PROBUS CLUB OF SOUTH LONDON

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!

Presidents' Message

Fall seems like a new beginning in many ways – school, theatre season, pumpkin spice season – and the same is true for Probus. Your new executive has started our work on your behalf for the coming season of Probus. We are fortunate that we have several experienced members on the Management Team with the happy addition of new faces too! Thank you especially to Shirley and Bob Harris for holding our club together over the past couple of challenging years.

As a management team we are keen to bring you an interesting year with speakers and ongoing club activities. Stay tuned to the website and the newsletter for all the details. Take a look at the following web links to see our new Management Committee members and the minutes from our AGM.

October is Probus month. As a special Probus event, we are working with the London North Probus club and The City of London to bring a special event to you on Oct 25th – “Climate Change and You; Actions you can take to prepare your family”. This is very timely as we watch the news of severe storms including Hurricane Fiona’s devastation on the East coast of Canada and Hurricane Ian in the southern American states. ‘Climate Change and You’ will take place at the Gateway Church from 1 – 5 pm on Oct 25th. Free admission/parking, with displays, door prizes and light snacks. Please plan to attend and bring as many guests as you like, the event is open to all.

With Thanksgiving coming soon, please enjoy the holiday with friends and family. I know that I am thankful for so much this year—getting back to more normal living with family get togethers and travelling; all based on remarkable science that produced vaccines to help fight COVID. As I look outside today, I see our beautiful Southwestern Ontario fall colours under a bright blue sky. It doesn’t get much better than this, wherever you are in the world.

Here are two quotes that explain the season of Thanksgiving to me:

"Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other." Randy Pausch 

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are." Joyce Giraud

General Meeting & Speaker

Our regular general meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 19 at the usual Riverside location, starting at 9:30 a.m. Our guest speaker will be Kristene Steed from Rheo Thompson Chocolates in Stratford.

Climate Change Meeting

A meeting  on climate change, sponsored by the City of London, will be hosted jointly by the North and South London PROBUS Clubs:

When:   Tuesday, October 25
Where: Gateway Church, 890 Sarnia Rd, London
Topic:     Climate Change and You

This is a drop in event from 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM with presentations at 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM.  For more details, click on the poster below to enlarge.

Birthdays

October:

Sandra Lockey, Nancy Gillham,  Anne Sinclair,  Bette Kline,  Ken Schaus, David Collins.

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.

• October 20: Anderson Craft Ales Tour
  Cost $15, with free beer at the end of the tour
  Contact: Sheila James 

• November 3: Jet Aviation Museum Tour
  Cost $10. Located on Crumlin Rd N.
  Lunch to follow at Katana Cafe, for those interested
  Contact: Brigitte Davidson

• December 14: Christmas Lunch at Highland Golf Club
  Cost: TBD, more details to follow
  Contact: Nancy Fazackerley 

• June 13, 2023: "Four by Four" Musical at Walters Theatre, Bright
  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).

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:

Our lunch after the September meeting will be at Bernie's in Byron. Address is 1290 Byron Baseline Rd. W., London. Hope to see you there!

Dine Out:

The next Dine Out is on  October 5 @ 12:00 noon at Yasmine's-Authentic Lebanese Cuisine. Located at Hylands Centre, 1737 Richmond St #102, London (northwest corner of Richmond & Fanshawe)  https://yasminesrestaurant.com/

Please register with Susan Kubik to have your name added to the list. Seating is limited so please sign up early, to be sure to get a seat.

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 September coffee, in the photo section at the end of the newsletter! Convenor: Shirley Harris.

Investment Club:

Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month. Anyone interested is encouraged to contact Don Jamieson.

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 Connie 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: Kathy Nafziger, Bette Kline, Catherine Morrison, Larry Morrison, Ray Goldfarb, Ken Schaus, Barbara Schaus, Meredith Cass, Deana Wright, Dave Webster

Below: Handing over to our new president at the AGM...

Women's  Coffee

Member Bios

Introducing our new Treasurer—Mike Smith

Mike was born in Wales. After graduating with an Honours degree in chemistry and math, followed by a post grad in Education, he taught high school in London, England for a year before moving to Kingston, Jamaica for 3 years. He then moved to Toronto where he lived for 5 years, followed by Winnipeg for over 30 years.

Since moving to Canada, Mike has worked in insurance and financial services. He travelled extensively across Canada training/educating brokers on taxation, investment and insurance products, as well as estate planning concepts. He also provided educational seminars to business owners and farmers. Mike has obtained, among other professional designations, a CFP and coached CFP students. He is a past president of the Estate Planning Council of Winnipeg. Mike retired 15 years ago—first to Mexico then to Florida and finally London. Mike is married and has 2 daughters - one in Toronto, and the other in California.

Presidents' Message:

We felt that our Presidents’ Message in the June newsletter was our swan song, but apparently not.  We were pleased to see individuals offer to fill the positions of Vice-President and Treasurer for next year.  We’re excited about the prospects of a more “normal” Probus calendar of events next year.   However, we remain vigilent for the benefit of our members and think of the cautionary note expressed by Yogi Bear in another context, but equally applicable here, “It ain’t over till it’s over!”  All the best to the new Management Committee for next year and especially our next President, Susan Wolnik.  We hope she gets as much enjoyment and satisfaction out of the position as we have.

Shirley and Bob Harris

F.Y.I.:  While researching phobias, we discovered that the fear of long words is
“Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia”.   Please don’t ask us to pronounce it!

Speaker:

• Are you feeling anxious or stressed?
• Is your mind going nonstop?
• It is affecting your happiness and quality of life?
• Are you ready to relax, find peace, feel enough and live life?

Explore mindfulness. 

Join us and learn how mindfulness can quiet the chatter in your mind, calm your body and increase your overall happiness and well-being. Learn effective tools you can use from morning to night to release stress, be more present, handle your day-to-day pressures with more ease, and enjoy your life.  The good news is anyone can do this – all that is required is the desire. Enjoy a guided meditation and experience the benefits for yourself!

“You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.”    
- Jon Kabitt-Zinn

September Birthdays:

Doris Kingdom; Amanda Clarke; Norman Eligh;
Bob Harris; Jim Gilmour.

Activities:

Coffee:  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. 

Women's Coffee:

2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 10:00 a.m. Except 4th Monday in December.   

Convenor: Shirley Harris

Investment Club:

Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month. 

Anyone interested is encouraged to contact Don Jamieson.

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,  contact Connnie Mabb.

Lunch After General Meeting:

Our lunch after the September meeting will be at Taverna 13thirtyone. It's located on the East side of Hyde Park Road just north of the railway underpass. Right beside the Harley Davidson and Indian Motorcycle dealer. Lots of parking in the rear. Hope to see you there

Dine Out:

The next Dine Out is on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at 11:30 am at Luan’s Seafood & Grill, 315 Wellington Rd South, London, 519-439-6121 (https://www.luansseafoodandgrill.com/)

Please register with Angie Jansen by Thursday, September 1st., to have your name added to the list.

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. 

Please contact Susan Wolnik or Liz Gordon .

Note from the Editor:

Convenors PLEASE take pictures at your events and submit them to me to enhance our Newsletter.

Your Management Team at Work!!!! (no really we did)

Meet your new Vice-Chairs:

L: Marian Mcindough   R: Karen Banks

Membership:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE NOTE:

Membership renewals for 2022-2023 are due on September 1, 2022. An email notification will be generated from the club's website 21 days prior to the due date. The notification will provide information as to when fees are due and how to make the payments.

Probus Club of South London
COVID-19 Policy effective August 9, 2022

•  Members & Guests need to be fully vaccinated (3 doses, preferably 4 doses) to attend any club events, meetings, and activities.
• Proof of vaccination continues to be required and will be updated/recorded when registering at General Meetings.
• All Members and Guests are expected to use the Province’s “Self -Assessment Tool” and only participate in activities or events if the outcome of that assessment shows no need to self-isolate.
• Face masks are to be worn when entering, using the washroom, and leaving the General Meeting venue (Riverside United Church). Face masks are optional inside the meeting room.
• https://covid-19.ontario.ca/self-assessment/