Judge offers behind the scenes look at the Ontario court system Art Currie introduced guest speaker Robert Reid, Judge of the Superior Court of Justice for the Central South Region of Ontario. Judge Reid, a former St. Catharines lawyer who was appointed to the Superior Court in 2011, gave an interesting, informative and sometimes humorous talk about the courts and […]

Joe Vanderkooi presented a brief talk on memories of people he and his friend Noel encountered during a cross Canada bicycle trip in the early 1980’s. Riding from British Columbia, Joe said the mountain scenery was spectacular, but it was the people that made the trip so memorable. He talked about riding through a grasshopper infestation that literally coated the […]

Speakers offer tips on dealing with stress and anxiety Al Higgins introduced our online speakers, Jill Dennison and Sarah Orgra, mental health promotion and resilience facilitators from the Canadian Mental Health Association in Hamilton, who talked about the timely subject of “managing stress and anxiety during COVID-19. Jill, using a power point presentation, detailed definitions of stress and covered 10 […]

Dave Merritt delivers message that words can indeed hurt Jim Stangier introduced PROBUS club member Dave Merritt who in the past served as a leader-ship speaker for business and volunteer groups and was former director of the Florida Mental Health Association. Dave gave a very insightful talk entitled “Words Can Hurt” and illustrated his presentation with his own cartoon-style drawings. […]

Rail history captured by famed photographers Russ Milland, filling in as a last-minute speaker, offered a short visual experience he titled the “Princes of Darkness” featuring photos of trains taken at night. He started off with a series of photos captured by American photographer O. Winston Link who lived from 1914 to 2001. Link, who had been a commercial photographer […]

Antique waterfowl decoy collecting is big business Jim Stangier introduced club member Ron Casselman who presented an illustrated talk about collecting handmade waterfowl decoys. Ron, who admitted that he was never a hunter, said he got his first decoy back in 1977. He went on to describe some of the characteristics, history and investment value of decoys. The history of […]

Dan Plunkett introduced guest speaker Juliet Dunn as an excellent singer, musician, organizer, and a good friend. Juliet, along with husband Peter Shea, was the founder of the TD Niagara Jazz Festival which has experienced amazing growth during its relatively brief history but is facing new challenges now in the light of the COVID-19 epidemic. The festival was honoured as […]

Doctoral study exams role of comics in learning Dan Plunkett introduced guest speaker Zachary Rondinelli, a Niagara Falls native, who is a PhD student in Educational Studies at Brock University. Zach’s presentation and his research involves “Documenting Transactional Experiences with the Little Nemo comic strips.” Zach, who earned his master’s degree at Brock but also studied at Western and spent […]

Online newspaper offers positive take on Niagara Duncan McLaren introduced guest speaker Kevin Vallier the founder and editor in chief of The Niagara Independent, an online newspaper which is distributed to subscribers twice a week. Kevin, a native of Sarnia who graduated from Brock University in Human Relations, spent about 20 years in public relations working with the St. Catharines […]

Group aims to reduce work, stress of moving for seniors The owner of ‘Seniors on the Move’ joined our online meeting via telephone to talk about the services her company provides and to offer some tips for decluttering our lives. She retired after spending 20 years with the Niagara Regional Police, got the inspiration for her new career after reading […]

Veteran of Bosnian conflict continues battle with PTSD Duncan McLaren introduced guest speaker Master Corporal (Ret’d) Steve Mercer who joined the Canadian Forces in September of 1990. Steve joined his regiment in April of 1991 after completing basic training. He was trained as an armoured vehicle driver with B squadron of Royal Canadian Dragoons and was part of an 850-person […]

Complex details in collision reconstruction unveiled Frank Parkhouse introduced guest speaker Detective Sergeant Matthew Whiteley, officer in charge of the collision reconstruction unit for Niagara Regional Police. Detective Whitely gave an interesting talk on the science of investigations of traffic incidents. The collision reconstruction unit investigates all fatal and life-threatening injury accidents, all departmental collisions, and all hit-and-run incidents The […]