History of Our Club

 In 2014 two of our club members, Tony Banks and John Thompson, researched and authored a document detailing the history of the Probus movement across the globe and within New Zealand, and the formation of the Kaiapoi Combined Probus Club.

A huge thank you to Tony and John for collating and putting all this information into readable form.  

To ensure this information continues to be available to present and future club members we have reproduced it below:

 A Brief History of the

Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi
and of the
Probus Movement in New Zealand

Introduction

Forward

Formation of the Probus Movement

Formation of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi

Appendices

Minutes of the First Committee Meeting

List of Foundation Members

List of Presidents

Life Membership

Nomination of Majory McLauchlan for Life Membership 

Certificate of Accreditation

Certificate of Registration

Letter of Welcome

20 Year Celebration Certificate

Probus South Pacific Limited Corporate Structure

The Northern South Island Probus Association

Some New Zealand Probus Facts

Shortly after our 20 Anniversary Meeting it was suggested that an archive be set up to record the history of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi while it was still fresh in people’s memories. We all know of instances where we have been at a function celebrating an occasion of significant historical importance many years later and realized how much richer it could have been if someone had taken the time to record the events as they had happened or retrieved them from reliable sources of living memory.

Fortunately we still have several foundation and long serving members with us and it was important for us to tap into this valuable resource of knowledge while we still could.

Tony Banks was the ideal person to do this having just retired as President of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi and possessing a special talent for research, flushing out important details, and creating accurate records. We are very grateful that Tony has volunteered to become our official Archivist and thankful that after many hours of painstaking research he has been able to produce this valuable record of the Club’s history.

An archive of this nature is a living document and we sincerely hope that Tony will be able to continue this very worthwhile task well into the future.

Thank you Tony,
John Thompson
President

lt is not the intention of this booklet to record the history of the Probus movement in New Zealand but to record the formation and history of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi.

The history of Probus movement itself is readily available on the website in its various forms and would take too long to record here.

However, to understand the history of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi it is deemed necessary to record the beginnings of the organisation and to briefly record its progress.

The first Probus Club to be formed in NZ was in 1974. To assist the Rotary movement to promote and assist in the formation of Probus Clubs in NZ the Probus Information Centre (P.I.C.) was established in the 1980’s. P.I.C. eventually became the Probus South Pacific Ltd as it is known today, based in Australia.

It was because of an interesting speech by Club member Lawthor Johnson that he gave at the Clubs 20th year celebrations in 2014 it was decided that a history of the Club should be recorded.

To get a proper perspective of the reasons for that formation it has been deemed necessary to record a brief history of the Probus movement as a whole. There is plenty of information on the internet about Probus but I have taken recourse to some notes recorded by John Norman that were found in the Club records and have added information from the internet as necessary.

My thanks to Denis McNally for some of the history of the club as Denis was President of the Rotary Club of Kaiapoi at the time of the formation of our Club. The following records will show that the Rotary Club had a vital part to play in the establishment of our Club. l would also like to thank the active foundation members of the club for the support they have given me at my request. I had decided very early in the piece that l would interview all the current foundation members. They were awarded commemorative badges at the 20th celebrations.

I would like to record our grateful thanks to the Kaiapoi Working Men’s Club, now known as the Kaiapoi Club, for the opportunity to hold our meetings at their very functional and very comfortable facilities. We hold both committee and monthly club meetings there. Also a big thank you to the Camera and Digital shop for sponsoring our newsletter. The Club’s newsletter has received high accolades by the local Probus Clubs of the Northern South Island Probus Association.

Thank you to the current committee members for the support given me in presenting this record of the history of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi.

Tony Banks
December 2014

The Probus movement was founded in the United Kingdom in 1965. Fred Carnill, a member of the Welwyn Garden City Rotary Club met with some friends of a professional and business background and formed a luncheon club. The Rotary Club President arranged a meeting for retired people and 45 people attended. This club was known as the Campus Club. The Rotary District took up the scheme and from there Rotary International of Britain and Ireland encouraged other Rotary Clubs to sponsor such clubs. Although Fred Carnill had already formed a club at the Welwyn Garden City the Probus Club movement was considered to have been conceived by three men, James Roper, Harold Blanshard and Fred Carnill. Harold Blanchard, Chairman of the Culverham Rotary Club presented the idea of a club for retired Professional and Business people to his Rotary Club. The first managerial luncheon of the first Probus Club was held in the UK on the 2nd March 1966.

In May 1966 a committee was formed with Harold Blanshard as chairman. The name Probus was taken from the first three letters of the words Professional and Business. It had the advantage in that it was a Latin word from which ”Probity” was derived. The Probus Club of Caterham was a great success and became well known amongst other Rotary Clubs internationally, hence the origin of Rotary Clubs sponsoring Probus clubs world wide.

Initially Harold Blanchard and his committee had to contend with some wealthier sections of the Caterton community who wanted to establish club facilities such as a restaurant etc . Good sense prevailed, the ‘high flyers” did not join and the principle of no property responsibilities within the Probus clubs continues.

In 1972 Gordon Roaty from Paremata attended a Probus club meeting in Scotland and in 1974 the Kapiti Coast Probus club was formed. By 1976 the idea of a Probus movement had gathered momentum in Australia.

In 1981 Cliff Johnstone formed a Probus Information Centre in Sydney and this organization, in due course, became the Probus South Pacific Ltd.

1982 The first Ladies Probus Club in New Zealand was formed at St Heliers, Auckland.

1982 The first mens Probus Club in the South Island was formed in Christchurch

1984 The Northern South Island Probus Association was formed

1985 The first ladies Probus Club in the South Island was formed in Christchurch

1988 Restructuring of the Northern South Island Probus Assn took place.

Representing Rotary

District Chairman Alan Hunter with Paul Rhodes and John Norman Representing Probus clubs

Nancy Sloane with Melba Seay, Pat Irving, John Hartley and Joan Duncan

There is a wealth of information on the Probus organization on the internet and members who wish to follow the growth of the movement should gather information from this source.

Rotary International has agreed to sponsor the formation of Probus Clubs world wide and Rotary Clubs have been instrumental in the establishment of Probus Clubs in their districts. The Rotary Club of Kaiapoi did support the formation of the Combined Probus Club Of Kaiapoi and made funds available for the purchase of equipment and a certain amount of gear such as stationery, tea facilities, name badges, etc to enable the club to function. The President of the Rotary Club of Kaiapoi at the time of formation, Denis McNally, attended meetings of the Probus Club twice a year in an advisory capacity.

The Club is very grateful for the support provided by the Rotary Club of Kaiapoi over the years.

A meeting was held on the 6th October 1993 with a view to establishing a Probus club in Kaiapoi. In attendance were Marjory McLauchlan acting as President, two members from the Rangiora Rotary Club (Fred Piper and Les Dixon), Denis McNally as President of the Rotary Club of Kaiapoi, and Sylvia Temple the North Canterbury representative on the Northern South Island Probus Association.

Also at this meeting was Mr George Watson, President of the Probus Clubs of the South Island. He outlined the history of the Probus movement and the procedures for establishing a Probus Club. Each club must have a Rotary Club as a sponsor.

It was agreed to establish a combined Probus club in Kaiapoi and the procedure adopted was as follows:

1. Send letters to those who would most likely be interested in joining a club.

2. Call a meeting of interest, establish a meeting venue, date and time.

3. Advertise the event in the local newspapers.

4. Hold a foundation meeting at said venue to establish membership fees and establish a ”chain of office”. It was agreed that all those who had attended the foundation meeting would be granted automatic membership. Any following applications for membership must be nominated and seconded by an existing member.

Mrs Silvia Temple spoke at this meeting about the activities of the Rangiora Probus Club, the groups formed within this club and the friendships made. Silvia was the North Canterbury representative on the Northern South Island Probus Association at the time.

On the 8th October 1993 Marjory McLauchlan and Denis McNally met and signed and addressed about 70 letters to post to suggested interested members to advise of a foundation meeting to be held at the Anglican Church Hall on the 15th November 1993 at 10 am.

At the time of joining the Probus movement in December 1993 there were 1300 clubs and 100,000 members in the South Pacific region.

The Clubs Accreditation Certificate was sent to the Rotary Club of Kaiapoi as the sponsoring club for the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi on the 24th February 1994.

The Club committee as at 20th December 1993 was:-

President: Marjory McLauchlan

Vice president: Betty Tyson

Secretary: Joan Parish

Treasurer: Derek Mayo

Committee: (van Armstrong, Paula Armstrong, Inez Bruce, Shona Green

Lawthor Johnson, Joy Heaps, Margaret Hill, Mabel McAllister and Athol Parish

The Club was issued with a Certificate of Accreditation on the 20th day of December 1993 by the Probus Centre South Pacific Inc. The club Accreditation Number is 1591, and Registration Number 59757 in District Number 9970.

The first Club A.G.M was held on the 21st March 1994 and the first field trip was to Lyttelton. Forty two members attended.

The formation of a Probus Club in Kaiapoi gathered so much support that there soon became a waiting list of about 50 people. The club had decided to limit the membership to 130 people. The preference was for a combined club and some people wouldn’t join unless the club was set up as such. The average attendance at monthly meetings for the first year was 102 from a membership of 150. In the 1995 year the average attendance was 114 members from a membership of 156.

The Anglican Church Hall soon became too small for the proper functioning of the Club and in 1996 it was decided to approach the Kaiapoi Working Men’s Club to see if they would agree to allow the Club to hold meetings in their club rooms. This was agreed upon, especially as the Kaiapoi Working Men’s Club agreed to accept an annual donation for the use of their facilities. Club minute book records show that the first committee meeting held at the Kaiapoi Working Mens Club was on the 10th June 1996. Previously committee meetings had been held at private residences. The club records also show that on the 10th April 1995 there was a waiting list of 25 people wanting to join the club.

Once the club had moved to the new facilities in 1996 some of the Probus members from surrounding clubs transferred membership to the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi as this avoided travelling time and expense. However some members of the Club, only about 6 members, were in disagreement with the shift and consequently formed another Probus Club now known as the North Kaiapoi Combined Probus Club. The formation of this second club in the town has not caused any disharmony that can be recorded and membership in both clubs has fluctuated over the years for various reasons.

Probably the major reasons for this fluctuation has been the earthquake disaster which struck the town in September 2010 and February 2011. The September quake was the one that had a particularly bad affect on the township of Kaiapoi.

The AGM minutes of the 15th March 2000 shows a membership of 187 with an average monthly meeting attendance of 90.5 per cent.

At the 2001 AGM held on the 19th March Ivan Hurndle presented a lectern to the Kaiapoi Working Mens Club on behalf of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi and the North Canterbury Seniornet. Ralph Small had bought it at auction and it was refurbished by Betty and Mac Simmonds.

The Club membership at this time stood at 196 with an average monthly meeting attendance of 130. Similar figures showed up at the 2002 AGM. Marjory McLauchlan was presented with a life membership at this meeting. At the 2003 AGM it was noted that a new Probus club had been formed in Woodend.

Occasionally clubs have had to establish a waiting list for membership as a club with about 150 members is considered to be enough to allow a club to run efficiently . Membership above this figure appears to make the organisation of events such as field trips, celebrated functions, such as mid winter and Christmas dinners, difficult. One bus of 30-40 people is enough on a field trip. Average attendance at the Club meetings appears to be static at about 60 per cent of membership. Participation on field trips tends to be about 30 per cent, but this does fluctuate due to the costs of individual trips, depending on bus hire, meal venues etc, and length of the trip.

Over the years the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi has held field trips on average of every two months. Day trips have involved travelling as far as Banks Peninsula and North and Mid Canterbury and occasional trips have been made even to the North Island over a longer period of time.

The club publishes a monthly newsletter, recording committee membership, club activities, speaker reviews and numerous articles, some humorous. The club is indebted to the the editors and publishers of this magazine over the years, particularly Doreen Williams our current publisher, and to the Camera & Digital shop in Kaiapoi who print the newsletter

The club does exchange the newsletter with other clubs in the North Canterbury region. By doing this it enables club members to learn of the activities of other clubs and to get ideas for speakers, field trips etc. The organisation of these events is one of the biggest jobs in the Club and members are very grateful to the committee members who have organised these events over the years.

There is a very good photographic record of club activities in a number of albums dating from about 1994. These are casual photos taken by members and are evidence of the enjoyable field trips and club dinners that members have taken part in.

The Probus movement in New Zealand is affiliated to the Probus South Pacific Ltd and this affiliation has had the occasional disunity. The movement away from the PSPL is not new. Early in the establishment of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi minutes recorded in the Club books show that an event to establish a New Zealand co-ordinating organisation occurred in the mid 1990’s. The reason for this discontent at this time is not recorded. This club chose to stay affiliated to the PSPL Ltd.

Recent movements by the Probus South Pacific Ltd (PSPL) to establish a membership database met with strong disapproval and this and other reasons has caused the establishment of a movement to form a New Zealand Probus Assn in 2014.

Recently the committee of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi decided that this Club should remain afflicted with the PSPL in the meantime until the issues involved, and these are many, are resolved. This decision was fully supported again by the club membership at a meeting held in the autumn of 2014.

The Probus clubs in New Zealand are well structured. The Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi is supported by the Northern South Island Probus Association and remains affiliated to the PSPL, in the meantime. It regularly receives the PSPL magazine ”Active Retirees” the official Probus magazine.

The Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi holds an Annual General Meeting in March of each year. However the financial year is from lst January to the 31st December.

Club meetings are held on the third Monday of each month except in the months of December and January. Committee meetings are held on the first Monday of each month, unless agreed by committee members to postpone a meeting due to public holidays, anniversaries etc.

The club has always been in a sound financial position. In a letter dated 28th October 2008 the club received a letter from the Inland Revenue Department informing the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi that it had qualified for an Income Tax Deduction status as a non-profit organisation. (See Secretarial files)

The club membership in 2001 was recorded as being at 197, the highest it has ever been. It has fluctuating over the years and reached its lowest point after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 as Kaiapoi was one of the hardest hit areas in Canterbury, especially by the first one in 2010. The membership attendance recorded for the AGM held on the 17th March 2014 was . . . . . . . from a membership of 120.

SeeMembership Graph below.

During the Clubs history members who have attained the age of 90 years have been granted honorary membership of the Club. (See ARTICLE 11 – MEMBERSHIP, By-Iaws of the Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi in Appendices)

Please Note: Further information on the Club history and membership can be found in all the Clubs Minute Books held by the current club secretary.

Combined Probus Club of Kaiapoi – Membership Graph to 2014 

In drawing up this graph the figures used were the number of financial members as recorded in the Clubs Annual General Meeting minutes.

The base date used was from the AGM minutes of 1994.

The recording point is the left hand line of the year column ie membership in 2000 is 189, and the membership number is based on the line below the number in the Number Of Members column i.e. the number of members in 1994 in 100.

The gradual decline since 2001 could be due to the social activities or the declining average age of the population of the district.

The membership number started to fall in 2009 – 2010 and took a dramatic fall in 2010 – 2011 due to the Canterbury earthquakes of that period. The AGM minutes of 2011show a financial membership of 95, the lowest ever recorded for the club. The graph indicates a gradual recovery in membership after this period.