Page 11 - Friendships Through the Years

International officers of the region, that is, all Rotary International directors and District
Governors.
The Centre’s main responsibilities are to disseminate information; act as
custodian of the Probus name and emblem; approve accreditation of new Probus Clubs
and maintain a register; publish a Probus magazine and arrange for the supply of Probus
regalia and other items such as pins, lapel badges and so on. The Centre is not a
controlling body of Probus Clubs. It is an information and service centre, but it does have
a duty to ensure that proper standards are maintained and can withdraw accreditation
from a Club. The Probus Centre -South Pacific is not a Probus “head office” either. All
Clubs in the region pay a capitation fee annually to the centre to cover costs and
insurance premiums.
The first Club in Australasia was the Probus Club of Kapiti Coast (New Zealand)
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on November 5 , 1974. The first in Australia was the Probus Club of Hunters Hill (New
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South Wales) on February 3 . 1976, with the help of the Rotary Club of Dumbarton,
Scotland
The first Clubs in the other states were: Toowoomba, Queensland, formed on
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February 7 ,1976; Brighton, South Australia, February 27 1981; Canberra, A.C.T.
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October 6 , 1981; Moonah, Tasmania, December 12 , 1981 and Thornlie, Western
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Australia, formed March 3 , 1982.
The first Probus Club for women in Australasia was the Ladies Club of St.
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HELIERS (N.Z) on June 8 , 1982 and the first in Australia was formed in Bateau Bay,
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(N.S.W.) on October 27 , 1982.
The first Victorian Club was the Probus Club of Balwyn, formed on September
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29 ,1981. As a matter of interest, other Clubs formed in Victoria before ours were:
Balwyn, Hawthorn, Doncaster, Essendon, Caulfield, Geelong, Bal1arat, Frankston,
Toorak, Southern Peninsula (Sorrento), Box Hill, Dromana, Upper Yarra, Nunawading
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and Heidelberg. Lilydale was the 16th Probus Club formed in Victoria on June 2 ,1983.
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It was the 169 club formed in Australia . Kew was formed 3 weeks after Lilydale, on
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June 23 . then Melbourne on July 24
Since the first Clubs were established in the Australasian region, Probus has
grown at a remarkable rate. As of June 1999 (about 25 years after the initial club
formation in the Australasian region) there were 1,588 Clubs in Australia with a
membership of 126,327 persons. In New Zealand there were 399 Clubs with a 45,059
membership. The total for Australasia is 1,987 Clubs and membership of 171,386.
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Twelve months later, as at the 30 . June 2000, the number of clubs in Australia had risen
to 1,618 with 129,336 members. The Australasian total was 2,026 clubs with 175, 325
members. The April edition quarterly Probus News stated that: “Probus continues to
grow at a rate unheard of in other organisations.”
In the early years of the Lilydale Club we had a connection with both the Balwyn
and the Upper Yarra Clubs. The guest speaker at our inaugural meeting in June, 1983 was
Martin Munroe, past president of the Rotary Club of Upper Yarra and District officer for
Probus of Rotary District 981. Another guest was Cliff Bridger, Foundation President of
the Probus Club of Upper Yarra. Our Foundation President, Stan Moser, made several
visits to the Probus Club of Balwyn, to ascertain a routine for conducting meetings,
functions and outings. Incidentally, about 6 Balwyn members, including the President,
attended Stan’s last meeting as President when he handed over to Foundation Vice