President's Message

Marion Stewart

This is our first newsletter for 2020. Hope you have made your resolutions for the next year and next decade. So much going on in the world that it is hard to predict where we will be in 2030.

Your Probus club is in good shape. We continue to keep our membership at 600 by welcoming new members every year. Please keep an eye out for coloured stars on the name tags of new members and make them feel welcome.

Our Activity groups are well supported. Love the change of seasons when hiking turns into snowshoeing and kayaking to curling. We have very strong turnout for our events and overwhelming enthusiasm for eating – Dining Around Town, Casual Dining, and Dining with Flair.

We are in the process of having more and more information on our web site. Please keep tuned and give us your feedback as we move along with these changes.

On a personal note - I have just returned from 6 weeks in France staying outside Paris. Didn't find a Probus Club! There are so many interesting places in this world and seeing antiquities thousands of years old puts everything into perspective. Everyone of us makes our mark however big or small. Just make sure we have joy and enjoy every day.

Calendar

28 January, 2020	Monthly Probus Meeting
25 February, 2020	Probus Annual General Meeting
31 March, 2020	Monthly Probus Meeting (NB later than usual!)
21 October, 2020	Stratford Theatre Trip

Stratford 2020

Stella Zahradnik

Come and enjoy Monty Python’s Spamalot at the Avon Theatre on Wednesday October 21, 2:00pm matinee. The cost is $121 which includes theatre, bus and lunch at Anna Mae’s in Millbank.

Sign up sheets will be at the back of the room at our January mtg. Payment by CHEQUE only. Those who signed the interest sheet earlier for this trip have to sign up again please to show your commitment.

New Constitution and Bylaws

Nancy Dixon

PROBUS CANADA updated its Constitution and Bylaws last year and in order to comply with them, our Management Committee has reviewed and updated the Constitution and Bylaws for Beaver Valley Probus. The new Constitution and Bylaws are posted on our website, and the Management Team will bring the proposed documents to the Annual General Meeting in February, 2020 for the members’ approval. PLEASE REVIEW THE PROPOSED DOCUMENTS. The quick link to the site is: http://beavervalleyprobus.com/club-rules.cfm

Activity Group Updates

Georgian Probus Travel Group:

Gloria Thompson

• Highland and Islands of Scotland: May 9-24, 2020. The Scotland trip is filled except for a single female. If that is YOU, call Gloria at 705-429-9455.
• Portugal and Madeira: May 2021. This trip will be a 2 week program. For information or to register please call Gloria at 705-429-9455.
• Croatia: Sept 5-12, 2021. The core is a bike and boat trip along the coast for a week. A tour will be added to explore the interior. This could be the week before or the week after. For questions or registration, please call Jackie at 647-404-9380.

Dining Around Town:

Hank Bouwman

Upcoming dinners:

• Wednesday, February 12 - The Grey Restaurant in Thornbury 
• Thursday, March 12 - The Mill Café in Thornbury 
• Wednesday April 15 – Nathaniel’s in Owen Sound 
• Wednesday May 13 & 20 – Justin’s Oven in Kimberley 
• June – TBA 
• Thursday, September 10 – The Falls Inn in Walter’s Falls

Ski Legends:

Louise Armstrong

PROBUS Ski Legends is a club with members from all area PROBUS clubs who enjoy skiing, socializing and travelling. The website, www.probusskilegends.ca, has the most up-to-date information on events and ski trips, as well as the application form to join Ski Legends. Basic membership is $30.

Ski Day every Tuesday at Blue:
You don’t have to ski alone! Legends members will meet Tuesdays at 9:30 at the bottom of the Silver Bullet chair. Look for the Legends’ sticker on helmets and skis (silver snowflake on a white circle). Come in for coffee and chat at the Grand Central Lodge at 10:15.

Ski Days at the private clubs have been confirmed:

• Osler Bluff – Thursday, January 30 & February 20 
• Alpine – Thursday, February 13
• Georgian Peaks – Wednesday, March 18

Ski Trips:

• Sun Peaks, February 29 - March 4, is SOLD OUT. To have your name placed on the wait list, go to the Ski Legends website/ Ski Trips to find the trip leader contact. 
• Steamboat, Colorado - February 2 - 9. Spaces still available. Please go to the Ski Legends website/ Ski Trips to see further information about the trip and trip leader contact. 
• For 2021 - Group ski travel has changed significantly in the last few years, and it has become necessary to plan more than a year ahead to secure space. Plans are being made for the ever-popular Sun Peaks, as well as a European trip, likely the Dolomites in Italy, with sales likely this coming winter or spring. As a Ski Legends member, you will receive information about the 2021 trips by email, as soon as it is available.

More information will be available through the season via emails to members, from your Probus representative and from the website, www.probusskilegends.ca.

Exciting Volunteer Opportunities!

Rick Leclair

One of the cornerstones of The Beaver Valley Probus Club is our team of members who volunteer their time and energy coordinating an impressive list of activity groups for us to enjoy. Here’s a chance for you to lend a hand and help us continue offering a variety of activities for our members. Our members becoming involved help make the Club vibrant and a lot of fun!

Currently we have an opening for an Activity Coordinator for the Snowshoe Group as well as a coordinator for the Photography Club. If you are interested in more info about what is involved in being an Activity Coordinator for either of these groups or would like to introduce a new activity group I look forward to hearing from you. My contact info. can be found in the Probus Membership Directory.

Call for photos

Heather Buscher

Did you take any photos during your Probus activities? Please email any you would like to share, along with a caption, so that I can post them on our website or newsletter! Everyone loves to see what others are doing! 

January 28 Speaker: Brent Preston

Brent Preston worked as a human rights investigator, aid worker, election observer and journalist on four continents before finding his true calling as a farmer. In 2003 he and his wife, Gillian Flies, abandoned successful careers in Toronto, packed up their two young children, and moved to a run-down farm outside of Creemore, Ontario. Since then, they have built The New Farm into a thriving business and a leading light in the good food movement, providing vegetables to some of the best restaurants in Canada and raising over a million dollars to make local, organic food accessible in low income communities.

Brent has written for the Huffington Post, the Globe and Mail, the Walrus and other publications. His first book, The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution, is a national bestseller and is now available in paperback.

50/50 Draw

Congratulations to Kay Schultz and Cynthia Sampson, the winners at the November 26 meeting

Computer Corner

Martin Buscher

Here is a New Year's resolution that should be easy to accomplish:

Change the passwords of your main Internet accounts!

1. Start with the ones that touch your money, (e.g. your online banking or your favorite shopping sites) 
2. Find as long a password as you can remember. If the site allows spaces in passwords, then use something like I'm 60 years old! It doesn't have to be true, just memorable! Such a passphrase is too long at 17 characters for cyber-criminals to guess, even with today's computer power. It also fulfills requirements about mixed case, numbers and special characters. 
3. Have a different password for every account. Never re-use passwords. If hackers get your password for one account, they will try it on all! 
4. If a site offers multi-factor authentication (e.g. sending a verification number to your mobile phone) then learn how to turn it on - it will significantly improve your protection.

Environmental Plea

Remember to bring your own mug for coffee/tea break! Let’s reduce the amount of garbage produced at the meetings.

The Master Gardener’s Corner

Things to do in your garden each month taken from the Ontario Master Gardener Calendar by John Hethrington, Past President, Master Gardeners of Ontario.

For more information, or your copy of the 11” x 17” calendar of the full year’s tips for a $1 contribution to Master Gardeners, call 519-599-5846. A limited number of calendars will be available at the January 599 Meeting

January 2020:

• Inspect houseplants for white flies, spider mites and aphids. 
• Apply insecticidal soap and spray with water. 
• Inspect spring bulbs in storage. Discard soft or mouldy ones. 
• Not a problem yet this winter, but if there is a thaw and the snow melts, mound any remaining snow over roses and tender perennials. It’s the freeze/thaw cycle that kills the plants. 
• Expand personal knowledge through library visits, courses, catalogues, etc. 
• Think about and start planning your garden for next spring. 
• Google “Seed Catalogue Websites” and see hundreds of seed sources. 
• Order flower and vegetable seeds. Decide which seeds should be started inside. 
• Try forcing amaryllis and paperwhite narcissus for indoor winter bloom. 
• At the end of the month, start the slowest germinating seeds like begonias and geranium, also seeds for early spring bloom e.g. pansy, verbena, alyssum and dianthus.

Book Exchange

Nancy Hart

Bring a book that you really enjoyed reading over the holidays and exchange it for another good read. Books should be current and in good condition. 

Support Group

Lynn Corrigan

Do you know of a member who needs encouragement to get through a difficult period? Please do not hesitate to call on the following, or any of the management team:

• January: Eileen Scott 
• February: Louise Lamont 

The Last Word

Submitted by Past President Pat Wright

If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. Roald Dahl

Grapevine Team

• Editor: Chris Rickard 
• Reporters: Opportunities for you! 
• Distribution: Nancy Dixon 
• Website Maintenance: Nancy Dixon Heather Buscher