Elsie, Louise.

Social Events

Sign-up for our Social Events online:  

Click on one of the event links below, then hit the register button to sign up for that event and bring your cheque to the meeting! If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact Nancy.

May 2:  Niagara Falls Hydro Tour Those attending the hydro tour on May 2nd are advised to dress warmly. The weather looks cool and we will be underground where it will be cooler still. The bus departs from Riverside Church at 8:10 a.m. sharp, so don’t be late!

There has been a good response to the Spring luncheon which will be held at the Highland Golf Club on June 22nd. You can register online, or at the May meeting. Members have a choice of entrée – roast chicken, stuffed pork tenderloin or vegetarian. Please be sure you have indicated which entrée you are requesting. If you haven’t signed up yet, the cost is $42 per person.  Please make your cheque payable to the PROBUS Club of South London.

June 13. Walters Music Theatre Trip. The tickets for the Walters Theatre show on June 13th are sold out. This is a carpool event and the passengers and drivers have been matched up. Please check the list at the next meeting to see who you are riding with and make contact with them to determine time and pick up points. Please be sure to contribute to gas costs if you are a passenger.

Lunch after the General Meeting on May 17th is at Chuck’s Roadhouse Bar & Grill, 666 Wonderland Rd. N., London (https://www.chucksroadhouse.com/menu/)                                             

Dine Out:

Dine out for May will be on Wednesday, May 3, at The Pickle Barrel (https://picklebarrel.ca/menu/). Address: 387 Wellington Rd. S., London at Commissioners Rd. E.  Telephone: 226-330-0299.  Time: 12 PM (noon)    Register by: Friday, April 28, 2023.  

Contact: Diane

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.  We meet in Westmount Mall across from Tim Horton's.

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  coffee meet ups, in the photo section at the end of the newsletter! Convenor: Shirley.   We meet in Westmount Mall across from Tim Horton's.

Women's  Coffee: Click here to see more coffee photos.

Men's Coffee: Click here to see more coffee photos.

Investment Club:

Contact Don.  Meetings held at Riverbend, 2nd Wednesday of the month.

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.  If interested in being a spare, call Convenor: Gail.

Support:

If you know someone who is feeling under the weather or needs cheering up,  please contact Connnie.

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 or Liz,  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

Who Am I? Speakers - Our Who Am I - in April was Andrea.

As the convenors of an event or group please to submit pictures to me to include in the newsletter,  as well as a brief description of what has been discussed ie. book club - the book and author and how it was received; dine out - where it was, how many attended and brief description of the food; investment club - some snip of interest etc.

Thank you for your co-operation in this matter to ensure our newsletter is more interesting to our members.