Probus members belong to a world class organization. Our club is one of 4000 clubs worldwide with 300,000 members in 15 countries. There are 70 clubs in Canada with 22,000 members. When traveling, you may wish to visit them. For contacts, and services see www.probus.org/canada. Probus also provides a good travelers’ health insurance program, which some of our members recommend: See the web site: www.johnson.ca/probus/en/on. Check out CARP too for those over age 75.

Your Management Committee is working on several future-looking initiatives: We negotiated a more moderate rental rate increase with Maplegrove Church. We are developing a website which will display information about our club, contacts etc. for ourselves but more importantly for prospective members who are looking for information on us but may be drawn to competing websites. We need new members to infuse us with new perspectives and support club services. Some other clubs have waiting lists and are promoting new clubs. Most clubs have a variety of special interest groups — card clubs, hiking, gardening, dining, computer, golfing and even a single malt club. We only have the investment and book clubs. We can do much more but this requires more volunteering. We are fortunate now to have dedicated officers and volunteers. Some of our volunteers travel and vacation extensively but still cover their posts. They all deserve our thanks.

My travels will take me to Tunisia in November where I may see the Arab Spring rituals first hand! Some say Fall is the best season. Enjoy!
– Dave Patterson