President’s Report
Cordell Short
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 Centreway, North Balwyn, with ample parking onsite, commencing post-Covid restrictions from 11th May, held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, 10.00am – 12.00pm, and afterwards for a casual lunch get-together at the Kew Golf Club.
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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 SIG’s 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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RETURN TO FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS, (assuming no reintroduction of Covid restrictions): The Committee is pleased to confirm the following arrangements
Annual Changeover Lunch – Tuesday 13th April 2021 at 12 Noon for 12.20pm (members and partners – see newsletter for details)
Monthly General Meetings – Commencing Tuesday 11th May 2021 at 10.00am
All SIG meetings – From respective dates commencing May 2021.
It is expected it will be possible for these meetings to revert to pre-Covid formats with opportunity for members to have social interaction, enjoy Guest speakers, presentations, and interactive discussions, as well as coffee breaks.
In addition, we are exploring the possibility of holding hybrid meetings, face-to-face & Zoom, to allow members who are not able to physically attend to still participate.
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The Club during the whole of the pandemic period, with the aid of Zoom, has remained extraordinarily vital and connected, but with the emergence from Covid our challenge is to re-engage personally and bring back the benefits of in-person interaction and captivate Member’s interests and involvement back to pre-Covid levels and more.
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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I commenced my Presidency from the March 9th, 2021 Annual General Meeting, having served as Senior Vice President in the year before. My time on the Committee has been special. The Committee’s commitment to the Club surviving Covid has been extraordinary.
The outcome of our Zoom year has been a remarkable success and it has been a pleasure to be part of that team effort, 2021 represents a different challenge. The recruitment of new members in the 2020 year was almost impossible and natural attrition, part from anything else, demands we maintain our membership level. to ensure the Club’s ongoing vitality.
My commitment in the 2021 year is to redouble our efforts to attract new members to our special Club, support and strengthen our Special Interest Groups, visit succession planning about Committee and SIG Conveners positions and see a longed-for return to those captivating social events we’ve enjoyed so much in the past – in which we have importantly included our partners.
After a year like 2020, 2021 will require a bit of effort and commitment to get to where we want to be. In this, our Website will be an essential element of our communication strategy.
PLEASE WATCH THIS SPACE – OFTEN!
Special Interest Group of the Month
Photography/Travel SIG
Convenor Nino Xerri mob: 0410 571 446
Email: ninros1946@gmail.com
The Photography/Travel SIG (Special Interest Group) consists of a group of members who are keen on all aspects of photography, of which Travel is an integral part.
We meet on the 3rd, Tuesday of each month to discuss topics such as:
– You tube tutorials on key features of photography e.g., RAW vs JPG: Manual vs Auto.
– Excursions such as: Frankston’s Annual Street Art Festival, Blue Lotus Water Gardens as well as others that were jointly conducted with the Heritage/Genealogy SIG.
– The following month members would present 2 or 3 of their images with discussion as to format used and why.
– As part of the Travel SIG, members present a PowerPoint presentation of images taken during their varied travels.
Whilst 2020 was a difficult year, whereby we were only able to go to a limited number of outings, it is hoped and planned that 2021 will be easier for the group to be able to do so.
I welcome any person or persons who would be like to join us, to please contact the convenor. You do not have to be a “photographer” as such, but we have all travelled in some way and have taken photos of the places we have been to and so it would be interesting to be able to share those memories with your fellow Probians. Our meetings/outings are always conducted in the spirit of Probus philosophy of Fellowship, Friendship & Fun.
Nino Xerri
Guest Speaker’s
Our guest speaker for our Zoom General Meeting will be Ken Parker on Tuesday 9th March 2021 is: – Topic “Electric Vehicles Renewable Energy & Climate Change”
Ken has been pursuing how we could improve our world. This has led to him giving presentations to various community groups on sustainability issues and more recently about online news and information.
He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Physics and Maths, was awarded an 1851 Scholarship and completed his doctorate in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics at Oxford University. He worked for the University of Surrey in a team doing experiments at CERN in Geneva and analysing them. He was recruited by CSIRO to return to Australia to work as a Research Scientist in the Divisions of Computing Research and Information Technology, then Telstra Research Labs. He gained an MBA and worked as a consultant for VicRoads, Alcatel-Lucent, Vic Depts of Finance & Treasury and Justice & Regulation, ANZ Bank, Ambulance Vic, H&R Block and other entities. His work has included:
– development of financial models for two Australian Broadband Networks:
– development of the financial model for the centralisation of all systematic IT and communications in Victorian Government Departments and Agencies.
Previous Guest Speakers 2018 – 2020
February 2021 | Andrew Campbell | Hearing and Brain Health |
November 2020 | Ross McMullin | Pompey Elliott – in his own words |
October 2020 | Vikki Petraitis | Crime stories “ Hodsons and Nicola Gobbo ” |
September – 2020 August – 2020 | Julian Battistella Andrew Mitchell | Estate Planning Electric Cars and Clean Energy – Why? |
July – 2020 | Anthony Caruana | Home Automation |
March – 2020 | Brian Williams | Scams and Fake Tradies |
February – 2020 | Radha Raghunath` | Add Years to Your Life |
November – 2019 | Gary Ferguson | Elder Abuse and Seniors Rights |
October – 2019 | Fiona Campbell | The Spencer Street Bridge |
September 2019 | Thorold Merrett | Story of Collingswood Premiership 1958 |
August 2019 | Rodney Richards | Angel Flights |
July 2019 | Beverley Moss | Buckingham Palace in my underwear |
June 2019 | Lloyd Phillips | Poetry can be fun |
May 2019 | Joffa Corfe | My life and Gold Coat |
April 2019 | No Speaker | Change over lunch |
March 2019 | Kevin Trask | Myself and the media and the Australian singer Diana Trask |
February 2019 | Madryn Sanderson & Alex Carter | Personalised In-home care and health |
December 2018 | No Speaker | Christmas Luncheon |
November 2018 | U3A Choir | Songs of Screen and Stage |
October 2018 | Jacqueline Dinan | Racing the Boys |
September 2018 | Anthony Knight | Beleura House Mornington |
August 2018 | Cliff Hardy | The London Blitz |
July 2018 | Natalie Durkovic | Shen Yen Performing Arts and Traditional Chinese Culture |
June 2018 | Jessica Watts | Bladder & Bowel Health |
May 2018 | Ross McMullin | Villers Bretonneux |
April 2018 | No Speaker | Change Over Luncheon |
March 2018 | Don McQueen | The Bush Balladeer |
February 2018 | Elida Brereton | Travel Stories |