THE FORMATION OF THE PROBUS CLUB OF COOMA
Our Club was initiated with the issue on 14th October 1985 of an invitation, addressed to “Dear Retiree”, from the Rotary Club of Cooma, to known retirees in the district, to attend the inaugural meeting at the Cooma Bowling Club on 12th November 1985. A brief outline of the history and aims of Probus was included with the invitation, which was signed by Rotary president Peter Carruth.

At the Inaugural Meeting, Alan Frost officiated on behalf of Rotary with the assistance of Rotarians Bill Rushton and Fred Tucker and introduced Mr Chris Norwood of Canberra Rotary and Mr George Hind of the Canberra-Belconnen Probus Club. They gave us an outline of the development of Probus Clubs and the reason for the meeting, noting that the basic purposes of the Club were to provide opportunities to meet others with a similar level of interest, to enjoy hearing addresses by Guest Speakers and to visit places and organisations of specific appeal to members. It was noted that there should be no compulsion to attend any number of meetings.

We were fortunate in having the guidance and advice of Chris Norwood at the commencement and later development of our Club. He has been a prominent Rotarian in Canberra for over 30 years and has been instrumental in the establishment of many other Probus Clubs. At our function in 2005 to commemorate our 20th Anniversary he was welcomed as a Special Guest. He was elected to the position of Chairman of Probus Centre – South Pacific for 2007 – 2008.
There were 29 potential members present at our Inaugural Meeting and it was formally agreed that the Probus Club of Cooma be initiated.

The Meeting elected an executive committee of:
• President Stan Howard
• Secretary Fred Allen
• Treasurer Reg Bowden
The following seven additional Members were elected as Committee Members:
Pat O’Dea, Allen Clarke, Fred Tucker, John Mertens, Brian Willis, Harry Preston and Bob Smith.

A substantial amount of literature and stationery material, including the President’s Collar, was provided by the Rotary Club to enable the new Club to be initiated and to operate effectively from the first meeting. It was agreed that meetings would be held initially at the Cooma Bowling Club on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.

The first regular meeting was held on 10th December 1985, with 11 additional members being present. These were also accepted as Foundation Members, bringing the total to 40 Foundation Members and name badges were presented.

A system was adopted to issue Information Bulletins for each meeting to document the main details of the meeting, including the Career Resume and the Guest Speaker’s address for the benefit of Members and to indicate the program for future activities. Official minutes of each meeting were retained by the Committee.

We began to accumulate our first items of equipment from the initial meeting. Alan Frost provided the Probus gong and gavel. Stan Howard made the lectern with the main requirement that it was small enough to be carried in a car, as we had no storage facilities at the Bowling Club. We later received from Gerry Wansink the embroidered name banner produced by Jan Wansink for use at out meetings.

Our major acquisition of equipment was our public address system complete with amplifier, speakers and microphones which are now essential for a Club with Members of an advanced aged group. We have been fortunate to have the services of several Members, led by Jock Montgomery to set up the equipment for each Meeting. We are also able to make use of storage facilities since we changed our regular meetings to the Ex-Services Club.

Our Club was registered with the Probus Centre – South Pacific as the Probus Club of Cooma – Club No. 57166. In 2002 it was recommended by the Probus Centre that Clubs should be incorporated in accordance with the provisions of the Associations Incorporation Act – 1984 and a Special Meeting was held on 9th July 2002 to consider the proposal.
The suggestion for incorporation was formally adopted and the new Constitution, providing for the changes was issued in early 2003. This required the appointment of a Public Officer as the official contact point for an incorporated association.

The Public Officer can be a Committee Member or an outsider and may hold any office of the association, but is required to lodge an annual statement to the Registry of Co-operatives.

John McLean was initially appointed as our Public Officer and in 2005 Bill Rushton was appointed to that position.

THE FIRST YEARS OF OUR CLUB

During the first few years the success of our Club was greatly enhanced by the popular and well-organised tour program, which enabled the Members and their partners to enjoy many interesting excursions. The success of these tours was partly due to the many interesting locations available to us, and the fact that we had many keen Members able to participate, but the most significant factor was the dedicated contribution and planning by Alan Frost, who took over the initial position of Tour Organiser. Alan made detailed investigation visits and planning of various sites in the local area and the Monaro District, as well as some outside the State.

Our tours commenced in April 1986 with a visit to the Water Treatment Plant and the Sewerage Plant in Cooma, after an address by Keith Walker, the Contracts Officer for the Cooma-Monaro Shire Council. This was an easy afternoon excursion that did not involve bus travel.

In May 1986 we travelled to Cuppacumbalong Art Centre, Tidbinbilla Tracking Station, which was then in full operation and then the Wild Life gardens in Canberra. In July we travelled to Googong Dam, Cockington Green and Ginninderra Village.

Our August tour took us to see the Llama Farm near Cooma, the Trout Farm and SMA features such as Providence Portal and Eucumbene Dam. In September 1986 we again travelled to Canberra to visit Questacon, Black Mountain Tower and Parliament House. In November we enjoyed a very interesting trip to the Bombala State Forests to see the planting facilities and the harvesting procedures in the pine forests and the local timber facilities.

For our last trip of the year we went in December to Scrivner Dam, Ginninderra Falls and then to a sheep dog demonstration, to conclude a very busy year of travels.

During the year we were entertained with some very interesting Career Resume discussions by some of our Members outlining their activities before retirement and the reasons they chose to live in the Cooma area.

Excellent examples of these summaries were made available in the Bulletins for the first year, which were produced by Fred Tucker, and these gave details of talks by:

Bob Smith, Ken Andrews, Harry Worthington, Bill Joyce, Rene Donkers,
Fred Tucker, Alan Frost, Eric Smith, John Hunter, Nat Little,
Brian Willis and Bob Ampt.
These contributions were followed up in our second year by reviews from:

Raymond de Smeth, Gordon Goodwin, Jum Chataway, Norm Ferguson,
Hein Bergerhausen, Bert Knowles, Stan Howard, Jock Montgomery,
Kevin McFadden, Stan Birtus, Michael Bennett, Tom Dennis and Pat O’Dea.

The Bulletins recording the details of these contributions are an excellent reference to the lives of some of our early Members and make very interesting reading, even though they were written about 24 years ago. It is a pity that these stories are not readily available to all our present Members. If a future project could be arranged to compile a registry of every Member of our Club, with basic details of their life story, as presented in their Career Resume, it would provide a valuable historical record of our Members for the future benefit of the Club.

During the first couple of years we were also fortunate in being entertained by some very knowledgeable and excellent Guest Speakers and this set the pattern for the program we have enjoyed ever since. A summary of the various subjects adopted would provide an interesting list and would assist in the selection of future speakers who might be able to present an updated version of some of the subjects.

The most interesting subjects adopted during the first couple of years included:

? History of the Monaro Lindsay Hain
? State Emergency Services Shane Trethewey
? Snakes and Snake Bite Peter Wolfe
? Augmentation of Cooma Water Supply Keith Walker
? Cooma Hospital and Health Services Dora Theunisson
? The Career of a Chef Rene Donkers
? Banking Facilities in Cooma Colin Crain
? Local Government Peter Housden
? History of the Salvation Army Ian Ross
? Cooma Police Inspector George Allen
? Cooma Technical College Margaret McAdam
? The Incorporation of Clubs Bob King
? Wine Production Hein Bergerhausen
? Development of Nuclear Power Alan Frost
? Investment and Trust Services Ken Joyce
? Flying Boats during the War Jock Goodwin
? NSW Soil Conservation Service Tom Swadling
? Life in Iraq Ambassador Neil Truscott
? Life on Christmas Island Stewart MacPherson

The early years of our Club and the contributions of so many dedicated Members may be remembered and commemorated on the 25th Anniversary of the Inaugural Meeting on 9th November 2010 and at the Anniversary Dinner function on 14th December 2010 in celebration of our first regular meeting.

LIST OF FOUNDATION MEMBERS OF OUR CLUB

MEMBERS PRESENT AT FIRST REGULAR MEETING
ON 10TH DECEMBER 1985

ALLEN Fred HAIN Lindsay
AMPT Bob HOWARD Stan
ANDREWS Ken HUGGETT Bill
ANGEL Ron HUNTER John
BERGERHAUSEN Hein JOYCE Bill
BERZINS Leon KLIMA Jan
BIRTUS Stan KNOWLES Bert
BOWDEN Reg LITTLE Nat
CHATAWAY Jum McFADDEN Kevin
CLARKE Allan MERTONS John
CLARSON Bill MONTGOMERY Jock
DARMODY Tom O’DEA Pat
De SMETH Raymond PRESTON Harry
DONKERS Rene STEPHENS Kevin
DUCZYNSKI Andrew SMITH Bob
FERGUSON Norm STRONG Rod
FROST Alan TUCKER Fred
GARDNER Phil WANSINK Gerry
GARRARD Ash WILLIS Brian
GOODWIN Rex WORTHINGTON Harry

LIST OF OFFICE BEARERS OF OUR CLUB
The Office Bearers are elected at the AGM in March of each year and the elected Office Bearers assume office at the beginning of April.
The Vice-President is the President Elect for the following year.

YEAR PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT SECRETARY TREASURER

1985 Stan HOWARD —– Fred ALLEN Reg BOWDEN
1986 Stan HOWARD Allen CLARKE Fred ALLEN Bob SMITH
1987 Allen CLARKE Brian WILLIS Phil GARDNER Bob SMITH
1988 Brian WILLIS Ken ANDREWS Jum CHATAWAY Leon BERZINS
1989 Ken ANDREWS Alan FROST Nat LITTLE Leon BERZINS
1990 Alan FROST Jum CHATAWAY Alec HARVEY Leon BERZINS
1991 Jum CHATAWAY Neville PHEE Jock MONTGOMERY Eric REID
1992 Neville PHEE Doug PRICE Tom DENNIS Eric REID
1993 Doug PRICE Barrie MACPHERSON John HUNTER Les SMITH
1994 Barrie MACPHERSON Jock MONTGOMERY Don JAKINS Les SMITH
1995 Jock MONTGOMERY Fred ALLEN Don JAKINS Jim HUTCHEON
1996 Fred ALLEN Noel CARTER Ken HORNE Jim HUTCHEON
1997 Noel CARTER Alan KELLY Ken HORNE Jim HUTCHEON
1998 Alan KELLY Gordon HAYLOCK Keith DAVIES George DYKES
1999 Gordon HAYLOCK John CURRIE Keith DAVIES George DYKES
2000 John CURRIE Keith DAVIES Bill RUSHTON Jum CHATAWAY
2001 Keith DAVIES John McLEAN Bill RUSHTON Jum CHATAWAY
2002 John McLEAN Bill RUSHTON Ivars FREIMANIS Noel ANDERSON
2003 Bill RUSHTON Hans ZATSHLER Ivars FREIMANIS Noel ANDERSON
2004 Hans ZATSHLER Russell FOX Ivars FREIMANIS Noel ANDERSON
2005 Russell FOX John O’BRIEN Gordon HAYLOCK Bert BRADY
2006 John O’BRIEN Don MAY Gordon HAYLOCK Bert BRADY
2007 Tony MACKENZIE Don PIRIE Gordon HAYLOCK Bert BRADY
2008 Max POVEY Gerald PATTERSON Gordon HAYLOCK Bert BRADY
2009 Gerald PATTERSON Bob NICHOLS Gordon HAYLOCK Bert BRADY
– Les SMITH
2010 Bob NICHOLS Bert BRADY Les SMITH Bert BRADY
?
MEMBERS OF OUR CLUB IN 2010

NAME Wife/Partner NAME Wife/Partner

ALLEN Fred Ruth McLEAN John Phyllis
ALLEN Simon Glenyss MILLS Wally Helen
BEVAN Rod Fay MONTGOMERY Jock Hazel
BILBOW Ray Dorothy NICHOLS Bob Judy BOATE Ken O’BRIEN John
BRADY Bert Gwen O’DEA Pat Dorothy
CANAVAN Bruce PATTERSON Gerald Jan
CARTER Noel Caroline PERCIVAL Geoff Loretta
DAVEY John Monica PHEE Neville Sonia
DAVIES Keith PIRIE Don Marcia
DYKES George June POVEY Max Marie
ENGLEBRECHT Bob REID Allan Gwen
FIELD John Norma RUSHTON Bill Elsie
FOX Russell Jackie SCHAEFER Peter Annette
FREIMANIS Ivars Jan SHARP Ken
HARRIS Rick Joy SIMMS Rob
HOWARD Stan Joan SMITH Les
HYND Jim Pam VAN De WALL Tyl
KEEGAN Jack WAKELY Ken Wilma
KNOWLES Bert Gladys WANSINK Gerry Jan
MACKENZIE Tony Coral WATSON Fraser Marylin
MacGEORGE Frank Margaret WATSON Derek
MACPHERSON Barrie Judy WESTON Bob Marilynne
MARTIN Malcolm Anne ZATSCHLER Hans
McFADDEN Kevin Ruth
McGUFFICKE Greg

THE WORK OF OUR FOUNDATION MEMBERS

Our Foundation Members set the standard for the formation and continuing development of our Club with their regular participation and organisation of all functions and meetings. They appreciated the close association with many other local identities and they left a legacy for later members to continue.

Unfortunately, many of the forty Foundation Members have passed away and some have since moved from our district, leaving only seven who enjoy regular attendance in 2010. These are: Fred Allen, Stan Howard, Bert Knowles, Kevin McFadden, Jock Montgomery, Pat O’Dea and Gerry Wansink.

Foundation President Stan Howard was awarded Life Membership of our Club in 1993. This honour was later extended to Alan Frost and Gordon Haylock.

In recent years the Club has been fortunate to have been able to call on the services of so many capable Executive Committee Members to continue with the activities and the future is bright with the outstanding potential available amongst the 50 current members.

THE PROGRESS AND THE FUTURE OF OUR CLUB

At the time of the establishment of our Club at the end of 1985 we had only basic equipment to enable us to keep in touch with our Members and to arrange tours and functions. We made full use of mail and phone contacts but very few of us were proficient in the early stages of electronic communications that are now becoming so essential to our modern lifestyle and social activities.

During the past 25 years we have adopted some of the benefits of advanced technology and we have also appreciated the guidance of Probus Centre – South Pacific Inc. which operates with delegated authority on all matters relating to Probus in Australia and New Zealand, as well as all the other individual countries of the South Pacific area where Probus is now recognised and appreciated as a part of life in retirement.

In that time we have been fortunate to be able to secure and appreciate the services of many able and experienced Members who will be able to continue the operation of our Club and ensure its further progress. Our Membership has been maintained at fairly constant levels and there is opportunity and incentive for expansion in years to come.

At the start of our 25th year the operation of the Club was handed over by Immediate Past President Gerald Patterson, after a very successful year, to the incoming committee to carry on the good work for our benefit. Those entrusted with these activities, are:

? Bob Nichols President
? Bert Brady Vice President and Treasurer
? Les Smith Secretary
? George Dykes Health reporter
? Ivars Freimanis Talks and Speakers
? Bob Weston Functions and Trips
? Bill Rushton Public Officer

With this experienced committee and the talent available amongst our Membership, together with the appreciation and acceptance of our Club in the Cooma district there is a sound future for the start of the next 25 years.