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Founded October 1975 |
The Probus Club of Havant
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History of the Club Formation Havant Probus Club (now known as The Probus Club of Havant) was formed in October 1975. Some members of Havant Rotary Club were tasked by the then Rotary Committee to find out more about the principles of Probus and whether or not a need existed for such a club in the Havant area. In late summer 1975, these met in a local hostelry at Emsworth under the chairmanship of Leon Davies. The outcome of this meeting was the agreement to form the Club. One of the original founders of which is believed to be Dennis Doney. The first meeting was held in October 1975. Original records are scarce , however its is clear from the membership records that the Club quickly established a formal constitution and documentation. From examination of the old membership records we have found that Havant Probus Club existed in April 1976 as the copy of joining form for Gordon Kinch below shows. We also have joining forms for George Burgoyne (May 1976) and Ronald Goford (September 1976). It is possible that one member may have joined a different Probus Club even earlier. Although not believed to be a founder member, we have an undated form for Jack Hammersley which bears an annotation “joined 1965” . The first recorded UK PROBUS Club was formed at Caterham in 1965 but we do not believe that he was one of those early pioneers. Past Officers of Havant Probus Club A list of past officer's of the Club since its inception follows:
Probus December 2009 Meeting The December 7th Meeting in 2009 was our 400th meeting. Over 60 members and their other halves had a wine reception before sitting down to an excellent meal at The Royal British Legion, Hayling Island. David Nix, the then Chairman, paid tribute to those early founders of the Club in 1976. The members then raised a glass in celebration of all previous, past and present members of the Club. Although not a founder member, our oldest member is Ted Wragg who at 97 years of age represents the spirit of those original founders. Ted is still most active and regularly attends the various monthly lunches. Following the meal everyone enjoyed a talk by Richard Burton (no, not that Richard Burton!) on Forgery in British Currency. It was most interesting not just in content but also given the opportunity to handle and examine various forged bank notes against their legal equivalents. Unfortunately Richard closely monitored all the bank notes “in circulation” to ensure that he received the full complement of legal notes back!! To our considerable surprise, shortly after the conclusion of his talk our speaker asked if he could join our Club. He said that of all the previously Clubs he had spoken at, ours was the most friendly. He had particularly enjoyed the warm and interesting company at the meal and felt we had made him most welcome. We of course were delighted to recruit him and we extend an invitation to any similarly retired man wishing to join us at our monthly gatherings. Photos from the 400th Meeting
The Hayling Islander The following report appeared in the December 2009 Hayling Islander announcing our (then) forthcoming 400th meeting.
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