THIRROUL PROBUS CLUB

PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT 2024-2025

It is with much pleasure that I present this, my President’s Report, for 2024. 

The year has been another very successful one for Thirroul Probus Club with our membership continuing to grow and the Club providing many successful, popular and enjoyable activities for our members throughout the year. At the end of the year there were 132 Club members. This was a net increase of 10 members over the year. The ratio of female members to male members is 60/40 and the average member age is 73.

In April, Mike and Gail Brennan were presented with Honorary Life Membership of Thirroul Probus Club. Both had worked tirelessly for our Club since its inauguration in 2019 with Mike elected as our first president. 

MEETINGS 

Twelve general meetings were held throughout the year with an average attendance of 69 members. There were also 5 management committee meetings during 2024 and all were well attended. Thanks to Wendy McKay and Anne Haine the club was able to provide guest speakers at 10 of our 12 monthly meetings. Our guest speaker for September was unable to attend when our meeting time had to be put back to the afternoon. The speaker for October was unwell and unable to attend however Probus member Wolfgang Gullik provided the meeting with a very interesting talk on his family history in Germany and Australia. All guest speakers presented a variety of very interesting talks on a wide range of topics. Some of these included Peter Gray, a local author and author of 4 books based on the discovery of pink diamonds by Rio Tinto, John Shipp of Illawarra Historical Society with a history of the Otford area and Xuela Sledge from the Southwest Sydney Koala Project 

OUTINGS

Cheryl and Paul Seagrove have provided the Club with numerous outings during the year including The Postman’s Riverboat Tour, a tour of The Sydney Opera House, a tour of Garden Island and a day out at Kembla Grange racing. As well as these outings Cheryl and Paul organised the very successful and enjoyable Christmas in July, Probus Day and Christmas Party functions during the year.

CARAVAN, CAMPING and CABINS 

Our Caravan Camping and Cabins leaders Rodd Smith and Mark Bryce organised get togethers at Tuross Heads in March, Huskisson in September and Orange in November. All were extremely well received with a wide variety of popular activities for all members attending. As well as these trips Rodd and Mark had great success in organising an overnight trip to the Quarantine Station at North Head in August. 

DINING OUT, THEATRE AND TOURS 

John Penhallow, with assistance from Angie, gave us a variety of dining and theatre opportunities throughout the year. Shows such as Sister Act The Musical in August and Yacht Rock Revival in November were well received. Many opportunities to dine out were provided during the year. Buzzer lunches, small group dining, TAFE dinners and Sunday sippers all proved to be very popular and were well attended. John also kept us up to date with our Facebook page.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

My special thanks go to the following members for their continued support and help throughout the year which is often behind the scenes.

VALE MIKE BRENNAN

We were all very saddened at the end of 2024 with the passing of Mike Brennan in late December. Mike was the founding President of our Club and was instrumental in guiding the club through the Covid pandemic. Mike, together with his wife Gail, served as Outings/Excursion Officers for three years.

In closing I would like to thank all Club members for their support throughout the year and wish the Club continued success in the years to come. 

John Harris - President

2024-2025