PROBUS CLUB OF SOUTH LONDON

Presidents' Message

Fall seems like a new beginning in many ways – school, theatre season, pumpkin spice season – and the same is true for Probus. Your new executive has started our work on your behalf for the coming season of Probus. We are fortunate that we have several experienced members on the Management Team with the happy addition of new faces too! Thank you especially to Shirley and Bob Harris for holding our club together over the past couple of challenging years.

As a management team we are keen to bring you an interesting year with speakers and ongoing club activities. Stay tuned to the website and the newsletter for all the details. Take a look at the following web links to see our new Management Committee members and the minutes from our AGM.

October is Probus month. As a special Probus event, we are working with the London North Probus club and The City of London to bring a special event to you on Oct 25th – “Climate Change and You; Actions you can take to prepare your family”. This is very timely as we watch the news of severe storms including Hurricane Fiona’s devastation on the East coast of Canada and Hurricane Ian in the southern American states. ‘Climate Change and You’ will take place at the Gateway Church from 1 – 5 pm on Oct 25th. Free admission/parking, with displays, door prizes and light snacks. Please plan to attend and bring as many guests as you like, the event is open to all.

With Thanksgiving coming soon, please enjoy the holiday with friends and family. I know that I am thankful for so much this year—getting back to more normal living with family get togethers and travelling; all based on remarkable science that produced vaccines to help fight COVID. As I look outside today, I see our beautiful Southwestern Ontario fall colours under a bright blue sky. It doesn’t get much better than this, wherever you are in the world.

Here are two quotes that explain the season of Thanksgiving to me:

"Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other." Randy Pausch 

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are." Joyce Giraud

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Susan Wolnik

General Meeting & Speaker

Our regular general meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 19 at the usual Riverside location, starting at 9:30 a.m. Our guest speaker will be Kristene Steed from Rheo Thompson Chocolates in Stratford.

Climate Change Meeting

A meeting  on climate change, sponsored by the City of London, will be hosted jointly by the North and South London PROBUS Clubs:

When:   Tuesday, October 25
Where: Gateway Church, 890 Sarnia Rd, London
Topic:     Climate Change and You

This is a drop in event from 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM with presentations at 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM.  For more details, click on the poster below to enlarge.

Birthdays

Investment Club:

Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month. Anyone interested is encouraged to contact Don Jamieson.

Euchre: 

4th Thursday of the month (except December) at 1 pm in a member’s home. 8 players maximum plus spares. Usually over in about 3 hours. There is one opening available as well as sub positions. Convenor: Gail Clarke.

Support:

If you know someone who is feeling under the weather or needs cheering up,  please contact Connie Mabb.

Book Club:                                                                                    

Book Club meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at 2:00 p.m. except December, July & August in a member’s home. Our book club membership is now at capacity. If interested in joining, please call Susan Wolnik or Liz Gordon to be added to the waiting list. If the waiting list grows to 4-5 members, we will help prospective members form a second book club. 

Photo  Corner

A big welcome to our newest members!

Left to Right: Kathy Nafziger, Bette Kline, Catherine Morrison, Larry Morrison, Ray Goldfarb, Ken Schaus, Barbara Schaus, Meredith Cass, Deana Wright, Dave Webster

Below: Handing over to our new president at the AGM...

Women's  Coffee

Member Bios

Introducing our new Treasurer—Mike Smith

Mike was born in Wales. After graduating with an Honours degree in chemistry and math, followed by a post grad in Education, he taught high school in London, England for a year before moving to Kingston, Jamaica for 3 years. He then moved to Toronto where he lived for 5 years, followed by Winnipeg for over 30 years.

Since moving to Canada, Mike has worked in insurance and financial services. He travelled extensively across Canada training/educating brokers on taxation, investment and insurance products, as well as estate planning concepts. He also provided educational seminars to business owners and farmers. Mike has obtained, among other professional designations, a CFP and coached CFP students. He is a past president of the Estate Planning Council of Winnipeg. Mike retired 15 years ago—first to Mexico then to Florida and finally London. Mike is married and has 2 daughters - one in Toronto, and the other in California.

Presidents' Message:

We felt that our Presidents’ Message in the June newsletter was our swan song, but apparently not.  We were pleased to see individuals offer to fill the positions of Vice-President and Treasurer for next year.  We’re excited about the prospects of a more “normal” Probus calendar of events next year.   However, we remain vigilent for the benefit of our members and think of the cautionary note expressed by Yogi Bear in another context, but equally applicable here, “It ain’t over till it’s over!”  All the best to the new Management Committee for next year and especially our next President, Susan Wolnik.  We hope she gets as much enjoyment and satisfaction out of the position as we have.

Shirley and Bob Harris

F.Y.I.:  While researching phobias, we discovered that the fear of long words is
“Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia”.   Please don’t ask us to pronounce it!

Speaker:

Our Sept 21 speaker will be Diane Yeo, her topic is Mindfulness for Everyday Life

• Are you feeling anxious or stressed?
• Is your mind going nonstop?
• It is affecting your happiness and quality of life?
• Are you ready to relax, find peace, feel enough and live life?

Explore mindfulness. 

Join us and learn how mindfulness can quiet the chatter in your mind, calm your body and increase your overall happiness and well-being. Learn effective tools you can use from morning to night to release stress, be more present, handle your day-to-day pressures with more ease, and enjoy your life.  The good news is anyone can do this – all that is required is the desire. Enjoy a guided meditation and experience the benefits for yourself!

“You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.”    
- Jon Kabitt-Zinn

September Birthdays:

Investment Club:

Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month. 

Anyone interested is encouraged to contact Don Jamieson.

Euchre: 

4th Thursday of the month: (except December) at 1 pm in a member’s home (8 players maximum plus spares). Usually over in about 3 hours.

There is one opening available as well as sub positions.

Convenor: Gail Clarke               

Support:

If you know someone who is feeling under the weather or needs cheering up,  contact Connnie Mabb.

Lunch After General Meeting:

Our lunch after the September meeting will be at Taverna 13thirtyone. It's located on the East side of Hyde Park Road just north of the railway underpass. Right beside the Harley Davidson and Indian Motorcycle dealer. Lots of parking in the rear. Hope to see you there

Dine Out:

The next Dine Out is on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at 11:30 am at Luan’s Seafood & Grill, 315 Wellington Rd South, London, 519-439-6121 (https://www.luansseafoodandgrill.com/)

Please register with Angie Jansen by Thursday, September 1st., to have your name added to the list.

Book Club:                                                                                    

Book Club meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at 2:00 p.m. except December, July & August in a member’s home. Our book club membership is now at capacity. If interested in joining, please call Susan Wolnik or Liz Gordon to be added to the waiting list. If the waiting list grows to 4-5 members, we will help prospective members form a second book club. 

Please contact Susan Wolnik or Liz Gordon .

Note from the Editor:

Convenors PLEASE take pictures at your events and submit them to me to enhance our Newsletter.

Your Management Team at Work!!!! (no really we did)

                  

Meet your new Vice-Chairs:

L: Marian Mcindough   R: Karen Banks

Membership:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE NOTE:

Membership renewals for 2022-2023 are due on September 1, 2022. An email notification will be generated from the club's website 21 days prior to the due date. The notification will provide information as to when fees are due and how to make the payments.

Probus Club of South London
COVID-19 Policy effective August 9, 2022

•  Members & Guests need to be fully vaccinated (3 doses, preferably 4 doses) to attend any club events, meetings, and activities.
• Proof of vaccination continues to be required and will be updated/recorded when registering at General Meetings.
• All Members and Guests are expected to use the Province’s “Self -Assessment Tool” and only participate in activities or events if the outcome of that assessment shows no need to self-isolate.
• Face masks are to be worn when entering, using the washroom, and leaving the General Meeting venue (Riverside United Church). Face masks are optional inside the meeting room.
• https://covid-19.ontario.ca/self-assessment/