newsSep23 | PROBUS Blue Mountain

Next Meeting: September 21st. AGM

Collingwood Legion
Coffee: 9:30
Meeting: 10:00
Lunch: 12:00

Speaker: Peter Lang - Nuclear Energy Promo

Profiler: Bob Noppe
Current membership: 228

September 2023 Newsletter

President's Message

As this is my last message to our members, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight some of the things your Club has accomplished over the past year.

THE CLUB IS GROWING! We are at a post pandemic high of 228 members. And I'm confident we will continue to grow, especially if members bring guests to the monthly meetings. Our close rate on converting guest visits to new members would be the envy of many direct sales organizations!
VOLUNTEERISM IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE CLUB. Many thanks to those who have stepped up to assume roles in Club management and activities.These include long time members and, encouragingly newer members.
CLUB ACTIVITIES AND OUTINGS ARE BACK! Thanks to the efforts of Bruce West and numerous volunteers our activities and outings are being promoted and participated in at pre - pandemic levels. There is a renewed energy in this area and I believe it will continue to grow.
FINANCES. Our club is in very good shape and this has allowed to undertake several initiatives such as the purchase of a new high definition projector.

To view our annual staements, you need to Login to the Members section, and click on the button at the bottom of the Member Listing page. (If you can not Login, contact the Webmaster - Bill Booth)

*GUEST SPEAKERS. Our speakers committee has hit it out of the park this year with a roster of informative and interesting speakers. And next year's plans and recruitment of speakers is well underway. Thanks to the committee for their great work.

WE ARE A SOCIAL CLUB. From the afore mentioned activities and outings to our conversion to round tables at the meetings to lunch at the Legion, Probus underpinnings of FELLOWSHIP, FRIENDSHIP and FUN are alive and well at our Club.

It has been a great experience for me to serve as President this past year. I hope you have enjoyed your own experience with the Club. And I know that experience will be enhanced in the coming year.

Ron Mitchell

Bring a friend to PROBUS

This contest is in full swing!

Probus is great fun! Why not share it with your friends? At every meeting we are running a draw. The winner gets a $50 gift card. To get a ballot, just bring a friend. Every friend you bring gets you a ballot. Bring two friend and get two ballots. Draws at the end of every meeting. Good luck.

Cycling

August and early September saw the group have several more fun rides, although, unfortunately a couple, including our mid Summer BBQ got rained out. Many thanks to Rob and Dick for all the work they did to organize the rained-out event.

The ride in Muskoka on September 9, set up by Carl and led by Michael and Jim, had one of our veteran riders saying it was one of the best rides of the year.

We are now adding new members to our Cycling Committee as we prepare for next year. Jim Higgins, who has a lot of knowledge about many of the areas we want to ride in has graciously accepted an invitation to join the Committee.

We are looking for another two new Committee members to bring fresh ideas to our rides. Anybody who is interested can contact Monty at his email address.

Base Borden Visit

In early September a group of 24 of our members visited Base Borden. They had a very knowledgeable guide in Director of the Military Museum, Dr. Gregory. The group was so impressed that they donated $200 to the Museum’s Children’s Program. A lunch at the Vicker’s Dining Hall followed the tour.

Investment Club Report

The Investment Club had a very successful “kick off” meeting on September 12. Twelve investors discussed a wide range of topics and gave suggestions for future meetings. The main topic for this meeting was RE investing and the use of REITS and RE ETF’s. October’s meeting will be about Probate. Many exciting topics are planned for meetings after that.

Lunch Group

Omg! Fall is amongst and it was too cold to eat outside, notwithstanding the sunshine. But we all enjoyed lunch and a beverage (or two) at Montanas.

From Bob MacNair

Good day, Probus Club Presidents in Collingwood,

COVID-19 affected Probus Clubs all across Canada. We lost 10 Clubs and approximately 6,000 members. I am reaching out to you and your Club members to help us attract new members to the wonderful opportunities that a Probus Club can offer semi-retired and retired women and men. In 1987, John Morris, a pioneer of Probus in Canada, stated the goal of Probus was “ to have a Club in every community across Canada”.

Before I moved to Collingwood in 2009, I lived in Brampton. Brampton has 7 Probus Clubs. Yet in all the years that I lived there, I never heard about Probus. When I moved to Collingwood in 2009, I went on an excursion with retired teachers in the Fall for the final sailing of the season of the MS Chi-Cheemaun to Owen Sound. I learned about Probus that day from a fellow retired teacher and I was invited to join the Probus Club of Collingwood in January, 2010.

Our biggest challenge is simply, “how can we inform people about Probus”. Our present membership includes people from all backgrounds and work experiences. I am asking if your members can provide me with the contact information for a professional association, Service Club, Community Group etc of which she/he was or is still a member. I would then offer a Package of Information to that group about Probus for their members who may have retired, are semi-retired or who will be retiring in the near future.

If possible, could you please bring this to the attention of your members at an upcoming meeting or include the above in your next Newsletter. The Attachment below may be used to record important information. I would greatly appreciate any contact information that you or your Club members may provide to me.

Sincerely, Bob MacNair Past President, PROBUS Canada Past President, The Probus Club of Collingwood. macnairbob47@gmail.com 705-444-9161

Now that you're here ...

Take a look at the rest of the website. We have info on activities, calendar, speakers list and so on.

If you need to look up fellow PROBUS MEMBERS, you can login the to the Memebr's area. A number of members contribute to this content, so please check it out.

Jake Johnston

Jake is handing over the reins to Dave Eaman for the Monthly Newsletter. Thank you Jake for a job well done.

The PROBUS Club of Blue Mountain News Letter is published several days before the regular meeting of the month, informing members of upcoming events and activities, and other newsy stuff! We encourage Group organizers to write up events, including photos, and submit them to Dave Eaman.