Page 114 - Friendships Through the Years

involved over a number of years in the production of “Talking Books” for the print
handicapped and he was nominated for the Victorian of the Year in 1994. A large number
of our members also attended his funeral. At the December meeting, condolences were
extended to Alister MacGregor following the sudden death of his wife, Theo.
At the September 1995 meeting, Past President Arthur Geary announced that an
“in-house” sound system was now in operation. He paid tribute to Jack Cockcroft for
donating the speakers, Jack Coffey for assistance in installation and to Russell Johnson
for permission to install the system.
A month later, at the October meeting, Arthur Geary was again active. He
unveiled the Club’s new Honour Board. It was much admired by those present at the
th
General meeting on October 12 . 1995.
Les Wanstall was thanked at the November meeting for his contribution as Public
Officer, mainly responsible for the statutory returns to the Corporate Affairs office, and
also for a supervisory role in ensuring that the Club carried out its Incorporation
responsibilities in accordance with the Act. Les had reached the mandatory retirement
age and Graham Kenyon took over the position. Jack Cockcroft took on the important
role of Almoner.
Again the ongoing saga of Probus Associations raised its head at the December
1995 meeting. It had happened with M.O.E.R. in 1985 when the subject of an
Association of Clubs was first mooted and a lot of heated (?), intense (?) discussion took
place.
This time it was the Probus Association of Victoria that wrote to the Club
providing details of their activities and services, and inviting our Club to make an
application to join this “most progressive Probus Association”. Secretary Del Trayler
briefly outlined the salient factors and drew a comparison with the Probus Association of
Melbourne Outer Eastern Region with which we were (and are) currently affiliated. He
said the Committee of Management were investigating and would make a
recommendation.
It became very apparent from the statements made at the February and March
1996 meetings that a number of members knew very little of the roles of the Probus
Centre – South Pacific (the Sydney mob!); the M.O.E.R. (the Eastern mob!) and now the
Probus Association of Victoria (P.A.V.) (the Dromana mob!)
The matter was discussed at Committee of Management level and at the general
meetings in 1996. At the February meeting, it was moved by Clive Winnett and seconded
by George Sank, along the lines of the Committee’s recommendation, that we accept the
invitation of the P.A.V. to become affiliated with them, and that we discontinue our
membership of the M.O.E.R. To quote the Minutes:

“Dissent was expressed by some members and after a lengthy discussion, Clive
Winnett withdrew his motion and it was agreed that a special meeting of the
Management Committee be convened to reconsider both the aspects of the
original recommendation and to further report back to the members.”

At the March meeting, the matter was finally resolved. The recommendation was that we
retain our affiliation with the M.O.E.R. but also apply for affiliation with the Probus