The Club owes a huge debt of gratitude to former president Peter Code this month. Due to a no-show guest speaker, we had a yawning gap in this month’s meeting, but into the breach stepped Peter, with his ‘virtual walking tour of Perth.’ Peter has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Perth’s history, and he recounts it with the fluency of one who loves his story.
Perth was conceived in the Duke of Wellington’s desire for a garrison site far enough from the St. Lawrence to be safe from American attack, but close enough to be effective if an attack came. Once the site was selected, the town rose in 1816 on a predetermined one square mile plan and was designated the capital of the Bathurst District of Upper Canada.
When Col. By bypassed Perth with his canal in 1832, Perth sold its parade square to finance building the Tay Canal as a link to the Rideau.
And so it went. Peter’s talk was full of the anecdotes that bring history alive – the Big Cheese? 10,000 cows and 12 cheese factories to make a 22,000 lb. cheese, literally the ‘hit’ (after crashing through the floor) of the 1892 Chicago World’s Fair!
Many thanks, Peter, for turning a possible disaster into an educational and entertaining presentation.

President Keith thanked Peter Code for stepping
into the breach with his ‘virtual tour’ of historic Perth.

Probus generosity Dale Nugent presenting cheques amounting to $655.00 from Probus members to Ed Chenard, Food Bank Coordinator. Thank you for your generous donations. Tax receipts will be issued in February 2008.

Don was born in Guelph, Ontario in 1931, and moved to St.Catharines in 1940. He graduated in Mining Geology from the University of Toronto in 1953, and joined the Standard Oil Company of California (now Chevron-Texaco) in Calgary as a petroleum geologist.
After working for 16 years in the western provinces in the oil and gas exploration field (during which time he married and had three children), he moved to Ottawa in 1969 to join the Department of Energy Mines and Resources, where he worked until 1986 as a petroleum geologist in the evaluation of frontier oil and gas resources. He then spent 2 1/2 years with the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board in St. John's, Newfound-land before finally retiring to Ottawa in 1988.
Having owned a number of recreational properties west of Perth since 1969, he moved to Bennett Lake in 1990 as a widower, and later bought a condo in Perth in 1994. In that year, he met Christina McGuire of Ottawa while hiking with the Rideau Trail Club. They were married in Las Vegas, Nevada the following year. 12 years of world travel later, Don and Chris have visited some 80 different countries.
Don has two daughters, both professionals, one of whom is married with two adopted daughters. Don's hobbies are genealogy, history, volunteering, reading, and hiking and other outdoor activities with the Rideau Trail Club.

Think a gallon of gas is expensive? Next time you are at the pumps, consider the following supermarket products:

Snapple 16 oz. for $1.29................... $10.32 /gal.
Iced Tea 16 oz. for $1.59.................. $9.52 /gal.
Gatorade 20 oz. for $1.59................. $10.17 /gal.
Brake fluid 12 oz. for $3.15 .............$33.60 /gal.
Vick's Nyquil 6 oz. for $8.35 ............$178.13 /gal.
Pepto Bismol 4 oz. for $3.85 ...........$123.20 /gal.
Whiteout 7 oz. for $1.39 ...................$25.42 /gal.
Scope 1.5 oz. for $0.99.................... $84.48 /gal.
...................and this is the real kicker......................
Evian water 9 oz. for $1.49 ..............$21.19 /gal.

Notes from the Management Team
Your Management Team is happy to welcome Mary Watters as a ‘member-at-large’. This is a means to allow new members to become familiar with the machinery behind those seemingly effortless monthly meetings and special events, and to appreciate the camaraderie that makes them happen.
We would also like to thank Chris and Don Sherwin for making the coffee while Sheila and Mike Hurran were travelling. The Hurrans have been making the great coffee that fuels the conversation before meetings and during breaks since last fall. They have to leave the Lake pretty early to fire up that big pot, so cheers and thank you, Hurrans!

Special Events
30 May: Gananoque 1000 Island Play-house production of The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom. This trip is not yet full, and we will decide at the May meeting whether or not it will take place.
June 25, 2007: The Annual Probus Golf Tournament, organized this year by Dale Nugent. Golfers (experienced and otherwise), mark your calendars and sign up with Dale! Golf begins at 3:00 p.m. Eaters are also very welcome to join the athletes for dinner at 6:00 p.m. This is always a good party so come on out and have some summer fun.
10-12 October: Shaw Festival. This trip is cancelled due to lack of interest. In its place it may be possible to schedule a Stratford Festival trip to see two musicals, Oklahoma and My One and Only. Denise will have full details on this at the May meeting, but as with Shaw, a full bus is necessary to take advantage of group discounted pricing.
If you have ideas for new events or trips, talk to Denise Mullins (613-267-3479).
Note: For all trips, the bus leaves from the Legion.

Speaker's Corner In May, Nancy Wildgoose will speak to us on volunteerism. In June, Jim Sands will present a ‘show-and-tell’ program on his hand built working models of railroad and stationary engines and his other metal-working pursuits. Our program Coordinator, Ian Doig, (264-2707) welcomes your suggestions for future topics and speakers.

Visit our website: www.probusperth.ca