Page 52 - Friendships Through the Years

Outings which were worth remembering were the coach trip to Picnic Point, near
Drouin, for morning tea and coffee, (provided by Invicta Coaches) then to the Thompson
River Dam for lunch; then onto Walhalla (rain) and home via Noojee. The trip to the
S.P.C. cannery at Shepparton (home with lots of tins of seconds.) On the coach trip to
HMAS Cerebus at Crib Point, the coach was full (48) and a private car took five more for
st
a total of 53. The second annual visit to the Yarra Glen races was made on Thursday 1
June 1989. Twenty attended. It was very wet and cold! Further comment is not required -
it was all said in the previous chapter!
th
On 12 December 1988, 45 at an “all up” co st of $27 attended the sixth annual
Christmas luncheon to the R.A.C.V. Country Club at Healesville. At the next meeting in
February, the future of Christmas luncheons was discussed by the members. A sub-
committee was elected to investigate venues and costs.
At the March meeting, the sub-committee reported back and it was announced
that the next luncheon would again be held at the R.A.C.V. Healesville, but in future all
drinks were to be paid for by the individual members, instead of an all inclusive charge
which included drinks. The opinion of the sub-committee was that the “non alcohol”
drinking members were subsidizing those members who liked a beer or a glass of wine
with their meals.
The sixth annual Probus bowls tournament was held in March with a new format.
It had become so popular that it was split into North, South, East and West. Lilydale, of
course, was in the Eastern region, and since 1989 has played at the Heathmont Bowling
Club. Two teams were entered. Jack Mackay, Keith McLennan, Terry Wade and Brian
Walsh played two games, won the first easily and tied the second. The other team
consisted of Carl Adamson, George Denham, Ted Heeley and Alan Millsom. There is no
longer a record of their fortunes on the day, but it was a very good venue and an excellent
lunch and very pleasant.
Carl Adamson as the Trips, Entertainment and Functions officer, produced a
program of guest speakers and outings for the forthcoming twelve months at the
December 1988 meeting. It was much appreciated by the members because it allowed
for forward planning.
The highlights of Bert’s year are at the opening of this chapter, (with reference to
a membership ceiling). At the September 1988 meeting, Bert spoke on “the future size
and membership of the Club”, and called a Commi ttee meeting to discuss the matter. This
was an on-going matter for some months. Ten members at the special committee meeting
- after long discussion - moved and passed the following motion:
“That until such time as the Committee of the Club shall otherwi se decide, the
membership of the Club shall be limited in number to 55 members.”
Notice of motion was given for the matter to be voted upon at the November meeting.
The motion for a limit of 55 members mentioned here was moved by Bob Shellard and
seconded by Lex Lillie. An amendment to the motion was moved by Vladimir Georgiev
and seconded by George Sank that the limit be 70 members. That amendment was lost.
The original motion was then put and carried, but that was not the end of the matter.
Keith McLennan had suggested a car trip to Broken Hill. It was mentioned several
times over the years until Bert’s year as President. Here is the complete quote from the
August 1988 Monthly Newsletter.