20th Anniversary flip book

of Probus”, founding member Harold Blanchard writes,
“...one of our more erudite members came up with the idea of
PROBUS, PROfessional and BUSiness, He assured us that Probus was
aLatin word from which “probity” was derived, and the name was
adopted with enthusiasm. Incidentally we found there was avillage
in Cornwall called Probus and also there was aRoman Emperor of
the same name who in his day was famous for his cultivation of the
vine.” (Editor’s note: Marcus Aurelius Probus reigned from 276-
282 B.C. and planted vineyards in Gaul, Spain, and Britain.)
Due to the success of these two clubs, which incidentally never merged,
Probus Clubs were promoted in adjacent towns. There are now
approximately 1,700 clubs in Great Britain.
In 1974, Probus expanded into New Zealand and by 1976 the idea had
spread to Australia. Although Probus membership has its greatest
concentrations in Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, clubs today
exist in all parts of the world, including the U.S., Belgium, India, Cyprus,
Japan, and several countries in Africa and Asia.
The first Probus Club for seniors in North America was sponsored by the
Rotary Club of Galt in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada in 1987. Growth in
Canada (since 1987) has resulted in the successful development of over
148 clubs across Canada with over 18,000 members with an average club
membership of over 100.
Probus Clubs are in essence autonomous and as such have no central
governing body,but Probus Centers have been established internationally
by country to disseminate information and assist clubs. Probus Canada,
for example, provides anational insurance liability plan to cover
individual club meetings and activities. Offices are staffed largely by
volunteers, and operating costs are met by member contributions. The
Probus worldwide web page ( www.probus.org), contains information on
Probus, and includes contacts for many international Probus Clubs, the
Informal Probus Network of chat groups, and several segments dealing
with information about forming aProbus Club, Probus services, etc.
~ The information in this section is based on material found on the Probus
Canada website.
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