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Hamilton Probus Club Inc. 56018 Accredited 14 December 1990

N e w s l e t t e r The Times President Dr David McEvoy Ph. 3630 4900

Secretary Mrs Margot Kirby Ph. 3262 6693 email: ham.probus.sec@gmail.com

PO Box 2308, Ascot 4007 Next meeting 9:15am Tuesday 1st May 2018 at Merriwee Court, Oxford Street Hamilton

Meeting Apologies Contact Margot Kirby Last minute apologies may be made from the meeting floor. Birthdays May

Tony Hall [05]

Dudley Dick [14]

Roy Moore [19]

Loreto McCafferty

[22]

2 0 1 8 C o m m i t t e e President: David McEvoy Secretary: Margot Kirby Treasurer: Jack Larkin Senior Vice President: Margot Kirby Immediate Past Presi-dent: Leafy Fussell Outings Committee: Leon Papi Speaker Program: Colin Miller Membership Officer: Barry Henzell Newsletter: Barry Henzell Records Officer John Wright Committee: John Ladbrook Jack Larkin Anne Gooley Auditor: Peter Nichols Almoner Leafy Fussell

President’s Induction

Edition 189 May 2018

Dates to remember

Our club started 2018 on a lively note with a most enjoyable dinner at

El and Dora’s on Wednesday April 18th. Almost 50 of us filled the res-

taurant with noisy conviviality enjoying a pleasant curry meal and copi-

ous BYO. Our thanks to Douglas Fussell who arranged the evening and

the planned seating which all agreed made the arrival arrangements go

smoothly. From all accounts the Beenleigh trip was equally enjoyable.

Last Friday 20th April, I attended with Margot Kirby and other club members, the Ecumeni-

cal Service at Aspley Uniting Church Aspley. Current Presidents and office bearers of Pro-

bus Clubs in North Brisbane were asked to pledge their commitment to benefiting their

members and were blessed by Rev Sandra Judd in in a service involving Catholic and An-

glican clergy. We were entertained by the performance of the PAQ choir whom I met per-

sonally, extending our invitation to entertain us when they appear as our guests at the July

meeting.

I took the opportunity to meet and engage with Geoffrey Hunter, President of Ascot Pro-

bus Club, and we agreed we would initiate closer liaison between our clubs by mutually

agreeing to reciprocate attendance as guests at each of our clubs.

This brings me to encourage all of our members to make a little contribution to our club’s

newsletter by means of suggestions on books, events and outings that others might enjoy.

We have a great newsletter which can serve a wider purpose in promoting awareness of

events and activities in which you could join with other members to get together outside

the programme already arranged by our Activities Committee. Your committee is open to

any suggestions of ways in which your club could be more vibrant and inclusive.

Looking forward to more friendship and fun in 2018.

David McEvoy

Tuesday 1st May Regular meeting Merriwee Court

Tuesday 8th May Men’s Coffee at El & Dora

Tuesday 22nd May Ladies Coffee at El & Dora

Thursday 17th May Brisbane City Hall Museum visit and lunch

Monday 4th June Trivia Quiz Kedron Wavell Services Club 10am

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THE 4MBS FESTIVAL OF CLASSICS begins on May 5th concluding June 3rd.

Highlights include the opening concert, Celebrating The Baroque, in St John’s Cathedral on Saturday May 5th, The Piano Marathon at the Conservatorium on Sunday May 13th, and concluding with A Choral Spectacular in The Brisbane City Hall on Sunday 3rd June. All events can be seen on …4mbs.com.au

PALACE CINEMAS regularly show filmed stage and screen productions that are popular and often unique, including opera, ballet and National Theatre. View these at Palace Cinema Brisbane, and look under films, then coming events….. Stage to Screen.

4MBS Festival of Classics STRAUSS IN DA HAUS - A Viennese concert experience - Hamilton Town Hall

If you love luxurious melodies from the old-word capital of classical music and you wish to enjoy an intimate concert experience reminiscent of Austrian palace charm in your local area, then put Friday 11th May in your diary. Included in this musical experience will be the lilting waltzes of Strauss and Shostakovich, the sparking highs of Viennese Operetta and art songs by Lehar, Strauss and Schubert and the exciting music of Brahms and Bernstein. Celebrate with internationally renowned artists, Judith Molnar (soprano) Brieley Cutting (piano) and Frank Fodor (violin) Where: Hamilton Town Hall Cnr Rossiter Pde & Racecourse Rd, Hamilton When: Friday 11th May at 7.00pm

Cultural Activities

Secretaries Report

It is May time, a beautiful time of year with the cooler weather… bliss. The visit to the Beenleigh Distillery, in spite of the rain, was a great outing. Some of us came home with two bottles of rum liqueur after the rum tasting, plus two large Yatala Pies and we made the meeting on Tuesday. Yes, that outing should get 10 out of 10 points.

The Ecumenical Blessing of the Presidential Collar ensured all goes well for 2018. The June Quiz day will be my first Quiz day (please do not tell Robin, I am not good at Quizzes as she is preparing for a Hamilton win). What good movies have you seen? What shows? What good books you have read? Emails or pieces of paper with your suggestions written on them are a great way for me to remember. These suggestions can be added into the Times. The site www.oldmuseum.org is really worth a visit: 23 June - QYO Chamber Mu-sic at Twilight; 5 July - QYO Morning Music; and other interesting events. On to another good month. Get your flu shots, don’t speak to anyone with a cold and stay well. Take care

Membership Report Following the increase in maximum membership numbers we are pleased to welcome two

new members who have been on our waiting list for a considerable time. We plan to in-

duct two more in June.

Averil Ward and Brian Nelson will join us in May. Please make them welcome.

Barry Henzell

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Dinner at El & Dora

Operation “Hamilton Probus Dinner" Venue - El and Dora Oriel Park byo. Food - Curry or scaloppini - good Noise Level - high Laughter - plenty Room to move - minimal Numbers attending - 47. 2016 - 34 Outcomes - A very happy night. - Probability we will need larger res-taurant next year. Mission accomplished. Douglas Fussell

Men’s Coffee

Get to know our fellow coffee drinkers

more. It is a thoroughly enjoyable morning.

If you are available to attend, the next

meeting is

10am on Tuesday 8th May at El & Dora.

See you there!

Ladies Coffee

Please join us at our ladies coffee

group at El & Dora

No bookings, just turn up.

Next meeting is Tuesday 22nd

May at 10am

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Beenleigh Rum Distillery

and Kingston Butter Factory Museum.

On March 29 eighteen of our members travelled to visit the Beenleigh Rum Distillery and King-ston Butter Factory Museum.

We set off to enjoy not knowing what the weather would do ---- but the occasional rain was not a problem. Our Coach Driver took us through a backroad Southside to avoid traffic and this in itself was most interesting.

During our visit to the Distillery we learnt the history of Beenleigh Rum and gained an apprecia-tion of the art of rum making and how long it takes ---many years----a fact that I had no idea about. We had the pleasure of sampling and tasting varying types of Rum.

In "high spirits" we set off to Club Beenleigh for lunch. Our meals were first class. Our visit to Kingston Butter Factory Museum --------- There was so much to see -- I think we needed more time to browse all the memories of yesteryear to take it all in but we had to push on as Paul our driver took us for an unscheduled visit to the Yatala Pie Shop. A lot of us en-joyed the famous Pie that night----A Good Day!!! Cheers B-A.

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Hamilton Probus Club Outings

Club of Hamilton Speakers 2018

Month Guest Speaker

May Tony Auden—Chanel 7 weather presenter and BOM meteorologist

June A/Inspector Ewen Taylor, DNA Management Unit, Forensic Support Group, Queensland Police Operations Support Command

July PAQ choir expect 18 choristers

August Regional Commander, Regional Command, Strategic Border Command Op-erations Group, Australian Border Force

September Bruce Kynaston (Club Member) Subject: Craft and Art

Ten Minute Speakers

May John Wright

July Douglas Fussell

Month Details

May

Thursday 17th

Museum Brisbane City Hall – 10:30 am for 1 hour (no charge)

and regroup for lunch at ????? Ascot Club has been invited to

join us.

June

Friday 15th

“ Pizza in the Park” at Kalinga

July

Friday 13th

Queensland Gardens Expo at Nambour

Organiser Nicki Duveck-Smith is already fielding enquires for

what is expected to be a heavily booked trip. Nicki will talk to us

several times before the event in July

August

Monday 27th

27 Bowls Day at Pine Rivers Bowls club further details from PAQ site.

September

Thursday 20th

Ormiston House trip. Further details to be advised.

Alistair Ward

Guest Speaker—Ross Nichols

We were privileged to have Ross speak about his experiences as a Port of Brisbane

pilot. His described the difficulties in boarding ships off Mooloolaba day and night

and in all weathers.

He also discussed the difficulties of communicating with the crew who had little

English language. His visuals showed the route through the narrow passages across

Moreton Bay,

We thank Ross for his very informative presentation.

If you access the link below there is a very interesting story on marine pilots in Syd-

ney. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-03/sydney-harbours-marine-pilots-guide-cruise-ships-

into-port/9611992

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NAMBOUR GARDEN EXPO

Just a quick note to let you all know that on Friday 13th July 2018 we will be heading off to The Garden Expo at Nambour. We will have morning tea en route, then on arrival our driver will drop us off to browse, buy, look and admire all the gorgeous flora on offer. There are places to leave your purchases

for collection later. In between browsing you can partake of coffee in many different areas and later select a special spot to enjoy lunch with friends. Our driver will collect us and our goodies around 2.30pm for the trip home. Cost for coach, morning tea and expo entry is $45 (TBC). So please tell me at the next meeting if you are interested. I know I am. I’ve been hearing about it for years.

GOOD BOOK GUIDE

Rudyard Kipling wrote, “Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind.”

Aristotle wrote, “The greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphors.”

An Assistant District Attorney in the Fraud Bureau at a US District Attorney’s office wrote,

“When the music stops, the house of cards collapses and the emperor is found to be wearing no clothes.”

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. This is a novel based on the life of the au-thor. An epic, mesmerizing first novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay - - a well-liked book.. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer - a de-lightful book, written as a series of letters. It’s 1946. The war is over and Juliet Ash-ton receives a letter from David Adams of Guernsey. She enters into correspond-ence with him , and in time with all the members of the extraordinary Guernsey Liter-ary and Potato Peel Pie Society .A gloriously honest, enchanting and funny story. Leonardo DA Vinci by Walter Iaaacson. Despite being illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted and at times heretical he produced the most famous paintings in history. He was a man of science and technology. Isaacson weaves a story that connects his art and science.

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Please note, this newsletter is deigned for on screen reading with an electronic device. Distribution is via E-Mail. We have very small number of older mem-bers who do not have email access. For these folk an abridged black and white paper version is printed. Hamilton Probus thanks the BCC Hamil-ton Ward Office for providing the paper and printing for these.

Her Majesty’s Opera House, Brisbane.

The

Co

mer

ford

File

s Her Imperial Majesty’s Opera House, or “Her Majesty’s”, was the ‘first large capacity opulent building’ erected in the developing capital of the colony, and included a hotel and two shops as well as the theatre. The Architect was Andrea Giovanni Stombuco, a Florenti-no born circa 1820, who also designed many other fine buildings in Brisbane. The builder was Mr Arthur John O’Keefe, an Irishman. The architec-ture of the front was a combination of the Renaissance and Corinthian styles, which gave it a very striking appear-ance. In the large circular vestibule was a fountain with 2 basins, one sup-

ported by satyrs, and the other by female figures. The Opera House was situated on the eastern side of Queen Street between Edward Street and Albert Street. It had a seated capacity of 2,200, but has accommodated up to 2,700 patrons.

Her Majesty’s has hosted quite famous and spectacular entertainments in those early years, Immortal names such as Bernhardt, Pavlova, Pederewski, and Melba and many others have performed at Her Majesty’s. It really was a magnificent theatre.

The first performance held in the theatre was held on the evening of 2nd April, 1888 was a romantic military dream “Held by the Enemy”. I well recall attending a performance of “La Traviata” in the 1960’s.

The last performance was The Lord Mayor’s Command Performance on 23.10.1983.

The Theatre was demolished in 1983, a week after the above Performance.

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Please note, if you are unable to attend on your rostered day, please arrange a swap with another member from the respective list.

Hamilton Probus Club—General Meetings Annual Roster

Door Roster Hospitality Roster

Convenor

Barry Henzell (Ph, 3256 0070, 0407 233 360)

Convenor

Pam Cole (Ph, 3630 2508)

May 2018

)

Lorrie MILES (ph. 3262 4970) Carmel DINNEEN (ph. 3630 5489) Phyllis OMMENSEN (ph. 3868 4017, 0438 762 521)

June 2018

Robin McLEOD

(ph. 38526374, 0408 701 665)

Glen MCDONALD (ph. 0409 068 880) Elizabeth- Anne PETERS (ph.3262 5657, 0412 082 452) Sonja COMERFORD: (ph. 3257 4810

July 2018

Bette-Anne SWANSON (ph.3266 2615, 0409 874 406) Trish HICKEY (ph. 3262 3936) Lee HORNER (ph. 3254 0237, 0488 404 205)

August 2018

Tricia ANDERSON (ph. 3268 3624, 0419 025 295) Norma McTAGGART (ph. 3262 4446, 0414 624 446) Heather MILLER (ph. 0400 270 938)

September

2018

Don JOBBINS (ph. 3862 2021, 0418 437 368)

Anne GOOLEY (Ph. 3868 2949,

0475 981 003)

Gaye WHITE (ph. 0404 193 404) Lorrie MILES (ph. 3262 4970) Margaret ELLISON (ph.3868 1495, 0448 149 500)

October

2018

Julia FRYAR: (ph. 3262 6848, 0403 954 178) Ruth CLARK: (ph. 3865 7110, 0408 747 669) Anne CLAY: (ph. 3268 5513, 0438 177 720)

November

2018

Carmel DINNEEN: (ph. 3630 5489 Phyllis OMMENSEN: (ph. 3868 4017) 0438 762 521) Sonja COMERFORD: (ph. 3257 4810

December

2018

Glen MCDONALD: (ph.0409 868 880) Margaret ELLISON (ph. 3868 4017, 0438 761 521 ROBIN McLEOD: (ph. 3852 6374, 0408 701 665)