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January

We were fortunate to have Barry Pareezar stepped in at the last minute to present to our members. Barry spoke about incidents which occurred while he was serving in the Australian Navy. In particular, the collision between the HMAS Melbourne and the HMAS Voyager and how this could have happened. Barry has written and self-published 4 books. He spoke briefly about having books published and shared some tips on how to go about it.
 

February

Once again Cheryl Cartwright stepped in at the last minute and entertained us with amusing anecdotes that happen at Sydney Airport where she is a volunteer assisting passengers. A couple of funny incidents were a family who tried to get their dead father on a plane and someone who did not realise the plane had turned back during a flight and found himself in the wrong city.
   April 

Johnny Pace on his last visit entertained us with a talk on using humour to relieve stress and stay young. This month he spoke to our club about his international career and the people he had met. He named the talk ‘Stars I have Dimmed’. 
   May

Jim Haynes is a professional entertainer, broadcaster, song writer, historian and author. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 2016 for his service to the performing arts.  He is the current Australiana expert on 2GB. Jim’s presentation titled ‘Australia’s most Unbelievable True Stories’ was a very entertaining take on our history.
  June

Hilary Black, from the Westmead Institute for Medical Research, spoke about the ground-breaking medical research that is being undertaken at the institute. In researching and developing new and effective treatments, cures and preventions for some of the world’s leading health issues, such as cancer, heart disease, mental illness, and diabetes, WIMR also aims to find the most cost-effective way to offer these treatments to the public. 

 Hilary also looked at key eye health issues for seniors today including macular degeneration and glaucoma.
 

July

Sandra Sargent from Australian Seniors, Castle Hill, spoke on their range of insurance plans that help to protect our lifestyle, family and belongings. These included life, home, car, funeral, landlord and pet insurance.
  August

Lyndall Mullin has worked in caring professions both in Australia and the USA.  She has now been at Carelight in Northmead, NSW for 18months. CareFlight is an Australian aeromedical charity with a mission to save lives, speed recovery and serve the community.

It is a world leader in helicopter rapid response. The most advanced helicopters, turbo-prop aeroplanes and jet aircraft are used to transfer patients from accident scenes and between hospitals.

Lyndall spoke about the essential training, rescue and medical work that is undertaken by the medical staff and aircraft crew members some of whom volunteer their time. Top hospital-standard medical assistance is given to patients who are in critical care and life-threatening situations due to accidents, natural disasters or in isolated or difficult-to-get-at places.

 Careflight is a not-for-profit organisation and is able to continue this important work because of generous donations from the public and private industry and government grants.
  September

Dr Ross Brown, from Coonara Cherrybrook Probus Club, has had a significant contribution to the testing of doping in elite athletes. One of his novel tests contributed to the detection of systemic doping amongst cyclists and other endurance athletes. Ross is one of a few Australians to give evidence at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Since retiring he has been asked to assess many international anti-doping laboratories including Doha (World Cup soccer) and Tokyo (Olympics).

“Blood Doping in Elite Athletes Talk” - Athletes dope to improve their performance. There are 2 basic types of doping: drugs like steroids to build strength and blood boosting for endurance. For many years, antidoping laboratories only tested for drugs that built up strength – like steroids. This all changed at the Sydney Olympics. Then at the Athens Olympics a new test was introduced which was invented by Ross Brown and his team at RPAH in Sydney. In this talk Ross told of the history of blood doping and then his personal


 

October

Mick Dunne from Mercy Ships spoke about the valuable work undertaken by the volunteerteams that assist communities in Third World countries in health and surgery, palliativecare, training of medical students and construction and development of vital services.

Mick served onboard the Africa Mercy with his family from 2013 to 2019. Previously both heand his wife had served in the Australian Navy, Mick for 23 years as a Marine Engineer andTammy as a Logistics Officer for 15 years. During their time onboard they served in Congo,Madagascar, Benin, Cameroon, Guinea and Senegal. They had 3 sons, who were 5, 8 andand 11 years old when they started their service onboard and 12, 15 and 18 when theycompleted their service. Mick has since returned as a short-term volunteer onboard theAfrica Mercy in May 2022 for 8 weeks and the new Mercy Ship, the Global Mercy in July2022 for a week. He also has an ongoing role as a remote Technical Support Officer for theGlobal Mercy.
 

November

Ann Brown, Knightsbridge-Glenhaven Probus member shared with us her life in South Africaand Mozambique where she and her husband undertook Christian missionary work. Annand her family were very active in the church, in providing health knowledge and care andeducating both children and adults. Her photographs of this time beautifully complemented her talk.

One amazing woman with a remarkable and productive life indeed!
 

December

David Walters, a Knightsbridge-Glenhaven Probus member, spoke at our Christmas meetingon his career in correctional services.

David was the Senior Correctional Officer of NSW Corrections for 30 years. He has aUniversity Degree in Correctional Administration from Lismore University and has worked atLong Bay, Silverwater, Parramatta, Parklea, Mullawa Women’s, John Morony at Windsorand at the Parramatta Courts.

David’s work was mainly with male inmates, however sometimes he worked with youngoffenders and female inmates. He told us about infamous criminals with whom he hadworked, manners in which contraband items were smuggled in and how weapons werefashioned out of everyday items.

Thank you, David, for your interesting presentation.