Box 148, Clarksburg, Ontario N0H 1J0 Current Activities E-mail address: beavervalleyprobus@beavervalleyprobus.com by Convener Joan Hammond “Please be advised that all events and activities of the Beaver Valley Probus Club are organized for the benefit and enjoyment of its Members. Individuals who participate do so at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety”. Web-Site: www.beavervalleyprobus.com President’s Message (Details) Backroads Cycling Book Club Chapter One Book Club Chapter Two Book Club Chapter Three Book Club Chapter Four Birding BVP Computer Group Canoe / Kayak Casual Dining Chess Cooking Together Cue Sports Digital Photography Dining with Flair Euchre Gardening Golf Hiking Marsh Street Painters Nordic Pole Walking Recreational Cycling Scrabble Singles Gourmet Ski Legends Snowshoeing Stitch & Bitch Support Group Table Tennis Travel Group Wood Carving Activity groups are self sustained. Participate – Volunteer but above all-have fun and enjoy Volume 15, Issue 03 This is my first letter as President of the Beaver Valley Probus Club. Thank you for your confidence in my ability to serve as Club president. With your participation and co-operation, I look forward to providing the leadership required to represent all 573 members of the Club – the largest club in the WORLD!! The success of the Club depends on a strong Management Board and its dedication to providing excellent direction for all aspects of the club. Success also depends on the volunteer efforts of all of us. If you want this success to continue, I urge you to volunteer. Strong leadership is also provided by the Activity Group co-ordinators and we are all grateful for their efforts in managing the 25 activity groups offered. These people need your support for a successful year. New members, in particular, should note the Activity Fair being held on our regular monthly meeting date – Tuesday March 24th, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Everyone should come, review what takes place with each group and sign up to participate. It is a great opportunity for new members to meet people and have fun together. Please see the notice about the Observatory Tour elsewhere in the newsletter. PAYMENT IS DUE AT THE MARCH MEETING. The Newsletter is a vibrant and brilliant effort by editor, David Morgan. The success of the newsletter is reliant on members to submit items of interest to him at ... newsletter@beavervalleyprobus.com. The Grapevine is our major way of communicating with the very large membership. At our monthly meetings we always try to have excellent speakers. The speaker is an integral and important part of each meeting. Please contact speaker co-ordinator, Bev Johnston, with any suggestions you may have. I welcome your comments at any time and look forward to seeing you at the Activity Fair on March 24th. Howard Kitchen ANNUAL GOLF EVENT – Monday, June 22, 2015 LOCATION: Shelburne Golf and Country Club FORMAT: Shotgun 18 hole, team best ball TEAMS: Organizers make up mixed teams based on golfing experience. All skill levels welcome. TIME: 8:15am: Check-in and Goodies. 9:00am: Tee-off COST: $68.00 --- Includes morning coffee and muffins, power cart, lunch and prizes SIGN UP: at the Activity Fair or contact Bob Smithson or Garry Lamont Payment by cheque made out to Beaver Valley Probus 1 Upcoming Club Events Come and enjoy Carousel, a Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical, at the Avon Theatre in Stratford Wednesday Oct 7, 2015, 2:00pm. Far ahead of its time in confronting the issues at the heart of a troubled relationship, this wrenching musical drama features a luscious score that includes “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, “If I Loved You” and “June is Bustin Out BVPC Membership Report – Vicki & Terry Kellar, Membership Chairs all Over”. Ticket cost is $114.00 which includes theatre, bus and lunch at Anna Mae’s in Millbank. A waiting been started. BY CHEQUE . Stella Zahradnik The membership forlist thehas 2015-2016 year isPAYMENT now closed at 573 ONLY including 53 new members; Quite a change from our founding year of 2001 when the membership was 339. The Club has retained 121 Once Again at the King’s Wharf Theatre Penetanguishene Charter Members and we are currently the largest Probus Club in the world. From the creators of last year’s sensation, Twist and Shout: The British Invasion, comes another production in the perennially popular Legends of new tribute shows that willbyput a snap in Probus your fingers and a song in your This year we welcome the series following members (identified a star on their name badges): heart. Legends … of Rock ‘n’ Roll relives the incredible discography from the 1950s through 1970s that forever changed the landscape of modern music. Such influential acts as Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, The Beach Boys, Elton John, ABBA, and Simon & Garfunkel are celebrated in this tribute to musical pioneers. Our Probus Social Committee has arranged for 40 tickets at a group rate of $37.50 on Thurs. July 30 for the 2 PM matinee at King’s Wharf. The tickets are currently sold out however more may become available so add your name to the wait list by contacting Vicki Kellar Activity Group Update SINGLES GOURMET: Not many of our members suffered in the recent brutal cold. They were not in Canada. Those of us left had wonderfully tender salmon from BC and other wonderful dishes. Bravo to the survivors. Our next exciting theme is ITALIAN on Sunday, March 29th. We are now back to 6pm dinners...post winter. Our 2 hosts are Bev Johnston and Stella Blackie. I overheard someone saying that their next kitchen will consist of vending machines and a garbage can only. What a pity! TRAVEL GROUP: The activity fair will be your chance to register your travel interests. Hopefully we can form groups of our own people to travel together. It is especially helpful for single people. Come and talk to Peter about your bucket lists. Gloria Thompson SNOWSHOEING: This winter can only be described as “brutal”! We ended up cancelling three of our scheduled outings because of cold weather. This is the second year in a row we have had to cancel because of the cold. The days we did get out we enjoyed a great experience in the wonderful world of Grey County. Certainly there was no lack of snow. A number of new members joined the veteran snowshoers and the enthusiasm of all who participated made the job of coordinating the events a pleasure. We had a very successful Valentine’s lunch with 34 members enjoying a scrumptious meal at the Rocklyn Inn. This is the eleventh year in a row that we have celebrated Valentine’s Day with a hike and lunch at Rocklyn Inn. While the lunch was a great success, the hike through the forest at the Sligo side trail of the Bruce trail was one of the hikes we cancelled because of the cold. We look forward to next year, and look forward to seeing many enthusiastic members of our Probus Club at our sign up table during the March Activity Fair. John Dick. Eileen and Dave Robinson SKI LEGENDS: As February comes to an end most of our ski season is over. The snow has been great, the weather cold, and our various activities a lot of fun. We hope our web page www.probusskilegends.ca, along with the many emails from Barry Jack; have made it easier for everyone to keep up with our busy schedule. Still to come are ski days at Alpine SC March 5th, Craigleith SC March 12th and Georgian Peaks SC March 18th. We also still have one last ski trip to Sun Peaks the last week of March. Representatives are Louise Donegani, Bob Muir, Wilf Phillips E.C. Carr OBSERVATORY TOURS Thursday May 14 , 2015 at 7:30pm. & Thursday May 21st, 2015 at 7:30pm View the solar system!! Very few openings are available To guarantee your reservation, payment of $10 per person, by cheque, must be made at the Activity Fair. th THIS WILL BE AN EXCEPTIONAL EVENING!! 2 Submitted by Nancy Seppala Book Club Benefits During my English Lit classes at university I was forced to read many novels which did not always interest me. Now that I am free to choose my reading material, I confess I usually turn to mysteries and thrillers for relaxation and enjoyment. A few months ago, I concluded that my literary tastes were somewhat narrow and I should expand my interests. Since I needed some motivation to choose other types of books, I decided to join a book club. Fortunately Beaver Valley Probus had started a fourth club (the other three had a full membership) which was in need of participants. Perhaps I was a little intimidated – after all I could tell you about each of Louise Penny’s absorbing mysteries which feature intriguing characters, but Scotiabank Giller Prize winners? Could I claim to have read any of those books which have received that coveted Canadian award? Shamefully I could not. I am pleased to say that is changing. In February our club met and discussed 419 by Will Ferguson, winner of the Giller prize in 2012. Although some readers will call this novel a thriller, several of the other books we have tackled belong to other genres. Not only have we had in-depth discussions about themes, literary style and characterization, we have also shared some excellent food and friendship. I still plan to devour mysteries for years to come, but in addition, I will follow the wisdom of Will Ferguson. When asked why he switches between writing travel books and novels, he says it forces him to use different parts of his brain. Similarly I will vary my reading, and in so doing hope to keep all parts of my mind active and avoid, as Will calls it, “a muscle cramp of the brain.” The Master Gardener’s Corner Things to do in or for your garden in – March from John Hethrington 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.                Start tuberous begonias and caladiums in pots using damp peat moss. Start brassicas (cabbage family) and hardy annual seeds for April-May planting in your garden. Start tomatoes, lettuce and other fast growing seeds late March, or early April this year. Order summer flowering bulbs. Get your To Do list for this spring and summer into your computer so you can’t say you lost it. Check and repair gardening tools. Find them first. Sharpen spades, shovels, etc. Wipe down wooden handles with boiled linseed oil. Paint the handles of small hand tools like trowels with red or yellow fluorescent enamel, so you won’t lose them so often. Apply combination dormant spray to fruit trees and pest prone shrubs when non-freezing weather permits and the snow drifts come down, hopefully in March. Especially good against scale. Start forcing branches of spring-flowering shrubs like Forsythia and lily-of-the-valley root pips after buds start to swell, later in the month. Prune summer-flowering shrubs and vines as the snow recedes. When the snow is gone, loosen up packed winter mulch and press back perennials heaved by the frost. Plan to add a few native berry plants or shrubs that will attract birds this summer. Visit local nursery greenhouses to smell the coming spring. Check dates for annual garden shows like Canada Blooms, Mar 13 – 22nd 2015 at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. Check it out at www.candablooms.com The Stratford Garden Festival celebrates 15 blooming years Mar 5 – 8 2015. Stratford Rotary Complex. www.stratfordgardenfestival.com Don’t miss The Collingwood Garden Club presentation: Taming Wildflowers by Miriam Goldberger from the Wildflower Farm March 26 7:30 pm Trinity United Church, Collingwood Swans: Indeed, this has been a very cold February! Eleven swans and two Canada Geese have been sheltering near the foot bridge above the Beaver River trying to survive the very cold temperatures. The river is almost completely frozen. These birds can only survive if we continue to feed them cracked corn as this is their only source of food at the moment until the ice breaks up. Caroline Bacher For pictures by Nancy Seppala Click here 3 Our Speaker for April Dr. John Anderson BSc, MSc, PhD Climate Change Around the world and on the Bruce Dr Anderson’s presentation will cover the effects of human induced climate change, which has been described as the greatest challenge facing human civilization. How will climate change affect the world? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US LIVING HERE? Dr. Anderson’s presentation includes a full climate data point for this area going back 135 years. His findings will surprise those who think climate change is only affecting (harming) OTHER parts of the world. HEAR SUGGESTIONS FOR CONCRETE ACTIONS WE CAN TAKE TO HELP TURN THIS AROUND. Dr. Anderson was heard speaking on CBC radio by club members who highly recommended him to speak to the Beaver Valley Probus Club. Don’t miss hearing this informative presentation!! Leonard NImoy died Feb 27th and sometime in the week before he died he sent this tweet: Life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP [LLAP.- Live long and prosper - or. Dif-tor heh smusma in Vulcan - as per Mr Spock] Doreen Lamont Looking forward to seeing you at our next meetingAt the Community Centre on Tuesday March 24th. Commencing at 1.00pm This is our Annual Activity Fair Please come out to investigate all the Activities that your club has to offer. The Quiz this month tests your knowledge of things in your early years; it really is not difficult so why not give it a try by Clicking here February’s winner Jennifer Baker Newspaper Team Editor David Morgan Reporter Caroline Bacher & Nancy Seppala Distribution Barb Thompson Website Maintenance Barb Thompson Technical Advisor Mike Seagram The fair is a great place to socialize and meet people with similar interests, meet activity coordinators and sign up for activities. It’s a place to get involved and bring new ideas to the club. The fair is for members only so please wear your Probus ID. I will be at the fair so please seek me out and let me know any ideas that might benefit the club. I want to hear your comments positive and negative. Light refreshments will be served. Joan Hammond Activity Convenor Support Group Do you know of a member who needs encouragement to get through a difficult period? Please do not hesitate to call Phyllis Thomas who is the contact for March or any one of the Management team. Next months contact is Mary Armstrong. . . The Last Word Submitted by Past President Catharine Pepper Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day? Regular rocks are too heavy! 4