There were many stories shared at last month’s 30th anniversary celebration of the White Rock South Surrey Probus club, but that’s not much different than the other 11 meetings the club hosts every year.
The club, made of 74 retired men from the White Rock and South Surrey area, is the second oldest club in Canada. Since 1987, Probus Canada has ballooned to 240 clubs in the country, with approximately 33,400 members. Internationally, the club has 4,000 clubs and 400,000 members.
“Probably the most significant thing, when you come in, it looks like a group full of old men. Some guys are puttering around. But if you sit down and drill down with these guys, there’s fantastic accomplishment and achievement in all of their fields,” former president Don Rathborne told Peace Arch News after the meeting.
The word Probus is a combination of the words “professional” and “business.”
“One of our members, Ed Peck, his family is really well known in B.C., but he was a representative of the government at the Vimy Ridge 100-year memorial this year… Here’s a guy, he was running across the fields in Normandy carrying a gun when he was 19 in WWII. My jaw drops when I talk to people like that,” Rathborne said.
Nearly every Probus meeting is accompanied with a guest speaker. Peck will give a presentation on his Second World War experiences Nov. 8. This month, retired CKNW radio reporter George Garrett gave a presentation on his life in the media.
“What Probus is, it’s a group of retired men that have similar interests and come from a very wide and diverse background. The things that get discussed, the activities, the presentations are all over the map,” said chapter president Bill Parker.
Parker listed some examples of previous presentations, which included one on Alzheimer’s; the history of rum; a presentation about public life from former-MLA Gordon Hogg; and on travel.
“We had a presentation by one of our members who said, ‘I had helped set up the Taliban,’” Parker said.
“He took Canadian Forces into Afghanistan after the Russians had left and they did mine clearing. Who were the people you used to represent government? It was the Taliban, and of course, a change of history,” Parker said.
The group follows guidelines set out by Probus Canada and is governed by an elected executive. It has grown by approximately two to three per cent every year and is actively seeking new members.
People interested in joining can www.probusclubwhiterock-southsurrey.ca.
