‘We just have so much fun’ says president, as Probus club celebrates 10th birthday

GAYLE Evans was looking to build her network when friends encouraged her to come to a meeting a decade ago.

It was the meeting when the Probus Club of Torquay Zeally Bay Inc. was formed and the beginning of many great experiences for Evans.

Probus clubs worldwide are all about “friendship, fellowship and fun” for retirees, and Evans fondly remembers the first bus trip away around Tasmania.

 

“It was the first time we actually got to know each other really, really well,” she said.

“When you’re meeting once a month or at a small activity, you don’t get to know people really well, but when you’re living with them day by day, you really get to know and appreciate the people that you’re with.”

She went on to start a craft group, which is one of 15 activities the club runs.

 

“I have never laughed so much in all my life. They are just the loveliest group of women, and they love to laugh,” she said.

“And when we try something new, they’re all there, trying something new and thoroughly enjoying themselves and it’s really wonderful.”

Evans was among 115 members who attended the club’s 10th birthday on Wednesday last week at 13th Beach Golf Links clubhouse.

 

It was the biggest ever attendance for a club event which delighted president Graham Locke.

It was a point noted by founder Gerard McNamara who made a great speech about how the club was formed.

He noted he and his wife Kathryn wanted to join a Probus club in 2014 but all the local clubs had waiting lists.

Despite local resistance to adding another club, McNamara decided to start a new one.

 

He was Torquay Rotary president at the time and “twisted enough arms” to organise the funding and set the process in motion.

About 20 enthusiastic people attended the first public interest meeting at the Torquay Improvement Association Hall and it grew from there.

The club now has 128 members as well as a waiting list and McNamara noted it had developed a reputation as “the most dynamic Probus club in the shire”.