durhamregion.com 6 The Citizen September 18, 2014 From page 1 "We were hoping and would have been happy to get 50 members sign up and here we are, one year later, with 266 members," he said. Probus is an acronym for the words "professional" and "business" and the main purpose of the organizations is to provide meetings and fellowship opportunities for retired and semi-retired people. Each Probus club is sponsored by a Rotary club and meets at least once a month. There are more than 5,000 Probus clubs worldwide, including 225 clubs in Canada with 30,000 members. Despite the connection to Rotary, Probus clubs are not service organizations and are non-sectarian and non-political. Clubs are formed to provide social events and discussions by guest speakers to keep members up to date with community issues. Many members have branched off into smaller interest groups for hobbies including sports, entertainment, poker, gardening, travel, hiking and reading books. The Whitby Brooklin Probus club, which is open to residents across the region, was formed last year because there was a long waiting list for membership in the Oshawa Probus Club. "Once people retire, I guess there's a bit of a void that's left so a lot of them want to get involved in ongoing activities in the community," said Mr. Ashdown. "We have 20 activity groups for our 266 members so there's something for everyone if they want to participate." There are also special guest speakers who drop by meetings and a variety of social events, such as theatre outings, bowling, and dances. "A lot of people just like coming to the meetings to socialize or hear the speakers or they'll just do the social events to make new friends," Mr. Ashdown added. He attributed the success of the past year to the dedication of the management team, as well as interest group leaders and volunteers. "Like most pleasures in life, it is always the people that make a difference and this is so true of Probus where our focus on fun social activities and interests bring like-minded people together in broadening friendships, knowledge and the accompanying life rewards." The Whitby Brooklin Probus Club meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month in the recreation hall at Westminster United Church, 1850 Rossland Rd. E., Whitby. The annual membership fee is $25 with a one-time registration fee of $15. Visit: www.whitbybrooklinprobus.com Retired people come for socialization, speakers BROOKLIN -- The Whitby Brooklin Probus Club offers regular meetings and fellowship for retired and semi-retired business people in the community. Jason Liebregts / MetroLand