A little background on our new president, Dave Patterson, for those who do not know him well.

Dave’s grandfather homesteaded in Manitoba in 1881 and agriculture has been big for the Patterson family ever since. Dave graduated from the Guelph U. with a BSA in Agricultural Engineering and then a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the U of T. After working at Imperial Oil he took an MBA at Western and worked for a mining company in investment analysis. He moved to analysis at Procor in Oakville retiring 5 years ago from his job as V.P. of Finance. He played an active role for many years in Rotary, Conservation Halton and various Oakville charitable groups. In Probus since 2007, Dave has been a member of the investment group, and for three years has been on the management committee. Last year he was Vice President of the club. He and wife Ivi have 3 children and 3 grandchildren.

We wish him well as he takes over his presidential duties for club year 2011-12.

August meeting: There was no profiler this month so President Mike took a few minutes to explain to members the troubles facing the club these days.

Our speaker was Jacques Pawles who explained that in taking tours to far-off places he had become fascinated with place names. How did they originate? Many of them were not Latin or Greek and must have come, he found out, from ancient languages as people moved from Africa into Europe after the Ice Age. Some of the names he mentioned were: Nile which means flood, Gibraltar – nothing beyond, Briton – land surrounded by water, Atlantic – the great western sea.

September meeting: This was AGM day so we had a brief regular meeting before the AGM was convened. President Mike reported on the year’s events and management committee members gave reports on their activities. Then Bill Perdue, chair of the nominating committee proposed the slate of nominees, previously announced, for the management committee positions and as there were no further nominations from the floor the slate was declared elected. Unfortunately John Chattoe who had agreed to take over as Speaker chairman found he had a much larger teaching load than he had bargained for. Gerry Sutton kindly agreed to take on the speaker job until someone else can be found to handle it. The meeting ended when President Mike handed over the gavel to incoming President Dave Patterson.

Our meeting’s speaker was a very enthusiastic RCAF flight engineer on helicopters, Master Corporal Johanne Hamelin. She had done two tours in Afghanistan. Her account of her service there proved to be extremely interesting.

A week later the President’s Reception, was held, this year at a new venue, The Harbour Banquet and Conference Centre in Bronte. It has a beautiful view over Bronte harbour and Lake Ontario. While the meal was rather average, the evening’s entertainer, Adam Timoon, gave a spectacular guitar and comedy performance.

Grant Gooding points out that the fall schedule for Monday Night @ the Movies is now out. The first film was In a Better World from Denmark/Sweden. It had won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011. Other dates are Oct 3, 17, and 28, and Nov 14 and 28. All films screen at 7:30 p.m. at AMC Winston Park Drive (be there early to avoid the lineup). Tickets are $8 at the door. More details on the films can be checked out at the website: http://mondaynightatthemovies.blogspot.com/

Helmut Erxleben, our book critic, reports on Lost in shangri-la by Mitchell Zukoff. The book recounts the true  story of three survivors (out of  24) of a fatal plane crash in an inaccessible area of Dutch New Guinea in 1945 just  as the war in the Pacific was drawing to a close. Coping with injuries and trekking through a dangerous jungle they are confronted by natives who have been living a stone-age existence since time began in this remote and inaccessible valley. Thus the visitors are viewed as white spirits who are the fulfillment of an age old myth. Using extensive interviews plus a diary and photos of the events, Zukoff stitches a remarkable story together into a captivating narrative. In this valley you are never sure who is friend or foe, or which cultural gesture is helpful or an insult. Any incursion into enemy territory (the valley’s native population was estimated to be close to 100,000) is met with lethal force and
past wrongs are never forgiven. Military ingenuity finally comes to the rescue of the survivors and the world is treated to an amazing story. Reading it will definitely take your mind off the gyrations of the stock market for a while.

Our movie critic Harold Erlendson took in several movies since the last edition of the Newsletter. The following are ranked in order of best to … less best.
The Help. Three very different extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 60’s who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling in them the courage to transcend the lines that define them. This is an important story that tells it like it was. If you don’t get moist eyes at least once, check your pulse.
The Debt. An espionage thriller about three retired agents who track down a Nazi war criminal. A gripping movie with solid performances and some unusual twists and turns in the story.
Crazy Stupid Love. An enchanting light comedy with romantic confusion. An amusing study of contemporary behavior.
One Day. A romantic drama that follows a couple on the same day for each of 20 years who are obviously made for each other but don’t quite make it. There is an appealing mix of romantic locations.

Jack Toten was recently moved from OTMH to Sunnybrook Hospital. He welcomes phone calls.
Older members will remember Ron Newton, a career soldier with a distinguished record in WWII and in peacekeeping afterward. Ron died on August 24 in Peterborough in his 92^nd year.
Don Jack visited in Alberta this summer and had an interesting experience flying over the oil sands in a helicopter.

PLEASANT EXPERIENCES
Members are invited to offer brief write-ups on good movies, shows, restaurants or trips that they have enjoyed.
It must have been a dreary time this past month as no member reported any pleasant experiences!

While there are still a few members yet to pay their annual dues it looks like we will start the year off with about 100 members. This is down from the 109 we had in July. Unfortunately we have had a number who have opted out because of poor health, a few that have moved away and sadly there has been eight deaths over the past year. We will, of course, continue with our push for more members to get the numbers back up as membership fees are our only source of revenue and this is particularly important during this year of rising operating costs.

There will be an updated membership list available at the October 20th meeting.