PROBUS CLUBS OF WOODSTOCK
PROBUS CLUBS OF WOODSTOCK
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Volume 32 – Issue 2 – May 2022 Club meetings are resuming on

Year of 2021-22

.............................THE WOODSTOCK – OXFORD MEN’S PROBUS CLUB...............................

  Woodstock, Ontario 
       http://woodstockprobus.ca


New Home of the Probus Men's Club

Woodstock Legion Hall at 642 Dundas St. near Dairy Queen

President Jerry’s Message

    We want to resume with a full club meeting after 2 years of no in person meetings due to covid. This May meeting will be held at an interim location, the Woodstock Canadian Legion, 642 Dundas Street at 9:30 am on Tuesday May 10. We want to determine if the Legion will satisfactory for our meeting needs. Parking is available at the Legion, in the municipal lot right beside, and in the lot across Dundas St. New rules at the meeting - Since the pandemic is still with us, wearing a mask and proof of vaccinations are required. We want everyone to stay healthy. No coffee break or coffee at this meeting. Memberships from 2020 are valid until August 2022. The last annual meeting was in 2019 and management positions need to be reviewed. Nominations and volunteers will be required at the next annual meeting. Please consider sharing your talents and consider a position you may be interested in. As always guests and new members are welcome. It will be great to see old friends, and share life stories and bad jokes.

 President Jerry


  Club News 

  This year marks the 33rd Anniversary of the founding of the Probus Club of Woodstock-Oxford on January 29th 1990. In commemoration, at our March meeting District 5 director Jim DeZorzi presented a 30 year Certificate of Congratulations to President Jerry Klages and Vice Presidents Bill Weir and Al Driedger. 

Helping Our Community

 Future Events: 

Given the urgent need in our community, Peter Harrison recently suggested that the club consider making a donation to a local charity in support of those less fortunate. 

While there was positive support for Peter’s initiative, unfortunately the Probus Charter restricts any charitable or fund raising activity, hence it was suggested that members be provided with recommendations on how to best make a meaningful personal contribution to the needy in Woodstock.

Members may recall the presentation to us by Operation Sharing. They provide support to needy families as well as coaching and provide food purchase cards that may only be used to purchase healthy foods.  You can support them by donating a dollar each time you shop at Sobeys, Giant Tiger, Foodland, or Food Basics in Woodstock; or at Independent Grocer, Foodland, or Giant Tiger in Ingersoll. See https://211southwestontario.cioc.ca/record/OXF1184?Number=13


The Salvation Army also runs a Woodstock food bank. Food donations may be made from 9 am to 3 pm any Monday, Wednesday or Friday at their Family Services Office at 190 Huron Street or you can donate directly at the church office at 769 Juliana. 

For more information see  https://www.oxfordcounty.ca/Services-for-You/Human-Services/Emergency-Food-Services and http://www.heartfm.ca/news/local-news/salvation-army-food-bank-still-accepting-donations/


Peter has however identified a Woodstock Rotary Club initiative that supports both programs and is also matching any donations and providing charitable receipts.


Their "Fund for Food Vouchers" initiative is described at https://www.woodstockoxfordrotary.org/ 

and donations can be made at  https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/12109. 

It would appear that Rotary, which is also the organization that founded Probus, offers the most appropriate vehicle for any personal contributions members may choose to make in support of those in Woodstock. bus member with ideas for events let any member of the Events Committee know or email Rob Bryant at robclydebryant@execulink.com 


 Web Site News from Bob Axon 

Every member should check their personal information in the website - woodstockprobus.ca and report any errors or omissions to Bob Axon at raxon@rogers.com

 

Password ENTRY to the Website Directory is now available for extra security of all members. Follow the directions carefully and reset your password to one that you intend to make permanent. Please submit your photographs of any member activities to Bob Axon for inclusion in our unique collection of photos for visitors to the website and members. 

May Birthdays from Ken Shrubsall

  

  1. Happy Birthday wishes go to: -


  1.  Dan Byers Bernie Calder -
  2.  James Carrier John Cook -
  3.  Bob Elliott Larry LeGallais -
  4.  Bill Mackesy
  5.  Harry Mott -
  6.  Keith Stevens
  7.  Terry Thompson -
  8.  Deward Yates 
  9. Ted Young

Future Guest Speakers


Guest Speaker May 10th

        Phil Dunbar

A Woodstock kid, he grew up in the east end of Woodstock in the area around Massey-Ferguson and Harvey Woods and was a member of the “Princess Street Gang” He married a Woodstock girl, Cris Croxford. Phil's varied career has been very interesting and has taken him to great heights! He is always humourous and entertaining                                             

 

  

  

  


Some Interesting History to Entertain You while at Home!

 They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were "piss poor." But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot; they "didn't have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the low. The next time you are washing your hands & complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s. Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. Since they were starting to smell, however, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom of “carrying a bouquet” when getting married. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women, and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it . . . hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!" Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof, resulting in the idiom, "It's raining cats and dogs." There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed, therefore, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, leading folks to coin the phrase "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway, subsequently creating a "thresh hold." In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while, and thus the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the "upper crust." Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up, creating the custom of “holding a wake”. England is old and small and the local folks started running out of After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to WalMart. Unfortunately, like most men; I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter, from the local WalMart: Dear Mrs. Harris: Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion, in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to, ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Harris, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras: 1. June 15: He took 24 boxes of condoms and put them in other people's carts. 2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals. 3. July 7: He made ld tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (“the graveyard shift”) to listen fo a trail of ginger ale on the floor leading to the men's restroom. 4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money. We don't have a Code 3. 5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway. 6. August 14: Moved a, 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area. 7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged. 8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people nose. 10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were. 11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while, loudly humming the, 'Mission Impossible' theme. 12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his, 'Madonna Look' using different sizes of funnels. 13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!' 14. October 22: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed; 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!' And last, but not least: 15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile; then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive, so they would just leave me alone?' EMTs were called. 9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his the bell; thus, someone could be, “saved by the bell” or was considered a “dead ringer”. And that's the truth. Now, whoever said History was boring? 

Past Presidents How Many Can You Name?

Left to right: Doug Puddicombe, Jerry Sokalski, Larry LeGallais, Dave Clowes, Bob Axon, Naif Shalheen, Art Jones, Roy Vardy, Phil Thorne, Jerry Klages


The Lighter Side of Life

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Walmart. Unfortunately, like most men; I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter, from the local Walmart: Dear Mrs. Harris: Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion, in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to, ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Harris, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras: 

1. June 15: He took 24 boxes of condoms and put them in other people's carts. 

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

 3. July 7: He made a trail of ginger ale on the floor leading to the men's restroom. 

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money. We don't have a Code 3. 5.

 August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.

 6. August 14: Moved a, 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area. 

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged. 

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called. 

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose. 

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were. 

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while, loudly humming the, 'Mission Impossible' theme.

 12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his, 'Madonna Look' using different sizes of funnels. 

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!' 

14. October 22: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed; 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!' And last, but not least:

 15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile; then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.' 

See you again

Copyright © 2018 Woodstock Probus - All Rights Reserved.  This directory is COPYRIGHT, is only for use of Probus members and can NOT be used for business purposes or as a commercial mailing list. It should not be made available to anyone else to use for commercial purposes UNLESS PERMISSION IS GIVEN IN WRITING BY PROBUS CENTRE - CANADA, INC. PROBUS is a registered Trademark of PROBUS CENTRE - CANADA, INC.


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