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Welcome to the Melbourne Bearbrass Probus Club
Our club vision : Melbourne Bearbrass Probus is an active, engaging, member-driven group who come together to undertake a wide variety of enriching and enjoyable social activities and outings, which enhance their experiences and interests, whilst enjoying the fellowship of an expanding, diverse, network of friends.

President Mel’s Welcome

For first timers, welcome to the Melbourne Bearbrass Probus website and welcome back to regular viewers. What an unbelievable roller coaster ride we have been on, but at least there now seems to be an essence of normality returning to our lives! (Pic left: Pam, grandson Lenny and Mel)

We are back in full swing with most of our events now being undertaken face to face. Unfortunately, our monthly speaker meetings have had to be done via Zoom, but we anticipate that from early next year we will be able to return to the Dock Library for our regular monthly speaker meeting, on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.

Meanwhile there are plenty of things happening and I look forward to seeing you all at the Christmas dinner on December 15th.

If you are not currently a member of the club, please feel free to browse the content of this site and learn a little more about what we are and what we do. Should you want to make personal contact go to the “Contact Us “ tab above or if you would like to submit an application to join, go to the “How to join us” tab also above.

Delightful outing to Port Arlington, Thursday Dec 2

The weather portents were as bad as could be on Wednesday with black skies, thunder and cloudbursts. But Thursday morning dawned clear and nine youthful Bearbrass members rocked up to the catamaran terminal in Victoria Harbor with shining eager faces.

The trip out was morning magic with a kaleidoscope of views from the open back of the boat as we cruised past moored freighters of every description and configuration.

At the port our courtesy bus was waiting to whisk us to Jack Rabbit Vineyard overlooking the bay. The gap till lunch was filled with relaxed conversation and compulsory biographical tales.

We had been alerted that mains courses were so generous no entrees or desserts were required, as this proved correct. Jack Rabbit’s reputation for food elegance was well deserved. We split from the restaurant at 2pm to be bused to Port Arlington’s main street and shopping there to rival any Paris excursion to Avenue Montaigne and the Champs-Elysées. All this time the sun bathed us in kindly rays.

We made sure to get back to the ferry on time, having been told that it wouldn’t wait even for VIPs such as ourselves. Half way home the skies went black and a few minutes from the wharf the rain bucketed down. The crew handed out free serviceable ponchos which were vitally needed. Despite removing her shoes, one lissom barefooted member managed to slip elbow over turkey en route to parked car but without damage other than to dignity. Another damp stalwart boarded his tram which set off for Coburg and then broke down midway and he finished his trip on foo

t in a squelchy fashion. Beyond argument it was a wonderful day to offset two years of lockdown confinement.

Bearbrass Probus Christmas Dinner - Wednesday 15^th December

You and a friend/significant other/spouse etc, are invited to the Melbourne Bearbrass Christmas dinner.

Venue: Melbourne Cellar Door

Address: 25 Dukes Way South Wharf

Date/Time: Wednesday 15^th December from 6 p.m.

A complimentary drink and nibbles will be served from 6 to 7 p.m. to allow everyone to assemble and mingle with each other before sitting down at 7 p.m. for dinner. The main course will be a traditional feast of glazed ham and stuffed turkey, roast potatoes and vegetables followed by a choice of chocolate mousse or apple pie for desert. Please note that any drinks other than the initial complimentary drink must be paid for as you go. Drink prices are very reasonable at this venue.

The cost is $30 for club members (subsidised by the club) and $36 for non-members, so feel free to invite a guest if you wish.

We must confirm numbers ASAP but no later than 5 p.m. Friday 3rd December. Register via the event here

To secure your place please forward payment to the club bank account (refer to the invite email for account details) before 5 p.m. Friday 3rd December. Don’t forget to put your name in the remarks section of the bank transfer as follows “Cookson Xmas” – if you don’t put your name in we won’t know who booked!

If you have any questions, please ring me on 0414688738.

Merry Christmas
Julie Cookson
Event Supremo

Baker's Dozen at Coffee Morning

There were an exact dozen happy faces at the Bearbrass coffee morning on Tuesday Nov. 23rd upstairs at Vintam’s Bakery Café in Docklands.
We enjoyed the friendly hospitality of the venue as well as many great conversations.

Picnic in the Park 2.0

A dozen members enjoyed perfect weather and Michelin-Star-standard grub at our second post-lockdown picnic at Docklands Park on November 17. We were particularly pleased to be joined by our newest member Vanessa (Pic 1, front left), welcomed by President Mel (pic 2, front right).
It was great to be out and about socialising and chatting after a dreary 18 months misanthropism.

Southbank News features Anne Fairhall and Mel Gray

In Love with Tower Culture (article reprint from Southbank News)
10 Nov 2021

It doesn’t matter if your next step is big or small if you are a resident of one of the many towers in Southbank.
It might mean squeezing into a lift at Southbank Central with three others when you’re used to a limit of two.
Or it might mean splashing out with $25 million for a penthouse that has just become available at Australia 108.

What’s important, say residents of Australia’s most densely populated suburb, is to make intelligent decisions that don’t hem you in.
The penthouse has 360-degree views which are unlikely to be built out, given that Australia 108 is the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere.
But it’s not just the view that counts in the suburb. Southbankers think of their culture as “intellectually rich and socially diverse.”
Anne Fairhall, a resident of Southbank Central next to Boyd Park, has been a prime mover in the organisation of film, book and coffee groups over Zoom during lockdown. “I’m naturally a connecting person,” she said.

No Lamb on the Table

Eleven of Susan’s Movie Group trotted off to the Nova Carlton to see the Icelandic-noir film Lamb last night. The historic photo included here depicts a rare Bearbrass male-dominated group, six rams versus five ewes, and we ate in a cloud of testosterone.

Here’s a glimpse of the plot:

In Iceland, a herd of horses is spooked by an unknown, loudly-breathing entity that makes its way to a barn. Later, farmer María and her husband Ingvar are shocked to learn that one of their pregnant sheep has given birth to a bizarre human/sheep hybrid.

María and Ingvar grow to love the hybrid lamb as their own child, take it in as their own, and name it Ada after Maria's deceased daughter.

We were all engrossed by the dour Arctic scenery and the ability of any humans to work a farm in this bleak terrain. As for the plot, there was bleating about credibility and we seemed to have mixed feelings but the film has won great respect worldwide.

After, Susan herded us to the nearby University Café after rounding up some stragglers, and we all arrived safely baa-none.

Many ordered pizza and linguini and Spike refused to share any of his giant plate of duck. But no-one ordered the lamb chops.

Great talk to club by Mick Warner on AFL

Great AFL talk by Mick Warner

Mick, author of The Boys’ Club expose of AFL mismanagement, held us engrossed on Zoom at our meeting of November 9. We had 38 tuned in on 34 screens including six guests.

He began with the statistic that there are 800 AFL players and 800 AFL staff – a weird ratio. Premier John Cain, he said, had remarked that he’d never known an entity as powerful politically as the AFL.

Typical points by Mick:

# AFL has a 29-member “Integrity Department” notwithstanding that the AFL invariably puts its commercial interests first – especially the vast TV rights money

# There’s been no independent review of the AFL governance for 28 years, indicating how unaccountable the AFL is

# AFL has always sought to undermine his reputation and influence, but by obtaining documentary evidence he has always retained the trust of his editors and readers

# AFL board members are reluctant to call out wrong-doing by the executive, having been ‘captured’ by the footy ethos and enjoying what Mick calls ‘liniment sniffing’.

# AFL chiefs on sums like $3.8m a year are paid four times the rate of AFL stars like Dustin Martin.

Jill de R says a copy of The Boys' Club would probably make a great Christmas gift for someone you know.

You can get one here:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-boys-club-michael-warner/book/9780733644948.html

Famous author visits Writers Group

Our Writers Group was privileged on October 21 on Zoom to welcome barrister Paul Quinn, author of newly released historical novel The Venetian Crusader, to discuss successful publication of a historical novel set in Venice around 1220. His publisher is Cambridge UK-based Pegasus, with access to the huge UK and European market. Paul's most remarkable story was about how he had swamped publishers with his manuscript.getting nothing but rejections and worse, no response at all. One day Pegasus called asking, a little impatiently, "what did you think of our offer?" "What offer?" "We emailed it to you a fortnight ago." Paul found it in his Junk email box. Paul came to us via our member Robyn, herself a historic novelist (not quite yet published), and whose two friends Marie and Lydia from her historical novel writing group (external to Bearbrass) came as visitors to hear Paul.Our notes from his talk are filed here under "Read More".

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