The PROBUS CLUB of Oak Bay PROBUS meetings at the Uplands Golf Club, 3300 Cadboro Bay Road at 10:00 a.m., on the fourth Monday of each month. Note change in time. Executive meeting will be held prior to regular meetings in the Board Room at the Uplands Golf Club at 08:45 am on the same day. October 2014 #216 Our speaker on Sept 22nd There is something remarkably contagious about having a speaker so enamoured of her work, as was Sushil Saini. As the Executive Director of B.C. and Yukon Division of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards, Ms. Saini gave us a glowing picture of the over 7000 youth in her division, participating in this potentially life changing life style. In 1996, the Duke of Edinburgh threw open his challenge to youth between 14 and 24 throughout Canada. The impacts of the Award, which moves through bronze, silver and gold, helps underachievers with low self-esteem and at risk youth, amongst others, to achieve goals and to become more confident. With volunteering as part of the challenge, the winners become excellent citizens. As always, with non-profit groups, there is always a shortage of money. Joan Giles Tom MacLean will be our next speaker on October 27th. He is the BC District Sales Manager for Collette Tours. www.gocollette.ca • Originally from Vancouver Island, he was born in Campbell River and lived in Victoria for several years in the 90's. • He has traveled extensively to 6 continents, and has been representing ‘Collette Vacations’ since 2001. He will be highlighting Ireland and European River Cruising. • He is bilingual, being fluent in Spanish. • He does about 70 travel talks annually, throughout the Province. • He has worked internationally both in Cancun, Mexico and Edinburgh, Scotland. CD Group We will meet at the home of John and Delia Sansom, 2630 Roseberry Sreet, on October 8th. Call Gwyn Solomon at 250-721-2360 Book Club Current book, “War that Ended Peace" by Margaret MacMillan. We will meet on October 8th at the home of Regina McCullough at 2:00 pm, 1305 Rockland Ave. Fay Pettapiece fay@kensea.ca 250-598-663 Dinner Bunch: Our next dinner will be at the Bengal Room, Empress Hotel. We will meet at 5.30pm on Wednesday November 5th, 2014 ready to dine at 6pm. Please sign up at our next PROBUS meeting on October 27th. Sarah Doughty at <Doughty16@shaw.ca> or call 250-370-1483 Joan Gowan at <joangowan@shaw.ca> or call 250-477-5281 Current Affairs: The next meeting is October 9th. We will be discussing topics for the upcoming year. The group meets in the Oak Bay Room in Carlton House at 2080 Oak Bay Avenue. The schedule is at 10:00 a.m. on the second Thursday of each month at a modest fee of $5 per person. If you wish to attend please phone Elizabeth de Villiers at 250-475-7561 or Sandra Teiffel at 250-3825881. Membership Report With regard to the annual dues, there are still a number who have yet to pay. Please send a cheque for $50.00 a person to our Treasurer, Robert Campbell, 588 Linkleas Ave., Victoria, B.C., V8S 5C1, as soon as possible. We have a number of people interested in joining PROBUS, so if you wish to resign, please let me know. Jean Lunn, Membership Chairperson Rockland Heritage Walk with Nick Russell on Sept 10th On September 10, Nancy Morrison arranged for 13 of us to meet at the gates of Government House for a walk through part of historic Rockland with Nick – the author of “Glorious Victoria”. We walked from the gates up St. Charles Street to Fort Street and then down Pemberton Road and back to the gates of Government House. Nick knows that area well and pointed out the beautiful homes of the rich and famous of the 1900 era. Time and renovations have not altered the character of these homes. Some are now apartments, most are still single-family homes and others can tell interesting stories. Tired and hungry, arrangements had been made for us to lunch at the Tea House at Cary Mews, near Government House. A draw was made for a copy of Nick Russell’s book and Beryl Starke became the proud winner. There was so much left to see during the Rockland tour that it might be worth doing a similar walk at a later date. Thank you Nancy, for setting up this event. Dru Deeks Important Notice It has been brought to our attention that the ‘Oak Bay PROBUS Club Archival Records’ were inadvertently discarded. Kay Wagg’s untimely death was a contributing factor. Joan Burnett has volunteered to take over the Archival Responsibilities for this coming year and would appreciate any attention you can give to the problem we face by sending her any material you have, which may be useful. Email address joanmburnett@shaw.ca (don’t forget the m), 250-477-8418. Beryl Starke has kindly offered to take charge of the photographs and procure a new album. These also pertain to Archives. Please check your Photographs and give, or send, any you think are appropriate, directly to Beryl. Email address bergeo@shaw.ca 250-384-5240. Be sure you indicate the event and the date on each of the photographs please. Story A hooded robber burst into a Vancouver bank and forced the tellers to load a sack full of cash. On his way out the door, a brave customer grabbed the hood and pulled it off the robber’s head, exposing the robbers face. The robber shot the customer dead without a moment's hesitation. He then looked around the bank and noticed one of the bank tellers looking straight at him. The robber instantly shot and killed him also. Everyone in the bank by now, are very scared, looked intently down at the floor in silence. The robber yelled, " Well, did anyone else see my face?" There was a few moments of utter silence in which everyone was plainly too afraid to speak. Then, one old farmer, named Henry, from Alberta, tentatively raised his hand and said, "I think my wife got a pretty good look at you." Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. ~Winston Churchill You're getting old when you don't care where your spouse goes, as long as you do not have to go along. Statistics show that at the age of seventy, there are five women to every man. Isn't that an ironic time for a guy to get those odds? A few reminders: 1.) The Membership Chairperson should be notified if you would like to serve on the Management Committee in any capacity. Jean Lunn, 250-477-7873. 2.) Remember to wear your nametags at all events. 3.) Notify Regina McCullough if you know of anyone that is ill or in hospital. Phone 250-595-0143 4.) Marty Ball would like to know if you do not receive the newsletter by email or regular mail, or if you are unable to open the attachments. It has been brought to my attention that ‘The Daisy Dog Story’ in my July newsletter, was not true. My apologies. Marty Ball The Management Committee wishes to thank all the members who are stepping down from the offices they held to date. A special thank you to Joan Burnett for the 16 years she served faithfully and efficiently as secretary. She will be missed. Another Story The teacher was helping one of her pupils put on his boots. He asked for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling, and him pushing, the little boots still didn't want to go on. By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said, 'Teacher, they're on the wrong feet.' She looked, and sure enough, they were. Unfortunately, it wasn't any easier pulling the boots off, than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool. Together they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the correct feet. He then announced, 'These aren't my boots.' She bit her tongue, rather than get right in his face and scream, 'Why didn't you say so?' like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they got the boots off when he said, “They're my brother's boots. But my Mom made me wear them today.” Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. But she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots BACK onto his feet again. Helping him into his coat, she asked, 'Now, where are your mittens?' He said, “I stuffed them in the toes of my boots.” The teacher is receiving full mental health care. September 22nd meeting. 38 Attendees 4 Guests Editor: Marty Ball<martyball@shaw.ca> Club Mailing address: Probus Club of Oak Bay-120-3868 Shelbourne St Victoria BC V8P-5J1 http://www.probus.org/14oakbay.htm Our Management Committee President: George Wisener 250-658-6415 Vice President: Jennifer Hastings 250-590-4101 Past President: Leona Sherlock 250-370-1368 Secretary: Lynda Bailey 250-595-3355 Treasurer: Robert Campbell 250-598-1791 House Manager: Ian Sinclair 250-472-2501 Membership: Jean Lunn 250-477-7873 Newsletter: Marty Ball 250-380-7784 Speakers: Judith Kennedy 250-440-3707 Special Events: Leona Sherlock 250-370-1368 Non Management Committee positions: Archivist: Joan Burnett Greeters: Rosemary Carter and Dru Deeks Biography Record Keeper: Max Zahir Speacial cards Coordinator: Regina McCullough Newsletter Copier/Addresser/ Distributor: Mary Van Alstine