Probus Club of Balwyn NorthPresident’s Welcome

 

Ken Mitchell
Welcome to The Probus Club of North Balwyn Inc.  A0016781Z website, you are encouraged to visit the various pages within. Should you find an interesting topic please use our Contact Us page for further information on any topic that might be of interest.

You are also warmly invited to come to any one of our MONTHLY GENERAL MEETINGS at the Greythorn Community Centre, 2 Centre Way, Balwyn North, with ample parking onsite, map, (Melways map 46 ref H2) held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, 10.00am – 12.00pm, and afterwards for a casual lunch get-together at The Jolly Miller Café 315 Doncaster Road, Balwyn North. 

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We also extend a warm welcome to attend any of our SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, (SIG’s), noted on the Website which can be facilitated by calling the respective coordinators. The SIG’s give a special dimension to membership.

We also regard the SIGs as a wonderful opportunity for non-members to become acquainted with the activities, substance, and benefits of becoming a member.

We are always keen to attract new members to maintain the Club’s ongoing strength and vitality going forward into the future.

Our commitment, – “You will be a stranger but once”.

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Our Guest Speakers have traditionally been of extremely high quality and interest and the activities of the SIG’s, such an important part of Club membership, we intend to support and foster to another level.

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New members have been introduced to our club recently with the contact points being Golf and retirement accommodation. We have been delighted with the welcome offered to the new members and also their enthusiasm in accepting our club.

A new initiative this year has been the use of the Jolly Miller restaurant to cater for a friendly meeting after our monthly meetings.

We have established Probus Ladies Group a Special Interest Group made up of wives of our members and they have responded magnificently. New members to our club in future will be pleased to see the welcome that their wives receive to their club.

                    PLEASE WATCH THIS SPACE – OFTEN!

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Special Interest Group of the Month

Walking Group SIG

Convenor: Richard Heal M:0415 776 039

The PCNB Walking Group meet on the third Friday of every month between February and November with the Convenor, Richard Heal, arranging interesting and relaxing walks in the municipalities of Boroondara, Whitehorse & Yarra. 

Group of walkers in October 2023 enjoying the Artist Trial along the Yarra river.
Each month there is a different walk commencing at 10.30am at a designated starting point. Walks are undertaken at a relaxing pace and are of 1-1.5 hours duration.  

 At the conclusion of each walk, a light lunch is available at a local café where walkers can enjoy social interaction and discuss events of interest.

Photo of some graffiti on one of the walls of an overpass along the Artist trial along the Yarra river. Some of the walks that have been undertaken are The Burnet Bushland Circuit beside the Yarra river at Kew, The Main Yarra trail and The Artists Trail towards the Yarra Flats in Heidelberg, The Bushy Creek Track from Elgar Road, The Mullum Mullum Trail commencing at Tindals Road, to name just a few.

Studley Park Boathouse is the oldest boathouse on the Yarra river serving residents for over 160 years.

Walkers with partners are most welcome to join this very enjoyable activity.

Group Photo taken on the Bushy Creek Track Blacburn North in September 2023

 

Guest Speaker for our General Meeting:

Our guest speaker for our General Meeting 14th May will be Alan Hall – “The Four Men and the Walrus”.

Our guest speaker is Alan Hall. Having served in the army, worked on advanced life support ambulances interstate and policing for 32 years he will reveal the circumstances of a top-secret WWII mission. Having graduated from RMIT and the University of Melbourne he has meticulously documented the mysteries of a MI5 spy and the two RAAF Australians were tasked to fly him to France in a fatal mission to rescue the wife and children of General Charles de Gaulle in 1940.  This became the very first deaths of the RAAF.

Australian War Memorial article regarding the Rescue of the De-Gaulle’s

https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/rescuing-de-gaulles

Previous Guest Speakers 2018 – 2025

March 2024Ross McMullinLife So Full of Promise – Further Biographies of Australia’s Lost Generation
February 2024Geoff ChambersHistory of Jazz to Australia
November 2023Denis DavisThe Kokoda Trail
October 2023Leigh HayHenry & Louisa Lawson
September 2023Pamela O’BrienGoldfields Presentation
August 2023Stephanie McCullochNeighbour Disputes
July 2023Bruno ZielkeAstronomy
June 2023Matthew Etty-LealTibet – Part 2
May 2023Tony ShawAFL Football Coach & Player
March 2023John BarlowWill your next car be Electric
February 2022Matthew Etty-LealTibet
November 2022Ken DavisMelbourne Suburban Signalling System
October 2022Graham O’RourkeMacpherson Robertson
September 2022Graham O’RourkeThe State Library of Victoria: The first 60 years 1853-1913″ 
August 2022Max HarrisSeniors Stepping Out Safely
July 2022Hazel MaynardVolunteering
June 2022Matthew Etty-LealCobb & Co
May 2022Ted Baillieu AOSir John Monash
February 2022Andrew CampbellCould Ageing be a treatable disease
November 2021 Dr Janet PatfordLiving – Apart – Together (Lat) Relationships
October 2021Ross McMullinFarewell Dear People
August 2021Rohan BrownMy Story – Personal Stories
July 2021Megan GouldingSwanston Street Excavations
June 2021Tim RobertsDiabetic and general foot care
May 2021Bev MossCome Fly with Me
April 2021Elida Brereton Travel to Antarctica & South Georgia
March 2021Ken ParkerElectric Vehicles, Renewable Energy
February
2021
Andrew CampbellHearing and Brain Health
November 2020Ross McMullinPompey Elliott – in his own words

October 2020
Vikki PetraitisCrime stories “ Hodsons and Nicola Gobbo ” 
September – 2020
August – 2020
Julian Battistella

Andrew Mitchell
Estate Planning

Electric Cars and Clean Energy – Why?
July – 2020Anthony CaruanaHome Automation
March – 2020Brian WilliamsScams and Fake Tradies
February – 2020Radha Raghunath`Add Years to Your Life
November – 2019Gary FergusonElder Abuse and Seniors Rights
October – 2019Fiona CampbellThe Spencer Street Bridge
September 2019Thorold MerrettStory of Collingswood Premiership 1958
August 2019Rodney RichardsAngel Flights
July 2019Beverley MossBuckingham Palace in my underwear
June 2019Lloyd PhillipsPoetry can be fun
May 2019Joffa CorfeMy life and Gold Coat
April 2019No SpeakerChange over lunch
March 2019Kevin TraskMyself and the media and the Australian singer Diana Trask
February 2019Madryn Sanderson & Alex CarterPersonalised In-home care and health
December 2018No SpeakerChristmas Luncheon
November 2018U3A ChoirSongs of Screen and Stage
October 2018Jacqueline DinanRacing the Boys
September 2018Anthony KnightBeleura House Mornington
August 2018Cliff HardyThe London Blitz
July 2018Natalie DurkovicShen Yen Performing Arts and Traditional Chinese Culture
June 2018Jessica WattsBladder & Bowel Health
May 2018Ross McMullinVillers Bretonneux
April 2018No SpeakerChange Over Luncheon
March 2018Don McQueenThe Bush Balladeer
February 2018Elida BreretonTravel Stories