Women's Probus Club Debuts

Service Clubs

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Surprisingly Large Crowd

There was expected to be a turnout of approximately 40 but, much to the surprise of the founding members, Jean Goldsworthy and Jane Kramer, almost 80 women turned out to hear five speakers.

Saugeen Shores', Mayor Mike Smith, brought greetings from the town and also said that organizations such as the Probus Club were important to the community in making it livable. "I want to congratulate the club for getting started," he said, "and I am very proud of this facility (Museum) for hosting your meetings and contributing so much to the community. I talk about the facility every chance I get and we are the envy of the county and beyond."

Next guest speaker, Museum Director and Curator, Barbara Ribey, laid out to the group the many visions of the museum. "We have five major new objectives for the Museum beginning this year," said Ribey.

1. Regional planning and promotions
2. Community groups programming, partnerships and associations
3. Education and Adult learning
4. Volunteer services

Special Events

She also included a breakdown of the costs involved in running the Museum. "The County contribution is $1,127,303 per year," she explained, "which is a cost of $37.53 per household per year or $3.13 per month. Through admissions, the gift shop, programming and fundraising, we raise $550,000 per year, so all those events we hold are very important." Ribey covered many other plans for the Museum and its expansion of exhibits for the future and hiring to fill support positions that enable her to sit on committees such as the Advocacy Committee for Ontario Museums and the Georgian College Advisory Committee to foster and educational link with the Museum.

Next on the program, Gordon Boyd, Chair of the Southampton Art Gallery & School and President of the Saugeen Shores Probus Club, introduced Ally Boltman, Manager of the Art Gallery.

Boltman, through a power-point presentation demonstrated the growth that the Gallery and Art School have experienced since inception in 1957. "Attendance and revenue are both up at the Gallery," she explained, "and the School has grown to 100 classes with more than 1200 students."

She also stressed the importance of community partnerships and that the Art Gallery and School are beginning to foster a working relationship with the Bruce County Museum. "We are beginning many new creative aspects to create awareness and increase attendance," said Boltman, "including the possiblity of partnering with the Tom Thomson Gallery in Owen Sound.

The final speaker was John Flood, Director of District 5, Probus of Canada. "Probus is a non-political, non-sectarian and not-for-profit organization," said Flood. A club can be supported by Rotary or another Probus and the only requirements are to follow the by-laws. Past membership in a Rotary club is not a requirement and there is no restriction on the number of members, which is where Rotary is now having a bit of a problem in that they only allow one member from a specific field, such as banking. In addition, with Probus, there is no restriction on the number of meetings that members have to attend. The spending of any monies raised is entirely up to the club, if and when they want to contribute."

The first Probus in North America was started in Cambrige in 1987, sponsored by Rotary. Today, there are 200 Probus clubs with more than 25,000 members and the newly formed Saugeen Shores Probus is one of 22 in District 5 in Ontario. Peter Weale of Southampton initiated and supported the forming of the new Probus club.

President of the Women's Probus Club in Saugeen Shores is Jean Goldsworthy with Vice-President, Jane Kramer. The next meeting is scheduled for June 23rd with a catered lunch, at a cost of $12. Anyone interested in joining can call Jeanne Seyler at 519-797-2232.

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26/05/2009 11:09 PM

Ally Boltman

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Barbara Ribey

John Flood

Mayor Mike  Smith & Peter Weale