A Message from the President: “Rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated” (a misquote from Mark Twain)
In the August newsletter, the Editor erroneously announced that my last column had already been published. However, despite the protestations from the Editor, I have one last message to deliver, as this newsletter will be received before I officially step down as President at the AGM this month. I wish I had something very profound to say, but I don’t. I initially took on the role to help my fellow Probians avoid the "green garbage" approach of volunteerism suggested by Paul Taylor. By the way, this approach is not entirely off the table, as I will now be taking on the role of leading the Nomination Committee!
Looking back at this past year, I feel like an Oscar winner with so many people to thank: Jim Christie (Past President) has always been there to answer my questions about meetings and agendas. Several other Past Presidents graciously offered their advice as we navigated our members' survey. Garry Jenkins (VP) was always ready to step in when travel with Marlene was deemed a higher priority. Bob Topping (Treasurer) and Bob Whitehead (Secretary) have done a marvellous job of tracking finances and providing meticulous records of our meetings. David Litner has done a tremendous job of bringing in new members and ensuring their smooth integration into the club. While reluctant at first, he did a wonderful job leading our members' survey. Cam Fraser and Ed Cloutier helped us gather very valuable feedback from members, both new and old, to help guide our club forward. Bob Buckner has now picked up the mantle to revitalize our website. Kent Newell and his Events Breakfast Club members have been diligent in finding exciting new places to visit. Bill Fraser (Speakers) and George Huszczynski (Activities), as newcomers to the Management Committee (MC), have not missed a beat alongside their teams in providing interesting monthly speakers and activities. Indoor golf and pickleball have been fantastic additions to our list this year. John Bishop and his communications team deserve a big shoutout. John Mark and his entertaining newsletter keep us all informed of what is happening in the club, while Tony Hart and Gary Bridges keep our website up to date and engaging. And we can’t forget Brian Mittler, who makes sure we have sound equipment at our meetings.
The Management Committee has shown great patience with me as we pushed through several long discussions on the survey. I am certain Garry will run much shorter meetings!
I look forward to Garry coming in as the new President. Garry has been an Applewood Probus member since the early days. While I have known Garry for several years through Dixie Curlng, my first introduction to Garry at Applewood was through his coordination of Golf. He has been a very active member and I am sure he will more than adequately fill these shoes.
When he was a teenager, my son had a sign on his bedroom door that read: “Everyone brings joy to this room. Some on the way in, others on the way out.” I will assume I have brought “some joy” to our members during my term as President.
Our goal remains simple: to stay compelling to our current members and appealing to future ones.
“The most impactful marketing we could ever do is word of mouth from our members.”
