General meetings of members are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month except December. The last meeting of each year takes the form of a Christmas luncheon. For the time being, general meetings will be held at Windy Hill, Essendon. There is always fellowship before the general meetings, but the formal meeting commences at 10.30 am and runs until around 12.30 pm. Typically meetings start off with about 45 minutes devoted to Club business, then a half hour for morning tea. Then follows up to an hour to take in a presentation from a guest speaker or other person of particular interest. The majority of members at each meeting like to remain for lunch.

The next general meeting will be on Tuesday May 28th. Our speaker will be Norman Wittingslow a local Justice of the Peace, Lawyer & Notary Public. He will talk of legal necessities such as Wills, Powers of Attorney and updates to laws that may affect us.

The 2024 April general meeting was on April 23rd. Our speaker was Pam Haigh from Guide Dogs Victoria and she spoke on the topic ‘Just because I can’t see doesn’t mean I can’t do’. She told us of her trials learning to live with a guide dog, their personalities and travelling overseas with her dog. The $60,000 cost of training a guide dog is covered by public donations alone. To see more images of Pam and the dogs click here. To donate to Guide Dogs Victoria click here.

The Annual General Meeting followed the third general meeting for 2024 on March 26th.  Reports on the activities of the past year were presented at the AGM, and the Committee for the 2024-25 Probus year was elected.

The second general meeting this year was held on Tuesday 27th February 2024. Our speaker was Victor Perton from the Centre for Optimism, to access the website please click here.  He spoke about “the power of optimism”. That optimism is the belief that good things will happen and that things will work out in the end. He mentioned that despite the media concentrating on the ills of of the world, there are fewer wars now than ever before in history.

For the first general meeting in the New Year – held in January 2024 – our speaker was Brian Ahmed, Managing Director of LT’s Egg Farm in Werribee South (close to Werribee Mansion). Brian grew up in Glenroy area before the family bought the farm in 1969. At first, the sole purpose of the farm was to produce food for the family however, it now employs close to 40 staff and produces food to feed thousands of Australian families. After studying a Mechanical Engineering Degree and working for a short period in this field, Brian turned his focus back on the family farm and expanded it into an Australia wide business and diversified the business to make it sustainable for the future. The farm became a small free range/barn egg farm in 1970, and later with the introduction of modern technology and from the advice of Government, was converted to a fully automated, environmentally controlled caged egg farm.  For more photos and a short video from the January meeting, please click here. For more information about LT’s Egg Farm, please visit the website by clicking here.

For the final for 2023 – in November – our speaker was Peter Harding, Managing Director of Grand Pacific Tours, based in Moonee Ponds. Grand Pacific Tours is a partner of Probus in Australia and New Zealand. For many years, thousands of Probians from all over Australia have travelled on a GPT tour of New Zealand and enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime. Peter’s talk to us, illustrated with images and videos, highlighted the attractions of New Zealand, and the advantages of travel on one of the Ultimate Small Group, or Signature Mid-size Group tours. For more information, including travel dates, itineraries and costs, please click here.

The speaker at our October meeting was Elida Brereton, who spoke to us at our meeting in July 2022 about trends in education. On this occasion,  Elida entertained us with stories from her travels in Nepal and Iran as an adventurous young woman. She enjoyed a few days in the highest hotel in the world, the Everest View Hotel (at 13,000 ft or 3960 m), and a visit to the Thyangboche Monastery (3,867 m). Getting there was an interesting challenge as was most travel in Nepal, but never dull! She went on to India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran at a time when all of these countries (except India) were involved in military rule, invasion and/or revolution … and while Elida was afflicted by amoebic dysentery! At this time her entry to Iran was very dangerous.

Thyangboche Monastery near a Mount Everest Base Camp

At our September meeting, our speaker was Derek Muirhead, Global Managing Director of T2, the international chain of speciality outlets for tea and tea wares. Before joining T2 in 2018, Derek had a long and successful career in various retail businesses – Woolworths, Lincraft, Myer, Country Road, Mountain Designs and Michaelis Bayley. Thus he has experience in the Fashion, Footwear, Homewares, General Merchandise, Outdoor Adventure and Tea industries. Derek spoke to us about his life in retail, including a moving account of his time working in Capetown, South Africa.

At the August meeting, our speaker was Peter Philp, a writer, broadcaster and media historian. His career began in Gippsland radio and television – specializing in broadcasting and writing for children. His media career also included working in Melbourne with 3KZ as a broadcaster and journalist, where he was a parliamentary reporter. He spent 12 years with World Vision, travelling extensively in Latin American, Africa and Asia. Peter describes his time in Latin America as a life changing experience and this is the subject of his book, Journey with the Poor. Peter was speaking to us about the golden years of Australian radio drama. His latest book – Drama in Silent Rooms – the history of the Australia radio drama is the result of 25 years of research. For a video except from his talk, and some additional photos, please click here.

At the July General meeting there was no guest speaker. Members enjoyed the opportunity for extended fellowship, with finger food and tea/coffee available.

For more photos from the July General meeting, please click here.

At the next June meeting, the speaker was Carolyn Pethick, who worked in Victoria police for over 30 years and has written a book about the trials and tribulations of working in a male dominated job. Her book is entitled To Hell and Back. Although her story is about the police force, many of you will know of someone who has been through similar experiences. She is now speaking out about her personal experiences in the hope that she can let others know they are not alone. Carolyn describes herself as an Equality Activist, promoting strength, courage and resilience.

At  the May meeting, our speaker was Dr Ros Otzen. She is a retired educator, having taught at State and Independent schools. She was Principal of Korowa Anglican Girls’ School from 1991-2003. She was the inaugural President of the Alumni Council of the University of Melbourne and Deputy Chair of the Melbourne City Mission Board (MCM). She is the inaugural Chair of the MCM education arm, the Hester Hornbrook Academy, named for the founder of the MCM in 1854 and who opened nine schools for poor and disadvantaged children 1859-1862. Ros told of the extraordinary women, almost entirely unknown even to historians of the time, who worked tirelessly to support the disadvantaged in the community, especially children. For more information, please click here. The work is continued today by the Melbourne City Misssion (click here) and the Hester Hornbrook Academy (click here).

At the last April meeting, held on Thursday April 27th (moved from our usual fourth Tuesday due to the clash with Anzac Day this year), the speaker was Vicki Mustafa. She is beginning to enjoy retirement after twenty-five  years as a Christian Pastor in both East Bentleigh and Glen Waverley. She originally trained as a Secondary School teacher at Monash University and after graduating, she spent some years teaching up in central Victoria, at Charlton. She then went to Sydney and studied theology for three years.  After that, she went to live and work overseas. Vicki spoke on the topic: ‘Women in the Middle East’,  and along the way, she shared a bit more about herself, why she speaks on this topic as well as her own experiences with both learning a new culture and getting to know  women in the Middle East.

Following the General Meeting in March, the Annual General Meeting of the Club was held. There were reports on Club finances and activities over the 2022-23 Probus year. The Club Committee was elected and positions of responsibility were announced for the 2023-2024 Probus year.

For more information about the 2023-2025 Committee, please click here.

At the February meeting, the speaker was Professor Peter Seligman, honorary Professor of the University of Melbourne, a biological engineer at the Bionics Institute, and an associate of the Melbourne Energy Institute. Peter was a key member of the team that developed the Melbourne/Cochlear multiple-channel cochlear implant. He worked in the field for 30 years and was particularly responsible for the development and improvement of speech processors. In 1979 he designed the first portable Speech Processor for the University of Melbourne device. He joined Cochlear Ltd (Nucleus) in 1983 and was instrumental in speech processor miniaturisation and improvement, including the development of custom microchips to implement new speech processing strategies. His special interest was the development of smaller behind-the-ear speech processors and totally implanted cochlear implants. In 2009 Peter retired from Cochlear Ltd. In that year he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering.

At the first meeting for the year – in January 2023 – we had our own “Antiques Roadshow” with Bryan and Lorraine Sturton-Gill from DeBretts Antique Market, Mount Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds. They brought some treasured antiques from their personal collection, each with historical significance. Then Bryan and Lorraine reviewed items brought along by members and guests of the Club. They provided information about each item – origin and approximate date.

For information about DeBretts, please see the Facebook page by clicking here, or a description of the business by clicking here. The location (and more photos) can be be found by clicking here. Bryan would be willing to discuss value and saleability of items in private, and to take items for sale on commission.

At the last General meeting for 2022, held in November, the speakers were Andy Walsh and Mick Francis. Mick was the former CEO of the Magistrates Court of Victoria, Coroners Court of Victoria and Children’s Court of Victoria. Andy worked in Youth Justice and Community Safety programs. They spoke about the changing culture of court administration over the past 50 years, the little publicised programs to keep offenders out of court, and the similarly little publicised programs to help young offenders.

Our speaker at the October 2022 meeting was Eric Faulkner from Geelong, a lawyer by profession. Eric is from Northern Ireland and has had a lifelong interest in RMS Titanic. He gave a really engaging and informative account of the construction, launch and sinking of the ship.

At the September meeting the speaker was Ian Crawford, son  of Dorothy Crawford and nephew of Hector Crawford. He joined Crawford Productions at twenty years of age. Ian became the director and producer of many Crawford television series and later he was an Executive Producer of all the company’s drama output. In 1980 he became the company’s Managing Director, which post he held until Hector and he sold their shares in the company in 1988.  Ian’s speech spanned the late 1930s to the late 1980s, and is particularly about Crawfords and the travails of the company – the collapse of radio drama following the arrival of television, the company’s efforts to get drama onto TV, early TV series and serials, along with an inside look at such moguls as Sir Frank Packer, Kerry Packer, and Sir Reginald Ansett. His entertaining and informative speech was entitled “Crawford Productions and the dramas of early television!”

At the August meeting, the speaker was Bob Chalmers, retired teacher, and President of the Essendon Historical Society for more than 22 years. He spoke about “Fine Homes of Essendon” showing many interesting examples.

Further information about the Essendon Historical Society may be found clicking this link.

At the July meeting, the speaker was Elida Brereton, retired teacher, school principal and educational consultant. Among other significant achievements, she was Principal of Camberwell High School from 1994 to 2009. Elida gave a really engaging and entertaining talk focussing on the changes in schooling over her four decades involved in education.

At meeting in June 2022, the speaker was Wendy Todd, Account Manager at the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood – Melbourne Donor Centre. Wendy has worked closely with people faced with serious health issues, and is committed to help saving lives. In her current role, she partners with Lifeblood Champions who willingly share their time, expertise and networks to promote giving blood. More information can be found by clicking here.