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Our President’s Message

The Silver Dart

The Silver Dart

Our February speaker, Honorary Colonel Gerald P J Haddon, recently accepted an award from the Prime Minister recognizing the achievements of his grandfather J. A. D. McCurdy, Canada’s first pilot, who piloted The Silver Dart and eventually became Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. Colonel Haddon has written a book about his grandfather and will talk about his career. John Chattoe will introduce him

Paul Nelson is still looking for someone to understudy him on the website. The idea may scare those of you who are nervous about modern technology and computers but Paul is very knowledgeable and I am sure can overcome your concerns. If you are interested in exploring this opportunity send him an e-mail at pnelson1941@hotmail.com

At the last meeting of the Executive Committee we approved a motion put forward by John Beales to create a small committee comprising the Vice President, the Chair of the Speaker’s Committee and the Chair of the Activities Committee together with the Web Master to develop  and monitor the content of the website.

Three guests were welcomed at our January meeting and we hope they will decide to become members. While we have done some promotion, experience shows that personal contact is the most effective way of obtaining new members so I urge you to go ahead and invite a friend to a meeting and introduce him to our members and give him a free coffee and a Timbit.

This year marks our 25th Anniversary and the Activities Committee is planning something special to mark the occasion – but they haven’t finished planning yet, so more on that, later.

Gerry Sutton

 

 

Book and Movie Reviews

  Reviewed by Helmut Erxleben
Unlikely Pilgrimage

Unlikely Pilgrimage

THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY is a charming book by first time author Rachel Joyce. Harold, a retired beer salesman, lives a quiet life with his wife Maureen in  Kingsbridge in the south of England. One day he receives a letter from Queenie Hennessy, a former co-worker. She is dying of cancer in a hospice in Berwick, a town close to the Scottish border. Rather than drop his letter of compassion in the nearest mailbox, Harold becomes convinced that by hand delivering the letter and trekking the 600 miles or so on foot, he can somehow delay the fatal progress of Queenie’s cancer. Thus begins an incredible journey for the ill prepared Harold. As the novel takes us through the English countryside, we meet an assortment of colourful characters and experience the highs and lows of Harold’s long walk. Finally we discover that, like many pilgrims before him, at the end, Harold will have gotten to know himself a lot better.

QUARTET

Reviewed by Harold Erlendson

 
Quartet

Quartet

This movie probably will not appeal to the acne age group but the Probus age group will love it. The action takes place in a Senior’s home for retired classical musicians situated in the idyllic English country side. To help finance the home , they are putting on a fund raising performance. The plot sounds a lot like the old Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney films in which they inevitably say “Lets put on a show”, and it is. The home is abuzz because of the new resident “Jean” who was a famous opera star, wonderfully played by Dame Maggie Smith. Also, at one time, three of the other residents sang with her in a quartet. A reunion of the group would be perfect for the concert, but Jean does not want to perform because she is not in top form. Predictably, she finally agrees and the film ends with a stirring performance of the quartet from Rigoletto.

This was Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut and he handles the subject of aging and fading talent in an uplifting way. The four main characters are played by veteran British actors who know how to act. Many of the other actors in the home are played by real life musicians. The final credits show their pictures now and when they were in their prime. This is a sweet, sentimental movie that I am sure you will enjoy.

LES MISERABLES

 

 
Les Mis

Les Mis

Many readers probably have seen the stage production which came to Toronto several years ago. The story is based on the Victor Hugo novel that takes place in 19th century France. It is an extravagant melodrama of poverty, injustice and suffering made as an Opera. There is not one word of spoken dialogue. Every line is sung by actors who are not known as singers, such as Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman. There was no lip syncing or voice dubbing. The movie has been nominated for awards and probably will win in some categories. But I did not enjoy the experience. It was far too long at 2 hrs and 37 min. If you want to smile or feel uplifted when you exit a movie, this is not for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pleasant Experiences

Salute to Vienna

Salute to Vienna

On New Year’s Day we went to the Roy Thompson Hall to see the Salute to Vienna. It was excellent, with ballet and champion ballroom dancers as well as the orchestra featuring waltzes and songs from operettas. It was the first time we had been to the hall since it was renovated and the acoustics and seating arrangements have been vastly improved. It was a pleasant experience. If you want to go next year book early as it is always a sold out performance.

 Gerry Sutton

In Memorium

ALLEN KLARER

Jan 20, 1924 – Jan 13, 2013

Passed away peacefully at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital Palliative Care one week short of his 89th birthday. Pre-deceased by parents and siblings, his caring, giving and loving ways will be missed by Eve, his children David (Beverley,), Lorraine, Barbara (Blake) and Rodger (Linda), his grandchildren, Kevin (Stephanie), Brian (Veronique), David (Tracey), Michael (Alex), Christian, Daniel and Alexandra, and many other friends and acquaintances.

Having an active life from a very early age, he was always involved in serving various aspects of business, community, country and his family. He joined the armed forces which included being on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Some of his achievements included being a founding member of the Oakville YMCA- YWCA, the Oakville United Way and Halton Family Services. After retirement, Allen remained extremely active in the Community by being a long-term volunteer to several Oakville and Halton Region committees.

Our President’s Message

The Christmas party, organized by the Master of Ceremonies John Beales and the Activities Committee, was the usual success and the Atrium put on an excellent dinner for us.

 

 

As part of the entertainment John persuaded Liz Gorski to come to the microphone and lead us in the carol singing; her beautiful voice encouraged the rest of us to do our best.

Several members brought to my attention an obituary which had appeared in the Globe And Mail that morning , which I also had noticed. It was a long obituary of John Reynolds Morris who, on a trip to Australia and new Zealand in 1981, was introduced to the Probus Club concept. He was an active member of the Rotary Club and in 1976-77 was Governor of Rotary District 79 covering South Central Ontario and part of New York State. He persuaded Rotary to sponsor Probus Clubs and the first one established in Canada was in Cambridge. We were – and still are – number 5. There are now 217 clubs in Canada with some 30,000 members.

John served as President and Executive Director of Probus Centre-Canada for eleven years to 1998 and afterwards remained on the Board with the title “Founder and President Emeritus”. An award was created in his honour to deserving members who create new Probus clubs in Canada.

Speaking of clubs, I have met with presidents of the Old Oakville and North Oakville clubs to exchange ideas, in particular of activities and speakers, and attended a meeting of the former at the Oakville Club. Both have much larger memberships than ours (but, contrary to what we had heard, with no waiting lists) and it is important that we start to catch up. We have an interesting schedule of speakers lined up and Robin Davison and his committee are working hard to organize an outstanding schedule of activities that should appeal to prospective members. If you know someone who might be interested invite him to a meeting to check us out.

I am pleased to report that Brian Taylor has agreed to take over from me as chair of the Speakers’ Committee. Paul Nelson, who handles our Web site, will be spending the winter down south but with conference calls etc will be able to continue doing so. He would, however, like to have a member to serve as an understudy that he could train to keep it up to date in case of an emergency. So if any member wants to learn how to navigate the Web here is your opportunity.

Gerry

Member News

In Memoriam

ERIC STEIER passed away peacefully with his wife Eva by his side on November 7, 2012.  Eric was born September 9, 1925 in Regen, a small town in central Transylvania to Elsa (nee Lurtz) and father Stefan. Eric immigrated to Canada ending up in Toronto.  Eva followed and they were married in 1953.  In 1957, working for Canadian Pittsburg Industries, Eric rose to the position of Senior Auditor and retired in 1990 as Manager of Administration.  Eric was a member of the Jaycees, The Administration Management Society and was a member of Probus Club of Oakville for the past ten years

Members Activities Survey

We had a 47% return of the Activities Survey or close to 50% of our membership.  It appears that responders are members who at one time or another participate in the events.  The other 50% are either unable to attend the organized activities, are not interested, or were away during the survey.

The conclusions are that a majority of the membership are interested in plays or musical events, visits to industrial or historical sites and lunches or dinners with entertainment. Very few members showed inclination to attend a BBQ or go on an organized hike.  Almost everyone would attend an activity with a price tag of under $100 per person, over $100 there was a split depending on the event.  Most members would favour events with other Probus Clubs, but overnight trips got thumbs down.  75% had no problem with using a school bus for short trips and most said that they are not willing to pay extra in all cases.  Almost everybody is willing to drive to a nearby event; and believe it or not, on member said that he was not interested in any event! With the results in hand, our Activities Committee is now working to organize events and activities responding to members’ wishes and thus increasing overall participation.