– by Gillian Crowley –
“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere,” says a Chinese proverb. Gerontologists agree that maintaining an active mind and friendships is a route to happiness for seniors. PROBUS, a social club for retirees and semi-retirees, was founded on a similar premise: to promote lifelong learning and social connections. The Saanich Peninsula boasts three of the seven PROBUS clubs in the Greater Victoria area.
March is National PROBUS month, when clubs across Canada celebrate the 29th anniversary of their founding in Cambridge, Ontario. Originally a spin-off from Rotary for retired Rotarians who still wanted to meet, the PROBUS clubs are now open to anyone. The name is an acronym of PRO for professionals and BUS for business to reflect a membership of those with past careers in either area who are now retired or semi-retired. Members’ ages typically range from late-50s to mid-90s.
Fun and fellowship are core principles at PROBUS clubs. “I tell new members we encourage them to not act their age and to keep on learning,” says Rod McLeod, past president of the Saanich Peninsula PROBUS club. This club and the Brentwood Bay club are designated “men only” while the Sidney club is co-ed. In Canada, 62% of the clubs are co-ed, 19% men-only and 18% women-only.
Each month an events committee organizes a speaker and/or a tour that reflects the members’ interests, such as environmental and health issues, local industry tours, a space exploration presentation, legal issues, and tours of a mainland mosque and CFB Naval Museum, to name just a few. In addition, like-minded members get together informally to socialize through bridge, dinner parties, book clubs, walking and hiking groups, curling and golf groups, genealogy, theatre, car rallies and other activities.
Jack Parry, president of the Saanich Peninsula PROBUS, says their members have such interesting and varied backgrounds that some have agreed to be “pinch hitters” if a speaker runs into a last minute problem and can’t show up.
Members give a variety of reasons for joining a PROBUS club. Longtime Sidney PROBUS members, Jennie Hurley and Viv Harding, note that many people come to Vancouver Island for their dream retirement lifestyle, but in the process leave family and friends behind. “That’s why it’s so important to join something like PROBUS to make new friends,” Viv says.
Beyond the social aspect, Sidney’s PROBUS president, Jane Hall, says: “We bring in top-notch speakers and often members tell me they find the presentations and tours make them more receptive to new ideas and activities.”
Past members of service clubs will find PROBUS social clubs much less structured. Pepper Nicholls, current Brentwood Bay club president, says that they don’t require compulsory attendance and there’s no restriction on the number of members who may share a former vocation. “We’re also non-political, non-sectarian and non-fundraising. It’s all about continuing to learn and have fun doing it.”
For more information, visit www.probus.org/canada.htm or email the local club presidents: Jane Hall, sidneyprobus158@gmail.com; Jack Parry, sanpenprobus37@gmail.com; or Pepper Nicholls, BrentwoodBayProbus@gmail.com.
Photo by www.nuttycake.com.
