Probus Perth Newsletter

~ April 2010 Edition
~ Contributing Editors: Donald and Frances McNaughton ~

THE PROBUS CLUB
OF PERTH
P. O. Box 2164,
Perth, Ontario
K7H 3M9
www.probusperth.ca
Probus meets the first Wednesday of each month, Sept. to June.

President
Bruce Gourley
613-283- 5967
brucegourley@sympatico.ca

Past President
Ernie Trischuk
613-283-8112

Vice President
Mike Else
613-267-2302

Secretary
Sheila Clark
613-267-4939

Treasurer
Don Sherwin
613-264-0759

Program
Ian Doig
613-264-2707
and Glen Pettinger
613-267-9747

Special Events
Glen Pettinger
613-267-9747
and Mary Kilgour
613-264-0024

Membership
Jean Crowley
613-267-3306

Member at Large
Keith Brown
613-264-0206

Facilities
Bill & Kathleen Lea
613-264-0972

Webmaster
Colin Stephenson
613-264-2609
info@probusperth.ca

The May 5th Probus meeting will feature a creative collaboration of groups from both ends of the demographic spectrum. We will be treated to a re-enactment of the War of 1812 by 20 or so students taking part in the Perth Regional Heritage Fair. Ian suggests that we might want to let the students take over the first 2 or 3 rows of the hall during their presentation. The Perth Regional Heritage Fair (formerly known as Historica) is a wonderful program which encourages students to explore Canadian heritage in a hands-on learning environment. Several of our Probus members are involved with this program as volunteers and John Gittens has created an excellent related website www.prhf.org, which is worth visiting.

Helen and Bob Black have indicated that more than 50 people have signed up so far for the annual trek to the 1000 Islands Playhouse in Gananoque on May 27th to see the "39 Steps". It is great to see such interest being shown in our special activities! The May meeting will be your last chance to sign up and pay for this event ~ $22 for the play and $12 for the optional gourmet box lunch (cheques payable to Perth Probus Club). More details are available below under Special Activities, or in the March Probian, as well as the Theatre website. Ride sharing can be arranged.

Traveling With Exploritas
By Donald McNaughton

Ian Doig & Bob Pearson

The speaker for April was Bob Pearson, a program coordinator for Routes, which provides programs for Exploritas, the new name for Elderhostel. Bob worked as a sales representative for an international medical company until retirement to Kingston Ontario in the 1980’s so he has traveled widely. He says that Perth is the most beautiful town he has seen!

Elderhostel was started in 1975 to combine travel with education and learning and at first used campuses, which were vacant in the summertime for rooms and programs. Today there are 12,000 programs world wide, with 200 in Canada. Routes lifelong learning adventures, is the main provider of programs to Exploritas.

The learning programs are mainly pitched to the 55+ age group but are diversified and available to anyone who can travel. There are six different levels of physical capabilities so you can choose a program to suit your energy level. The size of the Traveling group is kept small so that everyone can hear the excellent lecture/discussions that will be enjoyed on the trip. Most trips are a minimum or 5 days and a maximum of 14.

Bob then took us through a sample program of a VIA rail trip from Montreal to Vancouver with overnight stops in Toronto and Jasper – 14 days and 13 nights. Members of a group are looked after extremely well and are exposed to many interesting events and learning experiences by the largest Travel Company in the world.

May - the Perth Regional Heritage Fair Re-enactment of the War of 1812.

June - Jim Gilpin on his experiences in World War II.

May 18, 2010 ~ Spring Fling (the annual regional Probus social event) will be held at the The Best Western Parkway Inn in Cornwall. Registration at 10:30 a.m. and meal at noon. The entertainment will be The Brigadoons, a popular local Celtic singing group. It will be the Cornwall Probus Club’s 15th Anniversary, so they are inviting us to celebrate with them. There will be entertainment & lucky draws too. Reminder: Each Club is asked to provide its payment with a single cheque payable to Probus Club of Cornwall & Area by Friday, April 16, 2010.

May 27, 2010 ~ Trip to see "The 39 Steps" at 1,000 Island Playhouse in Gananoque. Matinee performance, gourmet boxed lunch on the deck. Cheques should be made out to the Perth Probus Club for $22. p.p.for the ticket and $12. p.p. for the box lunch and pre-show chat, if that is desired.

June 21, 2010 ~ Annual Golf Tournament, Book Exchange and dinner to be organized again by Glen Pettinger by popular demand. Every player will be asked to bring a cherished (slightly used paperbacks are fine) favourite book for the Prize Table.

Probus has recently been approached by several different groups to ask if they might sell tickets at our monthly meetings. To avoid possible "ticket fatigue" and confusion between Probus-sponsored events and other events of interest in the community, the Management Team has decided that it would be best if we reserved ticket sales tables for Probus-sponsored events only. That said, we are happy to continue the practice of providing members with the opportunity to make short public announcements about events of interest and to mention where tickets may be purchased. Where possible we will try to help publicize outside events of significant interest to our members through our website and The Probian.

Many thanks to Don and Fran McNaughton for their contributions to this edition. The contributing editor for the May Bulletin will be Carol Trischuk, with pictures by her partner Ernie.