The PROBUS Club of Cambridge is for retired or semi-retired men with professional or business background and other men who have held some measure of responsibility or achievement in any field of worthy endeavour.

PROBUS Clubs are not service organizations and do not engage in fundraising, sectarian or political activities. They exist purely for the benefit and interest of the members. PROBUS Clubs are non-profit and are organized and managed by member volunteers. The first PROBUS Club in Cambridge, and indeed in Canada, was a men's group formed in 1987. Today there are also two women's clubs in the community.

The main activity of our club is a monthly meeting which usually features a speaker on a subject of general interest or special value to retired folks. The club organizes group outings to theatre and sporting events and attractions of local interest. We can also facilitate groups in participating in such things as bridge, hiking, golf, investment and financial planning, etc.

Members find the main benefit of belonging to a PROBUS Club is the interaction with like-minded individuals outside their immediate family and friends. This connection helps fill the void left by no longer having daily contact with associates in their workplaces.

A nominal annual membership fee covers the monthly meetings. Members pay for other activities on a participation basis.

Our members come from a wide variety of backgrounds but share a desire to remain mentally stimulated and socially involved. Some are long-time Cambridge residents. Some who are relatively new to our city have found Probus an excellent way to make new friends.

Club History

The first non-sectarian PROBUS Club was organized in 1966 by the Rotary Club of Caterham, England. The club's aim was to allow retired professional and business men to continue to meet for relaxed fellowship. Today there are PROBUS Clubs in most parts of the world.

The beginning of PROBUS in Canada started with a visit by Rotary Past District Governor John Morris of Alliston, Ontario to the Galt (Cambridge) Rotary Club in January 1987. Bert Grapes was at that meeting and had also learned a great deal about PROBUS during a recent trip to New Zealand.

At the next monthly meeting of the Cambridge Rotary Club a decision was made to initiate the formation of a Probus Club. A "Galt PROBUS Committee" was formed to canvass those citizens in Cambridge who might be interested in forming a club. The Committee consisted of Bert Boone, Bert Grapes, Hank Nykamp, Norm Steele, Martin Stinton, Peter Graham and Herb Ward.

An information letter was mailed February 23, 1987 to many local business and professional men along with an invitation to meet with the committee. On March 17, 1987 approximately 50 men met and enthusiastically organized a PROBUS Club Steering Committee. As a result 89 men then met on April 29, 1987 and were elected to the first PROBUS Club in North America, with Bert Klinkhammer as president.