Yea Probus celebrates 50 years of the organisation

PROBUS Clubs throughout Australia are celebrating the Probus Retirees Clubs, which started in Sydney 50 years ago this month. Probus has spread to just about every town in Australia, with many larger towns having two or more clubs to cope with the growing membership. Yea Probus marked the occasion with a delicious celebratory morning tea catered by Mint and Jam, bestowed their first Life Membership, and inducted two new members. Daryl Callander, an inaugural member of Yea Probus when it began nearly 37 years ago, was presented with a Life Membership, the first the Club has awarded. Daryl has held the position of president several times as well as being involved in many other leading roles in the Yea club over the years. He has been a great role model over his many active years with Yea Probus. He was the guest speaker at the Yea Probus Club’s 30th Birthday several years ago and gave a comprehensive history of the many activities and fun events the members have enjoyed since inception. Yea Probus has always been a very successful club and at the 50th Birthday celebrations last week president Elaine White inducted two new members, Ken Maxfield and Helen Kentish. NEW PROBUS MEMBERS: Ken Maxfield and Helen Kentish with Probus President Elaine White. Ken and wife Trish moved to Yea several years ago and both have been very active members in the local community. Ken has been very active in the Rotary organisation for over 30 years and has been involved in Yea Rotary since moving to Yea. Helen is a recent resident of Yea but has worked and travelled extensively throughout Australia. She is looking forward to being involved in the local community. Ken and Helen bring the Yea Probus membership up to 78 members. The guest speaker at our October Meeting was Jan Beer who gave an excellent insight into the Murray Darling Water Basin and the importance of fighting to keep some water for agriculture and industry. It was devastating to hear how the loss of water allocation for agriculture in Australia’s biggest and best food bowl has already significantly impacted on the amount of food able to be grown to feed Australia. The club is looking forward to its annual coach trip this month, this year travelling to Canberra and visiting the many significant attractions to be found in the ACT. Last month the club members visited Bruno’s Sculpture Garden in Marysville. For many it was their first visit and they were amazed at the talent and scope of this unique attraction in our own area. Next month, the club will be taking a luncheon cruise down the Goulburn River from Nagambie. Each month the club members enjoy an outing to somewhere interesting and a regular catch-up at an organised coffee morning as well as other activities. The Yea Probus Club meets on the first Thursday of every month at the Yea RSL Hall.