Newsletter No. 50 - February 2021
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD AT THE CHERRYBROOK COMMUNITY CENTRE AT 10.30AM NEXT WEDNESDAY 24th FEBRUARY

PLEASE NOTE THAT UNDER CURRENT COVID 19 REGULATIONS, ONLY A TOTAL OF 68 PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED IN THE HALL.

YOU WILL BE ADVISED BY EMAIL IF YOUR REPLY WAS TOO LATE FOR YOU TO BE INCLUDED.

We are meeting in Heritage Park after the meeting so that anyone who was not able to attend the meeting in the hall will still have the opportunity to catch up with everyone.

Please bring everything you need to eat, drink and a chair to the park. There are BBQ facilities if you wish to use them. Meeting in the Park of course is weather dependent so will leave it up to your own discretion if you go or not.

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President's Report

President’s Report – February
It seems good times may be on the way. The latest Covid restrictions allow us to have 68 people in the Red Gum Hall at Cherrybrook. So we are going to have a face to face meeting for the first time in twelve months. NO MORE ZOOM (we hope). Surely with the vaccination program kicking into gear we will be able to hold all of our 2021 meetings in this manner.

Already the Activity Leaders are getting into their stride. In February we have cards scheduled, a day trip to Broken Bay Pearl Farm, Wine & Cheese night, as well as the usual activities such as photography, book club, cycling, golf, theatre etc. Barry Wailes has also organised a trip to Bonville/Coffs Harbour, with golf for the golfers and a very interesting tourist program for the non golfers. And of course the big trip to Bright is getting closer.

It is great to see the enthusiasm in the club. Let’s hope we can get back to the good times we all enjoyed prior to Covid.

I trust that by the time this newsletter is distributed we have received a raft of committee nominations. It is important that we rotate the Committee positions in order to maintain the momentum of the club and to bring new ideas and suggestions to the group.

At the March meeting we will run the AGM and elections for the various positions.

Bob Carritt

Secretarial

Correspondence In

None.

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

TREASURER’S REPORT                                               For the Month of January 2021

GENERAL ACCOUNT
Opening cash balance 1st January2021               $3617.78
Interest                                                                    0.03
Deposits                                                                   -
Expenses                                                                  -
Closing cash balance 31st January2021         $3617.81

ACTIVITIES ACCOUNT
Opening cash balance 1st January2021            $22213.08
Interest                                                                    1.03
Deposits                                                                  500.00   Bright payment
                                                                              214.93   Tfr from General Account for Xmas subsidy
Payments                                                                             -
Closing cash balance 31st January2021         $22929.04

Additional deposits were received for Bright.

There were three activities open at the end of the month:

Activity                                              Balance
Bright                                                 22700.00
Frozen                                                    207.00
                                                       $22907.00
Add:
Interest received
Last year                                                 21.01
This year to date                                  1.03
Activities surplus                                  -
Bank balance                                 $22929.04

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 $28.88.

INTEREST
For this year to date, we have received $1.06 in interest in total from the General Account $0.03 and the Activities Account $1.03.

ACTIVITY SURPLUS
The Activity Surplus currently stands at zero after the balance at the end of last year was used to subsidise the Christmas lunch.

Ian Roberts
Treasurer
1st February 2021

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 February 2021

Another relatively quiet month has passed.

We are starting to gather momentum with our activities and I know this has had a great impact on our members finally being able to get together, see one another and catch up on all our news. The socialization and caring amongst our members is the bond that makes our club so strong.

With our upcoming 1st face to face meeting in 12 months, our wine and cheese evening last Friday, and cards next Friday are 3 occasions we can add to the few activities we have been able to see each other over the covid period.
I was glad to hear that Helen Donnelly is making a good recovery after a fall. She has strong family support which has really helped.

For those members that either Terry or myself have spoken with, we are glad to hear you are ok. If any member knows of anyone else who needs any support please let either of us know so we can make contact.

Looking forward to seeing as many of you that we can fit into the hall on Wednesday or at Heritage Park afterwards. At this stage we have room in the hall for about another 27 members.

Cathy

Cathy Turner & Terry Ridge – Welfare Officers

February Meeting Speaker - From the First Fleet to the Harbour Bridge: Sydney's astronomical beginnings - Richard de Grijs

The voyage of the First Fleet from Britain to "Botany Bay" was more than a convenient way to rid Britain of its convicts. Join us as historical detectives on the trail of William Dawes, astronomer, engineer, surveyor and ordnance officer---from his arrival in 1788 until the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932.

Richard de Grijs is an acclaimed academic and prolific public speaker. Born and raised in the Netherlands, his successful career in astronomy and astrophysics has allowed him to enjoy vibrant research environments at the University of Virginia (USA), the Universities of Cambridge and Sheffield (UK) and Peking University in Beijing, China. Richard now hails from Sydney, where he joined Macquarie University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering as Associate Dean (Global Engagement) in March 2018. He received the 2012 Selby Award for excellence in science from the Australian Academy of Science, a 2017 Erskine Award for interdisciplinary science and student mentorship from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) and a 2017 Jan Michalski Award for interdisciplinary science and public engagement from the Michalski
Foundation (Switzerland). Richard is a passionate and popular speaker on topics related to astronomy, astrophysics and the history of maritime science and navigation.

Richard is also an Australian National Maritime Museum speaker and volunteer guide, as well as
Associate Dean (Global Engagement) | Professor of Astrophysics and Faculty of Science and Engineering | Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Photos From January Meeting

Birthday Celebrations

Happy Birthday
To all our members
Celebrating a birthday in February

Santo Calabrese
Paul Day
Enio Dona
Bill Graham
Sue Hackett
Jeanette Roberts
Bain Shenstone
Jeff Swan

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD AT THE CHERRYBROOK COMMUNITY CENTRE AT 10.30AM NEXT WEDNESDAY 24th FEBRUARY.

PLEASE NOTE THAT UNDER CURRENT COVID 19 REGULATIONS, ONLY A TOTAL OF 68 PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED IN THE HALL.

YOU WILL BE ADVISED BY EMAIL IF YOUR REPLY WAS TOO LATE FOR YOU TO BE INCLUDED.

We are meeting in Heritage Park after the meeting so that anyone who was not able to attend the meeting in the hall will still have the opportunity to catch up with everyone.

Please bring everything you need to eat, drink and a chair to the park. There are BBQ facilities if you wish to use them. Meeting in the Park of course is weather dependent so will leave it up to your own discretion if you go or not.

Bright trip - 20 to 28 April 2021

Prospective Bright trip travellers attended a Zoom meeting on 2nd February where the trip was discussed & committee member provided information on various aspects of the trip.

We have 56 confirmed travellers, and we have some people on the waiting list. It looks like we are all itching to get away to this fabulous part of the world.

I would like to thank the committee for all the hard work putting this trip together:
Ken Smith has had a difficult job in finding the accommodation, this has been particularly difficult with changing numbers and changing Covid-19 restrictions in Victoria. A number of the motels we have booked closed down for some months. Ken has also worked on finding places for dinner as in some towns there are very few options.
Max Henderson has personally worked with individuals on car pooling so that we can all travel on this trip.
Ken and Kathy Lewis being locals in Bright have been able to put the information packs together and book venues as we are in Bright over the autumn festival.
Andrew Little has had the unenviable task of working on the activities to Bright. This has been made complex due to places not operating due to Covid – 19 and road closures that still exist following the bush fires last year. At this stage some of the roads we want to use are still closed.
Ian Roberts has made sure that every dollar is tracked by individual.

Itinerary

Our itinerary remains unchanged however the route may change due to the road restrictions, we have been advised the roads should open on Q1 this year. If not, we have worked out another route so do not be concerned.

Information Packs on Bright
Ken and Kathy have put together a great information pack that is being distributed, one per household. If you have not picked up yours yet please call Rob Clarke to arrange a collection.

As everyone wants to have lunch at the Gapsted winery this is one activity we will all go to. We will be in under a marque facing the vineyard.

At the February 2 meeting we would like some feed back on what you would like to do on this trip. The photography group has indicated they would like to get up at the crack of dawn (well some of them!) to take some photos in iconic places. This is open to every traveller. One of these locations are the disused truss bridges at Gundagai.

During our trip we will be providing options for you each day and it will be up to you to undertake the activity. In this way it allows people to do what they are interested in doing. This will be discussed in more detail at our February 2 meeting.
Other locations we are considering are Wallace’s Hut and the Bogong High Plains

Accommodation
Please note that the accommodation is country NSW and Victoria motel standard. There are no 4 or 5 star resorts in these locations.

Trip Costs
The final tranche will be due in early March and will be approximately $250 per head. We may add the winery lunch to the tranche as everyone wants to go to this lunch, it will make the payment to the winery easier.
Note funds contributed will only pay for the accommodation and some breakfasts. You will still need to purchase lunch, dinner, drinks and entry fees if applicable.
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

To our members we are currently selling masks at a reduced price of $5.00.

As many of you know, Wendy Carritt and Anne Sharpe have been making masks for the Rotary Club of West Pennant Hills & Cherrybrook to sell, with all proceeds going to support their charity projects. They are all machine washable, three layered (includes a filter layer) in a variety of colours, plain & patterns to suit everyone.

If you wish to purchase any please contact me.

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

There will be no newsletter published in December.

A combined December/January newsletter will be published in February 2021.

Please provide your contributions for the combined Newsletter by Friday 12th March.

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 – 2021 03

Activities List

Click on activity to go straight there!

Book Challenge

📚 Here Comes the Sun Challenge📚

The end is looming! So far we’ve read 42 books between us. New challenge about to start so get ready to read!

Just search Facebook for WPH&D Book Challenge to join us.

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly – Two investigative detectives are following up current and cold cases. A lot of parallel information but all was well tied up in the end with some interesting resolutions in solving several cases.

The House Next Door by James Patterson and others. Three thrillers, all a bit predictable but the first two especially enjoyable. They start with the endings so it is a bit of a wild ride to see how they get there. They were all written as collaborations with James Patterson.
          The House Next Door: A woman becomes involved (or is coerced) by the control freak next door. She places her entire family into jeopardy as she becomes more deeply trapped in his snare.
          The Killer’s Wife: The detective investigating the disappearance of 6 girls tries to get close to the suspect’s wife – to his detriment.
          We. Are. Not. Alone: the first message from space is intercepted by a disgraced scientist so he of course becomes the target of a desperate nationwide manhunt by the powers that be. I would never have read this book if it wasn’t part of the set. I mean, why on earth do aliens always have to have humanoid form and intellect??????

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris – a follow up story from The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Cilka is sentenced to 15 years at Vorkuta Gulag in Sibera on charges of having helped the Nazis. She survives, even finds love, and on release finds her love again and marries.

The Rector’s Daughter: by Jean Fullerton – Set during the construction of the Thames Tunnel. Rachel has an understanding with Cptn Paget, but meets Josiah, a Cornish mining engineer on the tunnel build. They fall in love, she gets pregnant, and although everything is against them, they manage to forge out a future.

Cleanskin Cowgirls: by Rachael Treasure – an entertaining bit of Chick-Lit. Elsie Jones is a country music superstar who has it all. A brush with death forces her to re-evaluate her life. With her only friend, Tara, the girls escape the dying wheatbelt town of Culvert in a rust-bucket ute, a nearly-dead dog, a mop and bucket, a guitar and $74.85! What could possibly go wrong?????

The French Wedding by Hannah Tunnicliffe – a light but interesting read about the interactions and links between the group that can only come from knowing each other over many years.

The Jacaranda Years by Kristin Williamson – based in many areas of the Australian eastern coast. Another book about lifelong friendships and how lives can turn out over time.

The Survivors: by Jane Harper – by the same author of “The Dry”. The reader thought The Dry was more enjoyable.

Ash Mountain by Helen Fitzgerald – Fran hates Ash Mountain and thought she’d escape it. But her father is ill and needs care. Her relationship is over and she hates her dead end job in the city and her home life is tumultuous. Old crimes rear their heads and then a devastating bushfire ravages the town and all of its inhabitants.

The Mystery Woman: by Belinda Alexander – This was quite a thriller. Power over others, lies, deceit, fear, terror, violence, murder! Rebecca thinks she has married the perfect man – but She couldn’t be more wrong. Think of Psycho – that great horror novel – this one is in the same vein. Stomach churning with the tension of hoping she gets away!

Sue Calabrese

Activity Group	Leaders
Book Challenge	Sue Calabrese
Book Club	Bev Davison
Bridge	Rob Clarke
Cards	David Turner, Barbara Taylor
Cycling	Bruce Bartle
Day Trips (Bus/Train/Ferry)	Helen Games
Dining Out	Wendy Carritt
Domestic Travel	Max Henderson
Gardening	Sue Small, Lorenza Powyer
Golf	Terry Ridge
Investment Group	David Antonjuk
Mens Club	Rene Beutler
Mixed Social Group	Kim Nicholls
Movies	Sue Small and Lorenza Powyer
Overseas Travel	Looking For Leader
Photography	Rob Clarke
Ten Pin Bowling	Douglas Matthews
Tennis	Bob Davison
Theatre and Musicals	Bruce Bartle
Walking Group	Bob Carritt & Enio Dona
Wine & Cheese	Julie Shenstone, Susan Antonjuk

For an activity group to start, a member needs to step forward to lead the group

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