Co-Presidents' Message:
The change from warm summer weather to fall always seems to catch us by surprise. With the abrupt change, our activities also change, usually from outdoors to indoors. We hope some of our Probus activities are of interest to you and you sign-up! If you think of other things we might do, either as an activity or as a visit, please use the suggestion box to let the Management Committee know of your ideas. In October we had a very interesting speaker, Derek Bakelaar from Digi Splint Company. Thank you to Karen Banks for inviting him to speak at our meeting.
You are all aware of the ongoing issues we have had with our audio/video equipment. To say “ours” is not completely true as some of it belongs to the church. The committee is actively working to overcome the problems and hope to have it resolved in the near future.
October was declared PROBUS MONTH by the City of London and contact details about all the London Probus Clubs was published in the London Free Press. Partly as a result of this free publicity we had a good number of potential new members at the October 18th meeting. November’s guest speaker will be announced at a later date.
At the Management Committee meeting we had some discussion about the format of our regular meetings. I.e. Business followed by Guest Speaker or vice versa. The decision was made to remain flexible to best suit the speaker. So, on occasion we may have the speaker on first.
We wish to thank the members of our Management Committee for their guidance and support.
Susan W. - Past President, Nancy F. – Membership Co-ordinator,
Brigitte D. - Newsletter, Mike S. - Treasurer, Liz G. – Secretary,
Nancy H. – Vice President and Marg D. – Social Events Co-ordinator.
Thank you also to Cheryl W. and Marg C. who greet us at the Registration Table, to Louise S. who sells “Share the Wealth” draw tickets and to Bob H. for his work on the Audio/Video equipment.
Thank you all.
Sandra and Jim Gilmour, Co-Presidents
Handover of gavel from President Susan to New Co-Presidents' Jim and Sandra
Share the Wealth: 
Please buy your tickets when you arrive for the meeting as the winner is announced at coffee break. The tickets are $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00. At the October meeting, Larry, the winner, received $44.00.
Birthdays:
November:
Ellen W., Fred W., Linda D., Heather , Moira, Sandra S.,
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 Marg D.
On Nov. 7 we will visit the London Airport to learn what is new there and gain some tips on how to make your flight less stressful. This is followed by lunch at the Katana Kafe and a tour of Diamond Aircraft. The only cost is your lunch.
Dec 13 is our Christmas lunch at Highland Golf Club. Cash bar at 11:30, Lunch at 12:00, 1:30-2:00 p.m. entertainment. Cost $40.00. Cut off date is Monday, December 4th.
Jan. 10 - Tour of the Indian Archaeology Museum, 10:00 a.m.cost $5.00. Lunch following the tour is at The Singing Chef. Cut off date is January 2nd.
Feb. 8 is the Emergency Response Preparedness tour at the Byron Fire Hall, 2:00 p.m. No cost for the tour. Preceded by lunch at your own cost, 11:30 a.m. at the Byron Legion
June 10, Walters Music Venue, 2:00 p.m. $70 - no refund. Only 20 tickets. Tickets on first come first served. Lunch at 11:30 a.m. at the Charles Dickens Restaurant, Woodstock, at your own cost. Car pooling recommended.
We have also created sign up sheets for many more interest groups. Members are encouraged to review these and, if interested, sign up. When there are sufficient numbers the groups will meet and each can determine their own format, frequency, etc. Members are also encouraged to make suggestions of other groups that may be of interest.
- Watch the website for more information on social events.
- REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR CHEQUE BOOK WHEN PAYING FOR EVENTS
ARROWWOOD FARM Social: 
On a perfect autumn day, October 24, 18 members travelled just south of Melbourne, to Arrowwood Farm owned by the Moddle Family. Phil, a former consulting groundwater and environmental expert, provided a brief tour of the farm and shared his experiences moving from the consulting world to becoming a fruit grower. In particular, he spoke about his perspective on the use of chemicals on the land and in our food. We saw high bush blueberries, learned about pollinators - including the wasps nesting in a tree adjacent to the blueberry field - visited with the newly-sheared sheep, Hershey and Hot Chocolate, as well as some of the new organic chickens. We then went inside the Harvest Table, where we were treated to a delicious lunch prepared by Chef Kathy Moddle, served by Phil and assisted by their daughter, Courtney. Many of us also took advantage of the comparatively inexpensive gas at nearby Bear Creek gas station! Click to check out the pictures from this outing!!
Dine Out:
The Dine Out gang celebrated the last gasp of summery weather at Beertown in north London on October 4th. Fifteen members - veterans and brand new - enjoyed delicious food, good conversations and lots of
laughter. The brisket burger and fish tacos are recommended!
See more Beertown pictures.
Dine out for November,
Wednesday, November 1, 2023, 12 noon at Eleven Sixty (former Tony Romas), 1160 Wellington Road.
Deadline for sign up - Friday, October 27
Contact Mark or Nancy G. 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 Marg C.
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.
Speaker: 
Our October speaker, the owner of DigiSplint, was Derek Bakelaar a silver/goldsmith by trade. He injured his finger and thought he would loose it due to the extent of the injury. After surgery, with his hand and fingers in a cast, he was unable to work as a jeweler.
He asked to have a thermal plastic splint made to free up the first three fingers of his left hand so he could get back to work. The surgeon who put Derek’s finger back together did an excellent job and the therapist who got it working again was gifted. On one of Derek’s many hand therapy sessions, the therapist asked if he could build a special finger splint for a client. After describing what he was trying to accomplish with this splint, Derek agreed.
He has built splints tailored to each client, in different variations to accomplish different goals with different fingers.
Slice of Life Speaker-
The Who am I speaker for October was Moira C. Moira and her family own and operate Wicketthorn Farms Inc., a farm of over 3,000 acres of dairy, cattle and agriculture. She commented on her journey of personal growth in various organizations over the years as well as being a councillor for Ward 3 in Middlesex Centre.
As the convenors of an event or group please 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.
NEW MEMBERS:
Left to right: Geesje, Jim E., David N; Ron, Doreen S.
REMEMBER TO WEAR YOUR NAME TAG TO THE GENERAL MEETING AND DINE OUT.
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