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Probus Week 2023
At our meeting 10 October 2023, Ballarat Gardens Probus Club celebrated Probus Month.
President Geoff H. opened our meeting wearing his special gold celebratory hat and thanked members who had worn blue and yellow clothes to celebrate Probus month. Past president Wendy S. then led the members in singing our club song to the tune of ‘Michael, row the boat ashore’.
Morning tea featured a blue and gold decorated table with matching serviettes and food ‒ even the biscuits were blue and gold ‒ and was enjoyed by all.
Ballarat Town Hall clock was lit in blue and gold for the first week of October to celebrate Probus month.
Bringing Lawson’s Poetry to Life
At our July meeting we were entertained by Hedley Thomson, Jane Gaylor, and Peter Vanderkley who are Lawson and his Mates, performing the Henry Lawson’s poetry and prose pieces as dramatic vignettes. They performed the Song of the Republic, some other pieces and finished with The Loaded Dog, which was hilarious.
Did you know that in 1888 Lawson came to Ballarat on a pilgrimage to visit the site of the Eureka battle, and to visit the Ballarat Old Cemetery to view the graves, located side-by-side, of the diggers and soldiers who died in the fighting.
The show was fantastic and Hedley, Jane and Peter do not charge, just happy to extoll the virtues of Henry Lawson
Beeac Luncheon & Car Exhibit
What a surprise package this day turned out to be. We had 38 members travel approx 1hr south to the small township of Beeac, with the goal of having lunch at The Farmers Arms Hotel, and the promise of viewing some older cars from the hotel owner’s personal collection.
Dorothy & Ean McDowell purchased this hotel 11 years ago and have built the business from serving 30 meals / week, to now consistently over 700, with 5 international chefs on their books.
Under Dorothy’s direction, lunches were ordered from a reduced selection menu, with all meals delivered within the hour from first order. All meals looked delicious, with not a single, negative remark on them. (And it didn’t look like there were many scraps for the dog either, which is a pretty good sign!!)
On to the cars, where we were introduced to Ean McDowell, who gave us quite a detailed background on the cars that he had on display. Ian has approximately 75 cars in his collection, and whilst he is a very passionate Lancia collector, there are many others just as impressive. After suffering a stroke 4 years ago, he relies on his 2 full time employees to complete the work on his “special projects” in Castlemaine. The Singer, pictured below with the polished bonnet, was just a chassis when he purchased it, so it is quite impressive when you realise that they have made every other part in his workshop.
There was quite a story behind each vehicle, origins etc., but for me it was the Bugatti, (pictured with reg 5-278), that I was most impressed with. Look at the width of those tyres and imagine driving this vehicle at well over 200 kph.
Then there was another surprise for us – A private viewing of their family home, Rosebank Homestead, a bluestone building built in 1868. The homes interior had been fully renovated prior to their purchase, with the bluestone outbuildings still in place. Another talk from Ean, this time on the history of this residence, had everyone’s attention. There was also a Rolls Royce in one of the outbuildings, picked up from a garage sale in Colac of all places.
Back to the Lolly / Ice Cream shop, and or the pub, for some afternoon refreshments, before returning home. A wonderful day indeed, with 2 very special hosts.
Calendar of Events now Available.
We have added a Calendar of upcoming events to the website. It shows all the events coming up, with details of what, where and when. You can find it here.
If you don’t use this link you can find it on the main menu.
For full details of any event, just move your cursor over the name of the event and the details will be shown to you.
Committee Nominations for 2023-24
It is that time of the year when all club members need to consider taking on a Committee position for next year. We are now calling for and accepting nominations for our Club’s Committee positions for appointment at our March 2023 Annual General Meeting.
We need to fill a Management Committee comprising a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and 6 Committee Members.
Completed nomination forms must be received by the Secretary by 7 March 2023