Speaker Chairperson John Manuel
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January Speaker - May Cooper
May Cooper emigrated to Canada from Scotland in the late 1950s at the young age of 18. May has enjoyed an active and busy life. Whether it has been travelling through Canada, the US and Europe with her husband John, playing tennis; cross country and downhill skiing; Scottish country dancing; singing in several choirs and performing in amateur theatre, she has always kept occupied and considers herself to be a lifelong learner. In addition to contributing to the community, working a long and successful career and raising her two children, May is now also a proud grandmother and great grandmother. While delighted to have made the decision many years ago to become a Canadian citizen and to have lived her entire adult life here, May is rightfully very proud of her Scottish heritage. Speaking about Robert Burns gives her the opportunity to share her knowledge about this fascinating man. May has been an active member of Probus since 2013. |
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FEBRUARY SPEAKER - Dr. Gary Polonsky, founder of Ontario Tech. His subject will be "The Creation of Ontario Tech University”.
Dr. Gary Polonsky was an instrumental and inspirational leader in the creation of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Prior to the establishment of the university, he had served as President of Durham College since 1988. He was President of both the university and Durham College from 2003 until he retired in 2006. Dr. Polonsky served as honorary patron of the Ontario Philharmonic and honorary chair of the Multiple Sclerosis Walk, and led the successful campaign to raise $1,000,000 for the Oshawa Community Health Centre. Over the years, he has received several distinguished honours for his contributions to educational and community-based initiatives and charities, and was honoured with a permanent place on the City of Oshawa's Walk of Fame. Before moving to Durham Region, he served as a faculty member at Confederation College in Thunder Bay, later as Vice-President at Lakeland College in Vermilion, Alberta and Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, and as President of Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In his words, "When I came to Durham Region in 1988, the last thing on my mind was to create a university. Yet, it happened, against daunting odds." How it happened will be the subject of this month's address. |
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Our March speaker:
"The Woman Who Loves Giraffes - The Story of Canadian Dr Anne Innis Dagg". Mary Dagg, CEO of the Anne Innis Dagg Foundation will speak on the life of her mother, Dr Anne Innis Dagg who was the first Western person to study giraffes in the wild in the 1950s and "wrote the bible" about giraffe ecology, behaviour and conservation. Mary will touch on Anne finding her passion for giraffes at the age of three and traveling solo to Africa in her 20s three years before Jane Goodall. She will also highlight the challenges that Anne faced as a woman in science, how it derailed her career and how she fought back. There will also be a section about the unique characteristics of giraffes. |
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BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
The popular, well-admired Lianne Harris will return for our April 8th meeting to present “A History of Hygiene". APRIL SPEAKER |
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Moira Welsh, the Toronto Star reporter who interviewed our own member, Mary Kelcey on her 80th birthday last year, will be our May 13th guest speaker. Moira is the leader of the Toronto Star's "Third Act" project and author of the book, "Happily Ever Older." She is dedicated to matters concerning ways for governments to improve our lives in later years
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JUNE SPEAKER: Geoff Carpentier Our June speaker will be Geoff Carpentier. He will be speaking to us about his travels to the Antarctic. Geoff is an expedition guide to the Antarctic and his second book, “Antarctic, First Journey” is a resource guide for Antarctic travellers. Geoff’s trips as an expedition guide helps him build on his lifelong passion for nature and conservation. He has won many awards including the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and the Ontario Nature Award for his books and nature columns. Geoff was educated at the university of Guelph where he studied Zoology and the biological sciences. After 33 years, Geoff recently retired from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. |
JULY SPEAKER: Samantha (Sam) George, Curator of Parkwood Estate
How do you make a movie in an historic site containing delicately preserved artifacts? Carefully. Our July speaker brought this amazingly intricate and delicate subject to life for us with detailed explanations of how movies are made at Parkwood. How to lay camera tracks on delicate carpet. How to hide historic pictures to avoid mismatching periods being set. How to avoid smashing delicate chandeliers with hand-held overhead microphones. These and many other obstacles are faced every day on movie sets, and Samantha George handles these challenges to preserve the unique historical features of Parkwood. An interesting, entertaining and informative presentation.
Picture provided by Mary Gibson
How do you make a movie in an historic site containing delicately preserved artifacts? Carefully. Our July speaker brought this amazingly intricate and delicate subject to life for us with detailed explanations of how movies are made at Parkwood. How to lay camera tracks on delicate carpet. How to hide historic pictures to avoid mismatching periods being set. How to avoid smashing delicate chandeliers with hand-held overhead microphones. These and many other obstacles are faced every day on movie sets, and Samantha George handles these challenges to preserve the unique historical features of Parkwood. An interesting, entertaining and informative presentation.
Picture provided by Mary Gibson
August speaker
What does it feel like to trek 800km on Nepal’s Great Himalaya Trail at age 77?
How does a massive flood occur high in the mountains? Several times!
Find out in this personal, inspirational, honest and humorous presentation by journalist, author, adventurer and humanitarian, Patti Shales Lefkos.
Discover the adventure, the challenges, the joys, the sorrows and the personal insights this remarkable woman has discovered.
We look forward to hearing her talk on August 12. “Nepal – It’s Never Too Late.”
What does it feel like to trek 800km on Nepal’s Great Himalaya Trail at age 77?
How does a massive flood occur high in the mountains? Several times!
Find out in this personal, inspirational, honest and humorous presentation by journalist, author, adventurer and humanitarian, Patti Shales Lefkos.
Discover the adventure, the challenges, the joys, the sorrows and the personal insights this remarkable woman has discovered.
We look forward to hearing her talk on August 12. “Nepal – It’s Never Too Late.”
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Our October speaker is Dr. Ken Shonk, a family physician who will speak on the importance of humour in our lives. In his words, he believes that while medicine is not always fun, fun is always good medicine.
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Our November speaker will by Jill Passmore of the Oshawa Museum.
Citizens of Oshawa have been involved in most major world wars and conflicts. Our meeting will pay tribute to them, to all who have bravely served our country in the past and those presently enrolled in our armed forces. |