Special gathering
23 Nov 2022
On Monday 10 October, the Probus Club of Eaton celebrated its 30th birthday with a very special gathering.
Seventy-five people, made up of executive, members, distinguished guests, including David Byatt from the South Bunbury Rotary Club which sponsored the Club’s formation and representatives of neighbouring Probus Clubs attended the Eaton Bowling Club (the Club’s home venue) for the gala event of the year. This was an excellent crowd for what turned out to be a rather cold and windy day.
On arrival everyone was invited to have a cup of tea/coffee and members were presented with a very special gift. This was a book of Club events from 2014, entitled “Celebrating the 100th Edition of The Probus Club of Eaton Inc Newsletter”. It was designed by the Club’s wonderful President, Dorothy Bail, as a surprise for everyone and took the format of the Club newsletter. In other words, it was photos, snippets of information and jokes. It really was a formidable production and was later lauded by guest speakers. Each of the guests was presented with their own copy.
President Dorothy opened the celebration, introduced distinguished guests and gave a brief history of the Club, noting how it began as a male-only Club but admitted women the very next year. Some of the original and early members were named, especially those still associated with the Club. Then it was time to introduce the guest speakers:
- The Hon. Nola Marino MP, Federal Member for Forrest. Nola spoke about the worth of Probus, how such an organisation helps to enrich our lives and provide opportunities to interact with other people.
- Graeme Brown, WA Board Member Probus South Pacific Ltd who travelled from Perth on the day to address members. He spoke about how PSPL had survived a loss of membership and Covid troubles with the help of a government grant. He also described how six venues in Perth had been lit up in blue and gold to celebrate Probus Week.
- Mick Bennett, Shire President of the Dardanup Shire. Mick made a presentation of a 30-year pin and certificate to Don Wass, Life Member, and gave a humorous account of this most lively and valued man.
With a lot of coordination, the Club even managed to have a rather large group photograph taken!
Dorothy thanked the Committee for their extremely hard work and then Don Wass and three other past Presidents cut the cake. That was the signal for morning tea/brunch to begin. This was another very special and enjoyable part of the day, which was followed by a 51-prize raffle (thanks to the generosity of Club members).
This was a very memorable celebration and the booklet gift was a wonderful way to help remember the times members have had together.
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