A lightbulb moment

16 Mar 2016

Probus’ very first chairman, Bob Burnett, takes a walk down memory lane.

The extraordinary thing about Probus was the speed with which it grew once the seed had been sown in 1976. If 15 men gathered for an interest meeting, then in three months, the club had 45 members. If there were 30, the numbers would grow to 90 in no time. Rotary clubs in the area then had to spring into action to form more clubs to satisfy the demand.

I had the opportunity in 1977 to advise all my fellow incoming district governors from around Australia that we were really “onto something with an organisation called Probus”. I gave them a hand-out on how it worked. Those governors met each year and gleefully reported annually that “you were right!”.

The world at this time had tilted on its axis. Ladies had demanded the right to join Rotary International – and succeeded. Inevitably, the phone call came to me from a lady. “Surely I have as much reason to join Probus as a man?” she said. She had just retired from the CSIRO.

The Probus centre board immediately acceded to my suggestion and ladies came into Probus. I was later to be confronted by two recently retired ladies who with women and men and that they were not interested in a single gender club. Surprisingly, the board reacted slowly to such a suggestion. They did not think that they would mix amicably! How wrong they were then. Most new clubs are now combined.

It was clear from the earliest days that a Probus centre had to be created or clubs would be formed in the wrong way by the wrong people and for the wrong reasons. Besides, a directory was required and guidelines on how to form a Probus club was called for by Rotary. New Zealand, seeing the explosion ‘across the ditch’, also wanted to join in the expansion.

We begged the clubs to donate small amounts to start us off and Society weighed in with $10,000, arguing that Probus membership was going to extend the lives of their policyholders. How right they were. Probus South Pacific Limited now fulfills many functions befitting an organisation of around 140,000 members.

Looking back, I marvel at the dedication of so many Rotarians who put our organisation on Peter Germann, who meeting of the Hunters Hill Club; Cec Short and Russell Hughes who launched the second club, Kuring-gai; the indefatigable Bill Jacobs – the great communicator – who formed club after club for 20 years. Wal Freeman diligently kept the directory up to date; Cliff Johnston was the ultimate administrator and constitutional expert, Jim Stanford organised the regalia, while Lance Chessell formed many clubs and proffered sound of Rotary’s RDU, Paul Henningham Hon. Editor.

The man who really started Probus was Kevin Parker, my friend and colleague in Turramurra Rotary Club. In 1975, he was coming in as the District 9680 Community Service Advisor to the Governor. Kevin had been given the Constitution of a Probus club in Scotland and together, we decided that it looked like a great idea. He immediately appointed the District Probus Committee. Little did we realise what a great idea it really was. **

Bob Burnett joined Rotary in 1964 and in 1968, was Charter President of the Rotary Club of Turramurra in NSW. He was District 9680 Governor in 1978-1979. Serving on the inaugural Committee of the Probus Centre from 1981-1992, he was Chairman from 1981-87. He is still a member of Rotary and is in the Probus Club of Blackheath.