Upcoming Meetings

  • Monthly Meeting with Chief Mark Crowell

    • January 31, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Chief Mark Crowell has been a member of the Waterloo Regional Police Service since 2001 and he is the Service’s 7th Chief of Police.

    In our meeting, Chief Mark will be engaging in a question and answer conversation with one of  our members, retired lawyer Tom LeBrun.

    Mark is a member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), the Victims of Crime Committee and the CACP Ethics Committee.

    He holds a Master of Arts degree and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, a PROBUS member will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

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  • Monthly Meeting with David Connolly

    • February 28, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    David is the Associate Artistic Director of Drayton Entertainment, Director of Education for their Youth Academy and Co-Chair of their EDI Committee. He is also an active Disability and Inclusion Advocate who is deeply committed to changing the statistic of being the only male amputee to have performed on Broadway.

    As an Educator, David has been an Adjunct Professor and Advisor to the Musical Theatre Performance Programs at Sheridan College, Randolph College, St Lawrence College, VanderCook College and the Hopkins Centre for the Arts at Dartmouth College. He has happily collaborated with artists including Katy Perry, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, Sarah Jessica Parker, kd lang, Patti LaBelle, Sarah Brightman and many others.

    For Drayton Entertainment, David has helmed productions including The Prom, Kinky Boots, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Mamma Mia!, Newsies, Annie, Singing In The Rain and their beloved Pantos. David is a recipient of The Ontario Premier’s Award of Excellence and speaker for the EDI Committee of the International Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance. For the past four years, David has curated and moderated a disability inclusion panel at BroadwayCon in New York City to help develop actionable steps to improve disabled representation onstage, and has proudly served as a peer assessor for The Canada Council for the Arts.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, a PROBUS member will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

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  • Monthly Meeting with Patrick Gaskin

    • March 27, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Patrick Gaskin is President and CEO of the Cambridge Memorial Hospital.

    Cambridge Memorial Hospital is our vibrant full service, acute care hospital committed to providing exceptional health care to the communities of Cambridge, North Dumfries and the region of Waterloo with a mission to "create healthier communities, together." The hospital employs over 1,500 staff, 265 physicians and over 300 volunteers.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, a PROBUS member will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

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  • Monthly Meeting with Gary Smith

    • April 24, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Discover a diplomacy mission like no other in Ice War Diplomat, the behind-the-scenes story of the historic 1972 Summit Series. Amid the tension of the Cold War, caught between capitalism and communism, Canada and the Soviet Union, young Canadian diplomat Gary J. Smith must navigate the rink, melting the ice between two nations skating a dangerous path.

    On his first overseas assignment, Smith is tasked with finding common ground and building friendships between the world’s two largest countries. Once in Moscow, he opts for sports diplomacy, throwing off his embassy black tie and donning the blue-and-white sweater of the Moscow Maple Leafs.

    Trusted by each side with unparalleled access to officials, coaches and players on both teams, Smith witnesses this unique and epic hockey series that has come to transcend time, becoming a symbol of the unity and clarity that sports can offer. The 1972 Canadian-Soviet Hockey Series will go down in history as a pivotal political event, changing the course of two nations and the world of hockey—the fascinating story in these pages will appeal to history and sports fans alike.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, a PROBUS member will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

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  • Monthly Meeting with Eric Avner

    • May 29, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Eric Avner is the President and CEO of  the Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF).

    Some info about WRCF . . .

    We collaborate with partners to create sustainable, equitable and thriving communities.

    We connect regionally and locally, working with three cities and four townships – to include the people and places across our region. Together, we develop forward-thinking innovative solutions and seize opportunities to meet current and future needs of our community.

    We make philanthropy easy for individuals and companies to support organizations and issues they care about. WRCF is focused on Granting, Impact Investing and Convening to make measurable and sustainable impacts.

    Gifts are directed to WRCF's endowed funds that drive positive change through grants with the income generated being distributed in partnership with Fundholders to support a wide range of charitable causes within our community. A portion of the endowed funds are also used for impact investments that deliver both financial returns as well as positive social or environmental outcomes.

    As a leading community-building organization, we also work to amplify voices and issues of importance by convening conversations and sharing information, while approaching our work with an equity mindset.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, a PROBUS member will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

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  • Monthly Meeting with Mike Drak

    • June 26, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Mike Drak is a thirty-eight-year veteran of the financial services industry.

    He started his own Victory Lap in 2014 and is currently working with his wife an investment advisor helping her clients design their own fulfilling retirement lifestyles.

    Mike is a best-selling author, award winning blogger, public speaker and retirement lifestyle designer. His retirement blog articles can be found at Booming Encore..

    His best seller “Victory Lap Retirement” was based on the realization that traditional full stop retirement doesn’t work for most people anymore due to increasing longevity. The book presents a new life model better suited to today’s reality.

    His follow up book “Retirement Heaven or Hell: Which Will You Choose?” shares some of Mike’s personal experiences in retirement and highlights how people can design and transition to their own unique retirement lifestyle. This book also outlines the valuable retirement lessons learned from the pandemic and introduces nine retirement principles that can support creating a long, healthy and fulfilling life.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, a PROBUS member will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

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  • Monthly Meeting with Kathy Somers

    • July 31, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Kathy Somers will speak about "Tips for Better Sleep".

    Kathy runs the Stress Management and High Performance Clinic at the University of Guelph. 

    She is a registered Kinesiologist who is board certified in biofeedback (Biofeedback Certification International Alliance) and certified in Stress Management Education.

    Since 1983 Kathy has taught relaxation and stress management skills to groups and individuals. She currently provides the University of Guelph with programs in Relaxation & Stress Management Skills, Better Sleep, Decreasing Headaches, STOP Worrying!,

    Does it take a long time to fall asleep? Mid-night awakenings? Sleep is not refreshing?

    Kathy will share the most effective drug-free strategies to promote better, restful sleep. (Yes, it's true that long term use of sleeping pills changes your sleep structure and generates insomnia!)

    Topics covered include:
    - the 3 keys to decreasing insomnia
    - what robs us of energizing sleep
    - how to fall asleep (or back to sleep) more easily
    - techniques that settle down the busy brain making it easier to sleep.

    PERSONAL VIGNETTE: Also in this meeting, a PROBUS member will be delivering his personal vignette.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

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  • Monthly Meeting with Mayor Jan Liggett

    • September 25, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett will be our guest and engage in a conversation about the city and her experiences as mayor.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

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  • Monthly Meeting with Barbara Dickson

    • October 30, 2024
    • 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • Portuguese Club, 870 Townline Rd, Cambridge, ON

    Barbara Dickson will speak to us about:

    Canada’s Bomb Girls: Trading Aprons for Ammo

    The vast majority of people who live in Ontario are unaware that an extensive abandoned tunnel system runs under the city of Toronto.

    During the Second World War, the Canadian government built a sprawling top secret munitions plant outside the city limits in the rural community of Scarborough.

    The plant, called GECO — pronounced Gee-ko — comprised 346 acres, over four kilometers of tunnels, and 172 buildings (built in seven months.)

    Women from Toronto and across Canada — some from as far away as the Maritimes and British Columbia — moved to Toronto to work at the plant eager to do their “bit” for King and Country.

    Many women also moved to Pickering, Ontario to work at the D.I.L. shell-filling plant. With countless thousands fighting overseas, countless more men and women worked tirelessly in Canadian war plants, producing everything from planes and tanks to ammo and bandages.

    GECO personnel often referred to their workers as the “Fourth Arm of the Service” or the “Girls behind the Guns” and were eager to help end the war quickly to bring their menfolk home.

    LUNCH BUNCH: After the meeting, all members are invited to have lunch (at their own cost) at a local restaurant. A great way to get to know your fellow members.

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