Newsletter No. 47 - October 2020
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD ON ZOOM AT 10.30AM NEXT WEDNESDAY 28th OCTOBER

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President's Report

President’s Report for October

Once again there is not a lot to report. The club continues to function with many of the outdoor activities continuing. However, I know that we all miss the opportunity to get together as a large group and enjoy the social interaction that Probus provides. I am hoping that we can arrange something for our Christmas function, so keep your eye out for developments in this area.

Two groups of members did travel to Bateman’s Bay for three days over the last two weeks. Whilst it was not a Probus function we were still able to gather in small groups and have a wonderful time. All of the arrangements and suggestions that Max Henderson and his helpers put together were not wasted. Mogo Zoo and the River cruise were well attended, and we did our best to inject some much needed cash into the local economy and restaurant scene.

I hope that all members are keeping well and that we soon see some further reduction in the restrictions that we are currently living under.

Bob Carritt

Secretarial

Correspondence In

Badges received for the new members.

Correspondence Out

None

Bev Dona

Details of the Probus Member Benefit Scheme are at: www.probussouthpacific.org/pages/members_offers_member_benefits_scheme
(click on link)

Treasurer

REASURER’S REPORT                                               For the Month of September 2020

GENERAL ACCOUNT
Opening cash balance 1st September 2020       $3980.51
Interest                                                                    0.17
Deposits                                                              50.00   Hornsby Council for return of hall key
                                                                        100.00   Hornsby Council for return of 2 hall keys
Expenses                                                           (19.00) Hornsby Council for hire hall cupboard
                                                                    (337.24) Andrew Little refund Weebly subscription
                                                                      (100.00) Rob Clarke refund part personal Zoom
Closing cash balance 30th September 2020      $3674.44

Two deposits ($150.00) were received from Hornsby Shire Council for the return of the 3 hall keys for the Cherrybrook Community Centre. The bi-annual subscription to Weebly for the website was paid and a payment was made to Rob Clarke as a $100.00 refund of part of his personal Zoom license.

ACTIVITIES ACCOUNT
Opening cash balance 1st September 2020          $18112.96
Interest                                                                       2.17
Bright                                                                    6415.00
Windsor                                                                         -
Bateman’s Bay                                                       (2900.00)
Closing cash balance 30th September 2020    $21630.13

After the cancellation of the Batemans Bay trip, all deposits have been refunded. An additional $6415 in deposits has been received as the second payment for the Bright trip.

Three activities remain open at the end of the month after Batemans Bay was cancelled:

Activity                                             Balance
Bright                                                    19815.00
Frozen                                                     702.00
Windsor                                                 492.00
                                                          $21009.00
Add:
Interest received                              16.15
Activities surplus                                604.98
Bank balance                               $21630.13

TERM DEPOSIT
$5,000 is invested in a Term Deposit with Bendigo Bank at an interest rate of 1.0%. To date interest is estimated to be $11.58.

INTEREST
For the year to date, we have received $17.16 in interest in total from the general and activities accounts.

SURPLUS
The activities surplus stands at $604.98.

Ian Roberts
Treasurer
1st October 2020

Membership

Just a reminder of our Club policies for attendance at meetings and activities.

Members are expected to attend a minimum of 10 functions (meetings and/or activities) per Probus year (April to March).
Visitors may only attend a maximum of 3 functions (meetings and/or activities) per Probus year.

Our membership is currently full, at the agreed maximum of 110.

Jeff Swan – Membership Officer

Welfare

Welfare Report October 2020

Another month has rolled over and it has been heartening to hear from and see members who are recovering well from injuries or operations. Some are still struggling with health issues and it is great to know that as a group we are keeping in contact with each other and letting them know that even if we don’t see them we are still thinking of them. Many of us are taking the opportunity to participate in the activities the club have been able to keep going over these past few months, cycling, bushwalking, golf, book club and challenge, tennis and gardening to name a few have all enabled us to keep in contact and keep active mentally and physically! You realise how important this is when you have been deprived!

Some members recently went to Batemans Bay over a 2 week period and had a wonderful time. It was good to support the regional areas we visited. It was clear from looking at the town and surrounding areas how badly these people were affected, no power for weeks, the stench of smoke, no homes for some and badly damaged for others, limited food available, no mobile reception, no shops open….a terrible situation. There is a lot of regrowth in the forests but this will take years to recover. This trip helped us all to reconnect as a group.

Cathy Turner

Cathy Turner & Terry Ridge – Welfare Officers

September Meeting Speaker - Rowena Morris - “Day in the life of a Ranger"

Day in the life of a ranger
Join in to hear about the varied and important work our NSW National Parks and Wildlife rangers do. The job is very diverse ranging from fighting fires to conserving threatened species. NPWS manages over 7 million hectares of land in a network of more than 870 parks and reserves to protect the natural and cultural heritage values of the NSW landscape. Ranger Rowena Morris will share some her day to day experiences working with this diverse yet amazing government service.

About Dr Rowena Morris. Rowena has worked in environment management over the past 25 years in various roles with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, SA Country Fire Service, SA Department for the Environment and numerous universities. Her PhD research focused on managing erosion from bushfires. Her role as a ranger is varied and never short of an interesting story.

Photos From September Meeting (None Taken)

Birthday Celebrations

Happy Birthday
To all our members
Celebrating a birthday in October

David Antonjuk
Keith Ball
Robyn Bartle
David Boyd
Helen Games
Jennifer Gilbert
Jan Hookkee
Lawrence Hookkee
Gordon Johnstone
Colin McGowan
Lorenza Powyer
Ian Roberts
Julie Shenstone
Susan Small

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD ON ZOOM AT

10.30AM NEXT WEDNESDAY 28th October.

Zoom login details, including Meeting ID & Password have been emailed by Rob Clarke to all members.

If you want help in installing Zoom please let Andrew Little or Rob Clarke know.

Make sure you turn on your video. We ask you not to turn on your audio (ie MUTE AUDIO) as having to many people on audio makes it impossible for anyone to hear anything.

Batemans Bay Trip Group A

This is for those of us who went down to Batemans Bay & never saw ANY whales, despite going out on the whale watch boat.

Bob & Bev saw a number of whales from the cliff top at Burrewarra Point lookout near Guerilla Bay & the photos of whales below were taken by Bob.

Despite the fact that a number of us also went out to the cliff top near the lookout we were not lucky enough to spot any whales.......

Group A Photos (taken by Bev D, Andrew L & Desley L)

Batemans Bay Trip Group B

Eighteen of us gathered in Bateman’s Bay for the second week of the Non-Probus trip. The weather was perfect and the accommodation at Mariner’s Hotel was magnificently located on the waterfront in the middle of the main retail strip. We were able to use the lawn area on the waterfront side of the hotel for our afternoon gatherings of wine, cheese and snacks. All of us ate the first night at the Soldiers Club and found the food to be good (except for Chris and Gary whose food never arrived).

The second day we visited Mogo Zoo, which is a smaller, visitor friendly attraction with a good variety of animals. Sue Hackett and Helen Baptiste fed the giraffes, and Helen was particularly amazed by the size of the male meerkat’s tail. That night we ate at the local Thai restaurant, which proved so popular that eight of us returned the following evening. Most of us had Lunch at the Oyster Shed where they served magnificent oysters (Pacific or Sydney Rock) at very reasonable prices, as well as fresh prawns. Barry Wailes discovered this place and enjoyed it so much that he and Helen ate lunch there every day.
On the third day we split up, with some of us taking the River Cruise and others travelling to Narooma. Unfortunately the Montague Island trip was cancelled due to weather. Some of us took the river cruise, which was very relaxing and included an excellent lunch of fresh fish and chips. Ten of the group chose to eat at an Indian restaurant that evening, and by all accounts it was very good.

Overall it was a very relaxing and enjoyable trip. Thank you to Max and his team for all their work. We all took advantage of your recommendations and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Group B Photos (taken by Cathy T)

Bright trip - 19 to 29 April 2021

The trip to Bright is looking very promising with a Covid-19 vaccine likely to be available by the end of the year with the government securing enough doses to give it to everyone.

We have 51 confirmed travellers and we are unable to take any more people due to venue capacities. If you would like to be placed on the waiting list please email Rob Clarke.

At this stage, all deposits are fully refundable.

If you have any questions on this trip please do not hesitate to call me or contact me by email.

Rob Clarke

Hand Made – Fully Washable - Triple layer Face Masks

As many of you know, Wendy Carritt has been making face masks for some time and now, along with masks made by Anne Sharpe these are being sold by The Rotary Club of West Pennant Hills and Cherrybrook for $10.00 each, with all proceeds going to support their charity projects.

The masks are good quality, machine washable, three-layer face masks (includes a filter layer) in a variety of colours, plain and patterned to suit everyone. (some patterned examples below).

If you are interested in purchasing masks please let me know.

Beverley Davison

Activities & Leaders

As a result of the sign-up sheets at the Foundation Meeting and expressions of interest on application forms we have set up numerous activities and interest groups.

Newsletter Copy Deadline

Please provide your contributions for the October Newsletter by Friday 13th November.

Please email to Enio Dona or Bev Davison for activities or direct to Andrew Little for other articles.

Alternatively place directly into Dropbox under WPHD Probus Activities / Activity Newsletter Contributions / Contributions – 2020 11

Activities List

Click on activity to go straight there!

Book Challenge

&D PROBUS BOOK CHALLENGE

📚 Here Comes the Sun Challenge📚
This Challenge will run from September to February next year.
Just search Facebook for WPH&D Book Challenge to join us. Many of this month’s books were read on the recommendations of other members of the group, and they didn’t fail to entertain.

Our reads since last month:
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris – a Book Club read and reviewed in last newsletter.

The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith – from the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Quirky, great characters, and of course everything can be solved over a cup of Bush Tea.

Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis – this was quite a good read – an entire family murdered (wife, 3 children including baby) and the novelist husband on the run not knowing if he’s living out a book or if he’s in real life. The detective, with his own sad story, doggedly unlocks the real story with some deep insights, strip clubs, poetry and some really nasty people along the way. The events are presented from the minds of both the detective and the novelist. Riveting.

The Nowhere Child by Christian White – full of intrigue, abduction, religious snake handling fanatics – so hard to put down.

Blue Moon by Lee Child – this writer is very popular –his name appears in many reading book groups. Keeping you intrigued right to the end, Blue Moon is about a chance meeting on a bus and where it leads to, and shows how people, with the best intentions, can get pulled into situations out of their control. Jack Reacher has to utilise his instincts to solve this one.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – this is the first book of the Wolf Hall Trilogy, set in the times of Henry VIII, with all the court intrigues and skull-duggery that go on all in the name of privilege and greed. Those Tudors and their hangers-ons really have a lot to answer! Need to read something light before going to the next in the series.

The Wife and the Widow by Christian White – another recommended read with an interesting twist at the end. Reviewed in earlier newsletter.

So many books – so little time – but we’ll get there – NEVER!
Sue Calabrese

Newsletter

Newsletter No. 47 - October 2020PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD ON ZOOM AT 10.30AM NEXT WEDNESDAY 28th OCTOBER