MALVERN PROBUS is a warm, welcoming group for men over fifty five—plus their wives and friends—who love good company and fresh adventures.
 
Come and join us, there's plenty to do.
 
 
We have a General Club Meeting every 4th Tuesday, see here for details. and we have our "Coffee and Chat" every Friday morning, see here for details.if you like the idea of Easy Golf see here. Or Painting (En Plein Air) see here.Or Just Walking see here
If Theatre Nights interests you, see here. Or Music Appreciation see here. Or Finance & Investing see here. We  have our "Connelly's Choice" monthly outing, see here. And of course we have a  Every Tuesday Lunch Club see here
 
 
 
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Upcoming Events September
Tuesday 1st First Tuesday Lunch. Kolonaki Athenian. 12.15 Richard Middleton.
Wednesday 2nd Theatre Night. Racecourse Hotel 6pm. MTC 8pm. Jeffery Blight
Thursday 3rd Walking Group. Ferndale Park West. 10 am. Alan Bayliss
Friday 4th Coffee & Chat. Giorgios. 10am. Don Jones
Tuesday 8th Investment Group.  Church House. 10 am Richard Uglow
Wednesday 9th Easy Golf.  Malvern Valley 10.00; Brian Stiebel
Thursday 10th Walking Group. Central Park. 10 am. Alan Bayliss
Thursday 10th Music Appreciation Violin Concertos 14.30; Chris Begg
Friday 11th Coffee & Chat. Giorgios. 10am. Don Jones
Tuesday 15th Connelly’s Choice. JAHM Gallery. 10.50 Ian Connelly
Wednesday 16th Illuminations Lunch 12.30; Jeremy Pearse
Thursday 17th Walking Group. Tooronga Park. 10 am. Alan Bayliss
Friday 18th Coffee & Chat. Giorgios. 10am. Don Jones
Friday 18th Painting "En Plein Air" 13.30; Mike Fitzgerald
Tuesday 22nd . General Meeting, Church House 10.00; Dave Richards
Thursday 24th Walking Group. Tooronga Park. 10 am. Alan Bayliss
Friday 25th Coffee & Chat. Giorgios. 10am. Don Jones
Tuesday 29th Kelvin Club Lunch 12 noon Richard Uglow
September Guest Speaker
JC Weliamuna is a former High Commissioner to Australia from Sri Lanka  “Weli” now serves as a lawyer and human rights advocate  with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre as strategic leader of the human rights law program. With a lifetime commitment to justice he appeared as lead counel in over 150 landmark cases in Sri Lanka despite facing significant personal risks including multiple attacks on his life.
 
President's Message September
It’s late August, another month gone, with Wattles starting to bloom, Spring is
upon us.
Congratulations to all our activities coordinators for the ongoing work that they do and the successful outcomes that makes our club so enjoyable, Our Bulletin gives the detail.
Of special interest was our fourth “Illuminations” where eleven members this month discussed the merits of religion around lunch and wine. A wide range of brands and level of commitment  was noted with some members joking that we’d better not wait around for the virgins because if they are not already in Paradice then they’d better lift their game. 
Our newest activity is now locked in for September 23 where up to twenty members and “significant others” will get together for the Food and Wine Group inaugural function at “Con Noi Trattoria” in Camberwell Rd Camberwell. Congratulations Ian Rosenberg and Stuart Nicol.  Dave
August Guest Speaker
Laraine Stephens - Crime with a Twist of History: 
After a career in schools mainly as Head of Library, Laraine turned her hand to the craft of crime writing. She is now the author of the Reggie da Costa Mysteries. Laraine has been a guest speaker at many Probus, Rotary, U3A and community clubs, as well as libraries and on community radio.
President's Message August
Melbourne winter continues. The snow's not much good. But Fun, Friendship and Fellowship continues at Malvern Probus. Our Coffee, our Lunches and our Dinners continue to be great hits with our members. Our new ClubRunner website is working well and the ClubRunner mobile application is being enjoyed by more and more members. It makes keeping up with the news and contacting each other so easy. We learnt a lot about bell ringing at our regular 4th Tuesday meeting, from Sarah Stancombe, with eight members particularly, flexing their wrists "tunefully" with her handbells.
Upcoming Events August
Tuesday 4th Committee Meeting. Church House 10.00am Dave Richards
Tuesday 4th First Tuesday Lunch. Eden Expresso, 12.15pm Richard Middleton
Thursday 6th Walking Group: Caulfield Park, 10.00 Alan Bayliss
Friday 7th. Coffee & Chat. Giorgios 10.00 Don Jones
Tuesday 11th. Investment Group. Church House. 10.00 Richard Uglow
Thursday13th. Walking Group: Urban Forest Reserve, 10.00 Alan Bayliss
Thursday 13th Music Appreciation. Holst, Williams, Gershwin. 14.30pm Chris Begg
Friday 14th. Coffee & Chat. Giorgios 10.00 Don Jones
Tuesday 18th Connelly's Choice, Moorabbin Air Museum 10.45am Ian Connelly
Wednesday 19th. "Illuminations": 12.30 Jeremy Pearse
Thursday 20th Walking Group: Glen Iris Wetlands, 10.00 Alan Bayliss
Friday 21st. "Coffee & Chat": Giorgios 10.00 Don Jones
Friday 21st: Painting,"En Plein Air", 13.30 Mike Fitzgerald
Tuesday 25th General Meeting, Church House 10.00; Dave Richards
Thursday 27rd. Walking Group: Ferndale Park East, 10.00 Alan Bayliss
Friday 28th. "Coffee & Chat": Giorgios 10.00 Don Jones
 
 
President's Message July
The shortest day has past yet again. The year is flying by. We have three new members in the pipeline and that pipeline is our lifeline.  Now is the time for you to consider associates with whom you would like to share your Probus.
On 17th June we enjoyed our second Illuminations event where members gather informally in Jeremy’s home for a BYO lunch and to discuss the meaning of the universe etc. etc. A great new success story
Stuart McNicol is surveying the membership further, investigating the needs of our members for a ‘Beef and Burgundy” look alike, weekend lunch. This new concept for about three occasions through the year will include friends and partners and will likely kick off in August.
 Sandy Aescht is preparing to restart our paused cycling group and all the rest of our amazing twenty or so activities per month are proceeding nicely.
Dave
“Our life is what our thoughts make of it, pain is inevitable, misery is optional”
July Guest Speaker
Sarah Stancombe has been a bellringer for two years, learning in the UK for a few months before returning to Melbourne to continue ringing at home. Change ringing is music, sport, art, maths, physics, history and community all wrapped up in one unique hobby.It is a British tradition that began in the early 1600s and Sara is greatly interested in the history and developing culture of ringing around the world. She has spoken for the Percussive Arts  society hosted at Unimelb on the music of change ringing, illustrating the “sheet music’ that ringers use, to different ways that you master it. When she isn’t ringing you’ll find Sara producing radio, dancing, and making music. Sarah will touch on the history of bell ringing,  how the bells move, the music of bellringing and the local ringing community. Come along, as our guest and hear her on Tuesday 21st July, 11.00 at Church Hall
May Guest Speaker
Grahame Leonard is a Melbourne-based lawyer and prominent communal leader who served as the President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), the peak representative body for the Australian Jewish community, concluding a three-year term around 2007
He has been recognized for his work in communal security, education, interfaith dialogue, and supporting Holocaust survivors.
He remains an active commentator on civil matters, the state of multiculturalism, community divisions, and Australian public policy.
His talk is titled “Mt Sinai to Bondi - A Journey Approaching 3,500 Years" 
President's Report April 2026
On Wednesday 15th April some members were planning to attend Jamie McLeod’s 3rd Wednesday of the month casual lunch where his mates (from many different groups) debated controversial current topics including Politics, Religion, Philosophy and of course Sex when it came up. (being all blokes, rarely of course).
Sadly, the lunch didn’t get underway, Jamie passed away in the preceding hours, being
discovered by his mates on their arrival for this lunch. Thanks guys, for supporting one another through a sad experience. Jamie’s ritual has given birth to ‘ILLUMINATIONS’. A new Probus activity, to occur on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. Jeremy Pearse has agreed to be the host.  ILLUMINATIONS will function from Jeremy’s home. Attendees bring and share, food  and grog. Guests are allowed two minutes to speak on particular subjects chosen for the day by the host. A reliable resource for guaranteed difference of opinions. Jamie would definitely approve and love it. Vale Jamie.
 
Cheers  
Dave
April Guest Speaker
 
Noel Hart is an Australian author known for the 2023 biblio-memoir "And That Was Only the Front Counter: Working in the Used Book Business in Los Angeles" 
His talk will cover the chaotic stories of working for ten years in the historic and famous Cosmopolitan Bookshop.  This literary icon was located on Melrose Ave, Hollywood and founded in 1958 by Eli Goodman. The shop operated for over 50 years and was known for its "beautiful mess" of floor-to-ceiling stacks. It specialised in rare and unusual titles, film scripts, and vintage magazines, often catering to university professors and Hollywood studio decorators. The store sadly closed in 2015.
 

President's Report - March 2026
 President David Richards 
The new Probus Year is nearly underway with the AGM on 24th  March when we must finalise who’s who in the tent. On reflection the past year has been a great success during which we have welcomed nine (9) new members, Jeremy Pearse, Andrew Baldwin, Frank Brody, Ian Rosenberg, Bruce Moore, John Waters, John Jobling, Roger Bourne, and Stephen Russell. We continue to welcome you, and hope you are enjoying your membership.
Movement through the year resulted in 3 down, an opportunity for many new members. Ask your wife, partner or companion, whoever, to suggest who you can bring along as a visitor and a potential member. You could bring them as a guest as an initial introduction or just bring them along to Giorgios on a Friday for a coffee. We need to know your mates; people who will tell us the truth about you; blokes who are not afraid to say what they think and willing to dob you in, over your past and present misdemeanours.
Birthdays: We have 11 birthdays in both March and April. When you bring your mate on Wednesday, they will be able to join the fun singing happy birthday. I bet they will laugh and enjoy the experience.
Last week there were 14 walkers in the walking group. The walking group has 20 regular participants, well done walkers.
A task on the Assignments List is the role of Banner Monitors at Giorgios: Ian Connelly PP, Alan Hay PP, and David Richards. When you see the banner is not on display at the entrance to Georgios, tap Ian, Alan or David on the shoulder and remind them to do their job. Constantly Alan and David forget and are reminded by Ian when he turns up late and notices the banner not on display.
Of particular interest is the job specification for future “Chairman of the Day”. Please read the emailed version and make yourself aware of the responsibility of Chairman of the Day. If you notice something missing let me know. The committee were keen to make the role significant, interesting and with a procedure to follow.
Being your president has been a privilege that I have enjoyed. Should you choose, I would be happy
to repeat the exercise for 2026.
Thank you. Dave
Connelly's Choice - March
Connelly's Choice this month, took us  to Bishopscourt Mansion in East Melbourne, home of the Bishop of Melbourne since 1853.
We were welcomed into the Drawing room with fresh coffee and hot scones with cream and strawberry jam. David Wood and his sister Bev, who grew up there, were the most gracious of hosts and led us from room to room with story after story.
Next we were treated to a tour around the one and a half acre garden noting many unusual and exceptional trees and plants finishing in the fully restored vegetable garden.
After the tour finished most of us ambled down leafy Clarendon Street to the Pullman Hotel where we enjoyed a casual lunch. 
 
 
Pictures show the heritage building and our attentive group in the chapel
 
 
March Guest Speaker
Our guest speaker for the March general meeting was Tony Thomas, who reported on his trip to Egypt the previous fortnight focusing on the incredible treasures found by Howard Carter in 1922 at the unrobbed tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Tony followed up with two visits to the just-opened Grand Egyptian Museum where thousands of Tut's treasures are now state of the art display. They include of course his beautiful mask - 10kg of gold and lapis lazuli for the wonderful blue ornamentation. But that pales in gold content compared to Tut's innermost coffin which is 110kg of gold, beautifully inscribed and worked. Below - the solid gold coffin. 
Tony said he was awestruck by the know-how of the bronze-age Egyptians, which included a 45m ship capable of transporting monuments and building blocks totalling hundreds of tonnes. Even more amazing, he visited the ancient quarry at Karnak where the workers had carved an 1100 tonne obelisk almost out of the bedrock, but it cracked and they abandoned it in place, giving Egyptologists 3-4000 years later an excellent blueprint for how they worked the quarries. Of course an even bigger mystery is how they planned to cart the 1100 tonne obelisk on sleds to the Nile where they would load it onto some unimaginably large barge (or several lashed together. As Tony said, this trip gave him food for thought for a lifetime.
 
FREE COFFEE
Giorgios Restaurant Opposite Malvern Town Hall
We're here every Friday 10am-12noon. Drop by and say "Hello" and we'll treat you to a fabulous cup of coffee and friendly chat about what it means to be a Probian

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Walking Group
The walking group meets every Thursday at 10am. There are currently 8 different walks all based around a different coffee shop where we start and finish.
Check the website for current week location or call Alan Bayliss 
 
Investment Group
We meet every second Tuesday at Church House for a presentation based around the current Reserve Bank's report or other international reports. We watch the stock market both Australian and foreign with our special portfolio of investments which  boasts an incredible increase in value of 57%
Easy Golf The 19th Hole
Every 2nd Wednesday morning we meet at the Malvern Valley Public Golf Course.  We tee off at 10:00 a.m. – for 9 holes.  It is a very casual outing – no pressure – just pay first, and come along if you feel like having a hit - even if it’s been a while!
Click Me!
Theatre Night
MTC presents 6 plays in 2026, 2 in Autumn, 2 in Winter and 2 in Spring. Our group activity is based around a Wednesday evening dinner at the Racecourse Hotel followed by a short walk around the corner to the Community Arts Centre to watch the performance. 
Click Here for Details
Illuminations
‘ILLUMINATIONS’.
This activity involves attendees sharing food and drink at a members home while engaging in conversation. With each person provided two minutes to share an opinion on a topic—a format guaranteed to spark a variety of perspectives.
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