Hello everybody. How blessed we are. Twelve months ago, we were still gun-shy with Covid. Now we have all sorts of social activities occurring, such as the Grand Prix, Moomba, Comedy Festival, Garden Show, Archibald Art Show and the list goes on. And this reflects on our Club and its activities as we become more active.
For all intents and purposes, we are back to situation normal or as close as we can hope to be. It is heartening to see the enthusiasm of members attending our monthly meetings and the camaraderie especially over morning tea/coffee. As your new President I want to trial a couple of innovations at our meetings. If you find them favourable that would be great, if they flop, we will discontinue them. Given I am relatively new to the Club, I should give you a little of my background. I was President of the Donvale-Tunstall Probus Club many years ago. Joannie and I then downsized from Doncaster to an apartment in Sandringham. We wanted to make the acquaintance of local people, so we joined your Club. We could not be more pleased with the reception you gave us, and we are enjoying attending meetings and outings with you. I am semi-retired so my time is always under pressure, but it is time that I reset my priorities and learn to relax more and play more – so says my wife! As I said at my induction as President, I am an Engineer. My expertise is in manufacturing everything from earth-moving equipment to mobile cranes, locomotives, conveyor systems, paint shops and industrial washers for automotive manufacture, pneumatic bulk road tankers and many more products. Sadly, nearly all these products are now imported and the skills to manufacture in Australia are being lost.
Should anybody like to reminisce over lost manufacturing, I would be pleased to exchange stories of our experiences. Looking forward to sharing the next twelve months with you all.
And, please don’t forget to pay your Annual Subs (including Morning Tea) of $70 by the end of the month (April 30) if you haven’t already done so.
Jim Tomlinson President 1 April 2023
