Wangaratta Ladies Probus

As president Margaret was in hospital, vice president Pam Neal called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone, including our visitor Heather Porter.

As October is Probus month, we celebrated with a cake; plus, 13 members of the club received certificates of appreciation for their extraordinary service and contribution to the Wangaratta Ladies Probus club.

20-year badges were also presented to Margaret Hemphill, Lorraine Carey, and Marie Sullivan.

The club continues to have good numbers attending the various activities and groups that we have each month.

Our Breakfast at The Gateway had 14 members this month, with ladies asked to dress up in something that we wouldn’t see them in usually.

We had bowlers, evening dress, Dame Edna, and football fans to name a few.

Everyone enjoyed breakfast as usual and a great start to the day.

The Vintage Group (ladies over 80), although small in number, continues to be held each month at the Pinsent.

Fun and Fitness and Ten Pin Bowling continue to have their regular number of attendees each month as does Mahjong which is held at St. John’s Terrace Hall.

Last month, the Garden Group travelled to Benalla where they visited Sandra’s Nursery which had a nice selection of pots and gifts, and afterwards enjoyed lunch at The North Eastern Hotel Benalla.

This month they decided to visit open gardens held on 19 October.

There were three gardens open - two in Crisp Street and one in Glenrowan.

The two in Crisp Street were very different, with one being a sustainable edible garden whilst the other was more traditional with shrubs, trees and lots of flower beds.

The one in Glenrowan was at Morrison’s Winery and had lots of native shrubs which were all in flower.

Tea/coffee and cake were served there.

As we had no guest speaker this month, Pam Neal spoke on her time in Probus and the trips she has done not only with our group, but other Probus groups.

Wangaratta Central Combined Probus Club Inc.

President Sally Haynes welcomed members and inducted Margriet Anderson as a new member at our 17 October meeting.

The club now has a membership of 75, with 62 members present at this meeting.

There was no guest speaker today as we had an in-house lunch.

Upcoming events:

Wangaratta Players present 'Waiting for God cast in the spotlight' - there are seven performances from Friday, 7 November to Sunday, 23 November.

Tickets can be purchased through trybooking: trybooking.com/DDWJE.

Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre presents ‘Centrestage’ with Marina Prior and Michael Cormick on Saturday, 15 November at 7.30pm, and 'An Evening with Jelena Dokic - Strength, Resilience, Hope' on Wednesday, 26 November at 6pm.

Thursday, 13 November is our next breakfast, held at the Gateway from 8.30am.

The next meeting will be held on Friday, 14 November at 10am at Wangaratta Bowls Club.

Wangaratta Appin Park Combined Probus Inc.

President Denny called the 14 October meeting to order, welcoming 57 members present and four visitors.

With duties attended to, we then welcomed our three newest members.

President Denny inducted Cindy Osmotherly, Jill and Tony Lorback into the club.

We wish them happy times with us.

We now have 79 members and six non-active members.

Friday Lunch group dined at King River Café on Friday, 17 October.

Next Friday lunch will be held at The Precinct at noon.

Recently, 42 members enjoyed the Caravan and Cabin trip to Castlemaine and surrounds, starting on the Monday evening with a barbecue tea and joke-telling time, where many a good laugh was had by all.

It was a well-planned trip with thanks to Terry and Jan.

The Town & Country Tavern is the venue for Christmas Luncheon on Friday, 5 December at noon.

Activity plans are underway for March and April 2026, ideas still needed for January and February.

Guest speaker was Michelle Azaris from Timeless Support informing us of My Aged Care and Home Care Packages and the importance of Advanced Care planning.

A very interesting outline to what is available for the older community.

Lucky door prize winner was visitor Fran Donaldson.

Wangaratta West Combined Probus

President Greg Porter welcomed members to our October meeting plus two guests.

With spring in the air, our garden guru Shirley Sullivan was happy to report on a lovely visit to Morrison’s Winery Glenrowan to see their extensive native garden –and to sample and purchase one or two wines.

Our Dolphins are happy that Moore’s pool, with new management, is continuing to conduct water aerobics on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 10am.

At present, the Walking group is meeting at Apex Park at 10am on Wednesdays.

Three popular movies: Downtown Abbey, Kangaroo, and The Travellers, have been attended by our movie buffs.

Members recently celebrated the club’s 23rd Birthday with a sumptuous lunch, followed by birthday cake, at King River Café.

Guest speaker at the October meeting, Andy Kimber, spoke of and showed photos of his involvement with Friends of Lacluta – a remote area in Timor Leste.

The group from Wangaratta and district visit and organise donations of goods to help the Timor people.

President Greg thanked Andy for an interesting talk and attending with short notice.