President’s report
January 2025
On behalf of our Committee, I wish all of our members, their wives/partners and their families, a very Happy New Year! I hope that your Christmas was a safe, healthy and joyous time, celebrated with loved ones or in the company of friends.
This month we have two Probus events on our calendar; our Members’ meeting, and our traditional January barbecue.
At the Members’ meeting, to be held on Thursday 16th January, we will be inducting, as members, Ross and Trish Matterson, who were guests at our November meeting, and who subsequently attended, and greatly enjoyed, our Christmas Luncheon. I’m sure that both will become valuable contributors to our Club. As mentioned in last month’s Newsletter, and in continuing with the tradition of one of our members being the guest speaker at our January meeting, this month we have upped the ante by having two guest speakers! Keith Penfold will be talking about F1 Motor Racing, and Tom Keating, about the joys (or otherwise) of Cycling. Both activities require the active participants to be riveted to their seats, albeit the seats are in very different positions! I trust that you will find Keith and Tom’s presentations similarly riveting.
Please note that I have just been advised by Forestville RSL that the air-conditioning for our meeting room on Level One is not working at present, and may not be fixed by next Thursday, so the room itself could be rather warm for this month’s Members’ meeting.
Our annual picnic/barbecue will be held at Jamieson Park in Narrabeen on Monday 27th January, which will be a public holiday, as Australia Day falls on a Sunday this year. The barbecue should commence shortly after 5.00pm, and we are hopeful that the weather will be as kind to us as it has been in recent years. A sausage sizzle and salads will be provided by the Club, but you will need to bring along your own chairs, drinks, drinking glasses and cutlery. I hope that we have as many members and their wives/partners attending as can make it, as it’s always a relaxed social gathering, in a very pleasant setting. It would greatly assist in catering for the barbecue, if you could indicate your intention to attend, either at the Members’ meeting (an Attendance Sheet will be available on the day) or by emailing me at robjbeaton@gmail.com no later than Thursday 23rd January.
As most of you may be aware, our Club’s Standing Resolutions require that nominations for all positions on the Management Committee be called for at our January Members’ Meeting. At this late stage of our Probus year, and with only 2 months to go to our Annual General Meeting in March, we still have no nominations for the following positions on the 2025/26 Committee:
Vice President; Secretary; Day Outings Organiser.
Please consider whether you would like to nominate for any Committee position, especially the latter two listed above, which are crucial positions to fill, as our Club cannot continue functioning effectively without our members’ help.
Our Committee looks forward to seeing you at the Meeting next Thursday, and at the January barbecue on Monday 27th.
Rob Beaton – President 99757515 robjbeaton@gmail.com