EXCERPTS FROM MARCH 2024 NEWSLETTER
THE FULL VERSION IS AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS
NEWSLETTER
PROBUS CLUB OF THE HILLS INC
ESTABLISHED JUNE 1989
PRESIDENT DOROTHY’S MESSAGE
First I would like to thank Evelyn for the outstanding way she led us last year in her historic role as
our Club’s First Lady President. You have set the bar very high Evelyn!!!!
I would like to extend further thanks to those who have been willing to stand in executive and non-
executive roles for 2024. Also let’s not forget our many members who have served in different
capacities over the years. We thank you too for your example and contribution. It was very
pleasing to see so many at our Changeover Lunch.
We also had a good attendance for our 2024 AGM. Diann and Tom Ford were inducted as new
members. We welcome you and trust you will enjoy your time with us. Special thanks to Diann who
has taken on the role of co-ordinator of our new Butterfly Bookclub. Please speak to her at our next
meeting and she will be able to explain how the bookclub works.
What a fantastic morning of entertainment we were treated to last meeting! Thank you to the very
talented music group, The Singalallies, who brought us a superb show. The song selection was
fantastic and stirred many memories and certainly put a smile on our faces.
A group of us has recently returned from “The Life of Riley” tour to Lake Jindabyne. We thoroughly
enjoyed ourselves: the location was amazing, lake view from every room, the food was delicious,
day trips were interesting and covered some areas of great natural beauty and the company was
convivial and fun. Special thanks to our outings team led by Barry.
The auxiliary group convenors continue to do a great job providing us with lots of interesting
activities and outings - check out what is coming up in the newsletter.
I understand the purpose of Probus is twofold: to inform via our speakers and to provide us with a
fun, caring social group, and I believe we are doing well in both these areas.
I look forward to the year ahead and thank you all for your vote of confidence.
Thank you for your support whilst being the President. On that note I will see you all at the next get
together
Doro y Sco
th
t
LEST WE FORGET
Probus South Pacific recently sent a letter
c o n g r a t u l a t i n g o u r C l u b o n i t ’s 3 5 t h
Anniversary. They enclosed a Certificate which
is pictured here.
Congratulations too to our only remaining
foundation member, Don Ellison, who has
been with us the whole way!
OUTINGS REPORT
Mystery Coach Trip No. 6 Thursday 16th May 2024 Cost $45.00 PH
REF:MCT6- Name
As usual you won't know where you’re going, but read your flyers and you
may get a hint. You won't be disappointed. Cost includes Coach travel, entry
fee and special morning tea.
Pick up time and place will be sent out to those who will be on board,
once I have spoken to our coach driver.
Menangle Trots over 55 lunch. Two dates planned REF: MPT-Name
1) Tuesday 18th June 2) Tuesday 19th November.
Mystery Coach Trip No. 7 Wednesday 24th July 2024 Cost $50.00 PH REF:MCT7-Name You
asked to visit historic properties, then this will fit the bill. See flyer on notice board.
River boat postman Wednesday 25th September 2024 Cost $55.00 PH REF: RBP-
Name
I have locked in 40 tickets for this outing so you better be quick to put your name on the sheet.
Cost includes morning tea, lunch and cruise. Make your own way to Brooklyn, parking is limited.
Best option is to catch the train. The lift at the station is next to the boat.
Nooroo Gardens Mt Wilson Thursday 24th October 2024. Cost TBA REF: NG-Name
Check out the flyer on the notice board, we can only use the 36 seater bus as instructed by our
coach company. So once again if you’re into looking at great gardens, get your name on the sheet.
Proposed Tour to Broken Hill 28th October REF: BHW-Name
When we have locked in the date and cost, it will not include your Rail ticket to Broken Hill.
Once we have confirmed travellers, we can the book the train tickets accordingly. The outings team
will be doing a short presentation at the meeting to let you know what will be required from you.
The outings team wishes to thank all the members who pay for outings by EFT. It is a great
help.
To make the system easier for our new Treasurer, when making an EFT payment we will ask
you to put in the reference number for the outing plus your name. The reference number is
in red next to the outing. This will help Eddie to allocate the payment to the correct outing
and to the correct member.
Barry Edwards, Ralph S ne and Jeannie Biscoe
SPEAKERS
The speaker at our May Meeting is Louisa Hope.
Louisa was one of 18 people trapped in the terrifying Lindt Cafe siege that
occurred in 2014. Her ordinary Monday morning coffee had turned into a 16
hour ordeal when a gunman took the cafe goers hostage. Louisa has multiple
sclerosis and was used as a human shield. Though she sustained a bullet
wound, she was blessed to survive the ordeal.
This will be a very interesting talk for us to hear as we would all remember it, I’m sure.
Bob Ryan
to
MEMBERS REPORT
This month will see us return to our normal meetings where we can recognize the
growth of our membership in the four months of this year. Today we sit with eighty
one active and seven non active members which is good growth over the past
months. At our next meeting, we will have another six inductees with another four scheduled for
the June meeting. So you can all see we are continuing to grow and approaching the point of
maximum membership. Therefore, the makeup of the Club needed to be looked at to make sure
we have a responsible balance between females and males. To do this I approached and asked
our component IT convenor Eddie to produce some graphs for us to review. He has done them
which now highlights what a well balanced club we are fortunate enough to have.
One thing to show up via the bar chart is the age variations where 65% are over 75 years of age
This highlights the need to encourage the younger brigade to step forward to join our club. This is
the future of the club in years to come and we need the influx of younger members for us to remain
sustainable.
As there has been minimum response to the suggestions which have been put forward, I will no
longer bring along the suggestion box. I may reintroduce it in the future - maybe next year to look
for new ideas to help improve the overall function and opportunities for our club. You always have
the option of stating your suggestion during the meeting when asked for general business.
A big thank you to Alison Parker for the lovely red poppies she made for our members for our fallen
servicemen. They were well received and I am sure they were worn on Anzac Day with pride in
memory.
Bob Heyward
FINANCE REPORT
Six regulars met at Bella Vista Farm last month. The stock market was heading south so our minds
turned to other finance related matters. Newspapers report the Government is concerned about
increasing interest charges on student debt for Uni and TAFE students. Many courses require 6-12
months internship for nil pay. No wonder teaching and nursing student intakes are so low.
For a change of pace, Geoff took us under the oceans to see the network of submarine cables
linking international internet and phone networks. So many of these cable networks pass under the
South China Sea. Coincidentally, the Government released its defence plan focussing on ocean
trade links above and below the surface that same day.
This month we meet as usual at Bella Vista farm estate at 10.00 a.m. on Wednesday 15th May.
BYO comfy chair, coffee or favourite probiotic drink.
Ralph S ne
SNOOKER REPORT
Unfortunately the time has come when the committee, in conjunction with myself, have
suspended the activity of our fortnightly games of snooker. This action is brought about
by the lack of involvement of our members. This year has only seen three members
attend regularly. To continue it requires a minimum of six or eight to be listed as regular
attendees. This then allows for each member to miss the occasional morning games.
Therefore I will continue as convenor and strive to build our numbers so we will be able to resume
in the future. Once the numbers are bolstered, we can continue to enjoy the game again.
Bob Heyward
to
GOLF REPORT
Our golfing group have been playing at Fox hills golf course for the last few
weeks due to the flooding and damage to the course at Windsor. However, we
will return to Windsor from the 29th as repairs have been completed.
We would welcome any new players.You could walk the 9 holes or share a cart
with another player and enjoy a drink in the clubhouse after the game.
Ches r Clark
W
WALKERS REPORT
Our recent walking group to Parramatta lake was delightful. Though only six of us
participated, the camaraderie created a relaxed and enjoyable experience which the
photo below shows. Everyone is welcome to join in these walks.
Our next walk on Wednesday 1st May was to be Cremorne Point Walk. However, after
visiting the area I found it a steep incline or several steps to the track, which some people might
find a bit challenging. Therefore, our next walk will be Manly to Shelly beach, which is a nice flat
walk with lots of options for lunch. I hope this will meet with everyone’s approval.
We will meet at 10am in front of wharf no 3.
Evelyn Hearne
BAREFOOT BOWLS
Maybe we should just call this "bowls" or even "bowls with joggers on", or perhaps
what it is : "lawn bowls", but whatever we call it we all really enjoyed our day of
bowling in perfect weather and good social fun. We had two rinks on the artificial
grass green and played pairs. The competition was good and some surprising skill
was shown.
Bowls certainly looks easy : just throw the bowl down and the bowl goes near that
little white one down at the other end, but some skill and practice is needed to
accomplish it well. Despite this we all had a lot of fun trying. I am not sure who won because we
didn't really keep score.
If you would like an afternoon of fun and a good social event you are all very welcome.Or just
come for a few drinks afterwards at 5 pm, and maybe dinner in the club at 5.30 to 6 pm. It is a
great social afternoon.
Our next social and barefoot bowling day is Thursday, the week after our Probus meeting.
Barefoot bowling day is Thursday 16th May at 2pm, ready for a 2.30 pm start, at the Baulkham
Hills Bowling Club. The cost for the afternoon is just $15, and all members are very welcome.
Gary Chris el
te
to
ff
BLUE BUTTERFLY BOOK CLUB
At this month’s upcoming meeting it is intended to have the book club fully up and running.
Members who wish can bring their books along for exchange and then proceed to select a book to
take away for reading during the month. On the next page are the basic rules which the members
will be asked to adhere to. This will ensure that there is no disruption to our traditional meeting
schedule during the process of the book exchange. Diann Ford,with the support of her husband
Tom, have, with enthusiasm, instigated this new activity which is most commendable.
In future Diann will provide a report for the newsletter informing members as to what is occurring
with regards to the book club.
As the book club is a new venture your support in helping and streamlining the efficiency with
which the way things are done would be appreciated by all.
Bob Heyward/Diann Ford
OUR NEXT PROBUS MEETING WILL BE THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON
WEDNESDAY 8th MAY 2024 AT 10.30AM. WE MEET AT THE GALSTON RSL CLUB
