A Message from Your President

                                         Summer Break July / August 2026

The Probus year has gone by quickly. It feels like only yesterday that I introduced myself as your new Club President, and now I am writing my final message in that role. Thank you for the support you have given me over the past year. It has been wonderful to hear how much members enjoy our meetings, activities, and fellowship. I also appreciate those who have shared suggestions for improvement. I was very pleased with the strong response to our membership survey, and I hope you have noticed some of the changes we have made based on that feedback.

We ended the season with 290 members, nearly 10% of whom joined this year. Several meetings drew more than 100 attendees, making them the largest general meetings I have experienced with the Club. We also enjoyed a range of interesting and thought-provoking speakers. In my new role as Program Chair, I hope to continue offering high-quality speakers covering a variety of topics. As always, I welcome members’ suggestions about who we should invite to speak.

Activities have remained a central focus for our Club throughout the season. After the May general meeting, we held our annual catch-up with activity coordinators and members of the Management Committee. I sincerely thank our activity coordinators and Management Committee members for the volunteer work they do to make our Club successful. Francis Agnew and I, as co-chairs of the Activity Committee, will be working over the summer to act on several suggestions from that meeting. Please continue to share any thoughts or ideas that could help make next season even better.

Thank you to everyone who attended our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 10^th. Nearly 100 people attended, well above our quorum requirement of 74. In addition to the usual business of approving the financial statements, budget, and slate of candidates for the Management Committee, we passed a resolution to remove mailing addresses from our published membership information. This change is intended to better protect confidential information at a time when fraud and identity theft remain ongoing concerns. We hope it will make it more difficult for anyone seeking to take advantage of our members. We also welcomed three new members to the Management Committee: Susan Geisel as Secretary, Francis Agnew as co-chair of the Activity Committee, and Dale Traversy as Member at Large. I thanked all returning committee members, whether continuing in their current positions or moving into new roles to meet the Club’s needs. I also thanked Craig Brown, who is leaving the Management Committee after several years of service as our Technical Chair, a role he pioneered for our Club. Craig has been instrumental in helping us adapt to challenges such as remote meetings during the pandemic and in moving us to a sustainable infrastructure for our website and day-to-day operations. After the AGM, we were entertained by country singer Jim Metzer and enjoyed a wonderful lunch of pork sandwiches catered by the Legion Ladies.

I wish you all a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you again in the fall. Our first meeting back will be the Activity Showcase on Wednesday, September 9^th.

We will share more information as the details are finalized.

 

 

July Probus Activity Updates

Summer is upon us and members are enjoying the various outdoor activities our club has to offer including: golf, hiking, pole walking, cycling, and kayaking.  Check out the club website www.hapc.ca  home page on the right hand side see various upcoming activities and events listed or click on a specific date on any month for individual activity details. 

A “New” activity is being developed and will be announced shortly.  Stay tuned! 

Is there an activity that you and/or a friend enjoy and would volunteer to coordinate? 

E-mail your activity idea to Activity Group Chair at act@hapc.ca. Some activity ideas from other clubs include: bowling, euchre, gardening, breakfast or lunch groups, fun run car rallies, or spring fling dances.

Dianne Mather-Activity Group Chair