Frankston celebrates 30
06 May 2013
The Probus Club of Frankston recently celebrated its 30th birthday.
Special guests for the day were Margaret Robinson, Chairman of Probus South Pacific Ltd., Jim Frew and David Louden, President of Frankston North Rotary Club.
The members, guests and visitors celebrated at the regular monthly meeting with a special birthday cake at morning tea, lots of chatter, short talks by each of the three official guests who each explained their roles in the Probus organisation, and concluded with a short question time.
The member with the longest association with the club, May Lingwood, whose husband was a foundation member when it was a men’s only club, joined at that time as an Associate Member and became a Member when the club changed to become a club for both men and women. She, along with Club President Leon Wallis, cut the birthday cake.
Margaret Robinson presented Leon Wallis with a framed certificate of congratulations to the club from Probus South Pacific in recognition of the club’s 30th birthday. The celebrations concluded with a special celebratory lunch at the Frankston RSL.
David Louden was the Frankston North Rotary Club President responsible for instigating the initial meeting that set up the Probus Club of Frankston 30 years ago – the first Probus Club on the Mornington Peninsula. He is still involved in Rotary, is once again President and was pleased to see that his efforts in instigating the establishment of a Probus Club on the Peninsula has had lasting results. He explained how Probus was initially established in England as a support group for the widows of Rotarians and how it has evolved into a social club to provide interesting activities for retired and semi-retired men and women.
Jim Frew explained that the Probus Association of Victoria provides a link between the more than 400 clubs throughout Victoria with an emphasis on Social Activities including sports days (golf, bowls, croquet, etc), and travel, and communicates with the members through the PAV Magazine and regular delegates meetings.
Margaret Robinson said that Probus South Pacific aimed to strengthen the links between Probus and Rotary. She said that there are about 2,200 Probus Clubs with about 179,000 members throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Phillipines and emphasised that the main focus of Probus is for the members to have fun and fellowship in their retirement.
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