Microsoft Word - March Probus newsletter 2016.docxNewsletter March 2016
Meetings are held on the second Monday of each month at 10 am The Uplands Golf Club – 3300 Cadboro Bay Road –
followed by Luncheon (optional) at the Club Restaurant. Annual membership dues are $50, normally payable in April of each year.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Renovations and Renewal. These are words we are all familiar with. The Golf Club has gone through this and the place is looking pretty good. New Carpets, New Chairs, New Paint. That may have cost us a little adjustment, first no meeting in January and then "Thanks to the Brysons" we had a good meeting at Goward House in February. That was such a little upheaval in our lives. Lately I have been thinking of the Syrian Refugees who have been driven from their homeland, survived in refugee camps for years waiting to start a new life with hope for their children and a chance to become citizens of another country. Some of you have gone through a war torn world and some of us have never felt that pain. At our Church we now have our Refugee Family and it is wonderful to see them on Sunday morning. The boys 17 and 10 are both in school and Mom and Dad are also in ESL classes. What a brave and courageous move for this family to make. We hope and pray that the ceasefire in Syria will hold and the Renewal of the Country can start, not only in the buildings, but in the hearts and minds of all humanity. Graham Howard, President.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS Mar. 14 The History of Bamberton By Maureen Alexander - a retired teacher,
research consultant and founder of the Bamberton Historical Society, the Mill Bay/Malahat Historical Society and the Seeds and Salt Theatre Co. Maureen is also the director the Mill Bay/Malahat Museum.
This presentation will include a 35 minute video: ‘One Man’s Dream, the History of the Malahat Highway This is the fascinating story of Major James McFarlane who singlehandedly surveyed the route and whose persistence got the road built. What makes the story so interesting is Major McFarlane was a real character, basically a drunken Irishman whose friends and family thought was crazy for attempting something everyone said was impossible. The film is a blend of actual archive material along with reenactments by dozens of actors. It features many island locations and takes the viewer from the early 1900s to the present. Apr. 11 Emergency Preparedness Bob Black
UPCOMING PROBUS EVENTS Tuesday, Mar. 22 – Tour of Times Colonist 11:00AM Lunch at the Glo Restaurant
MEMBERSHIP We currently have 79 members in our Probus Club. Set them a good example by remembering to wear your nametag to meetings and events so they can get to know us. This will also help those of us with short memories.
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WHO AM I? This part of the program lets us get to know more about the people in our Probus group and anyone who has yet to tell their story can let Margo Forrest know that they are available.
MARCH PROGRAM
Kathryn Bridge on Emily Carr in England Submitted by Maggie and Phil Foster Kathryn Bridge is a curator of Art at the Royal British Columbia museum with a particular interest in the Carr archives in the museum. While doing research for her PhD she was struck by the fact that there was very little written about Emily’s five years in England. What was written was clouded by Emily’s own recollections in her autobiographical book “Growing Pains.” The general opinion about her years in England was that they were a waste of time and had no influence on her mature work. Kathryn’s research unearthed evidence that changes that viewpoint.
Emily went to England in 1901 at the age of twenty-nine and boarded in a house on Bulstrode Street with several other younger ladies. With the aid of the
1901 census Kathryn identified most of the young ladies that shared digs with Emily. From there she managed to contact the families of some of those girls. One of the descendants of these girls had a sketchbook that Emily gave to her friend. In the boarding house each young lady was allotted a four-foot by four-foot living space where she was expected to keep her things, dress and have “private” time. This must have been very stressful as Emily grew up in a large house in Victoria. In spite of being pursued by a suitor from Victoria, whom she rejected, she decided to continue with her career as an artist. Her time in England proved not to have been as fruitful as she would have hoped and she was homesick. Kathryn also unearthed letters to the Cridge family in Victoria revealing that she had spent ten days in Paris.
While there, she spent several days in the Louvre and was enthralled by all the great art.
In 1901 she travelled to Cornwall with her favourite sister Alice to study with the renowned St. Ives Art Colony. She made a lot of friends in St. Ives with whom she corresponded for many years. Kathryn found letters from fellow students talking about Emily. She left St. Ives at time when her fellow artists were preparing to exhibit at the Royal Academy in London. Kathryn surmised that she left because she could not afford to frame her painting. Emily’s health spiraled downwards and she became seriously ill. Her sister Lizzie came to see her but seemed to be more interested in her own travels than her sister’s health. Eventually Emily went back to London to see a specialist. He diagnosed her as having a serious break down that only extended rest could help. The journey back to Canada would have been arduous and was not recommended. She found a sanatorium in Naylands, Suffolk and she stayed there for eighteen months. Kathryn speculated that several incidents and decisions had led to her break down. A major factor was that her only brother and favourite sibling had died, aged 23, during her first months in England. She did not return to her London digs to pick up her trunk and Kathryn suspects the trunk may have stayed there until 1941, when the house was destroyed in the Blitz. The contents of that trunk could have been another source of evidence of her time in London. Emily returned to Canada in 1904. Kathryn is the author of a book called “Emily Carr in England”.
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CLUB AFFAIRS Care & Concern: If you know of a member who may be ill please call Linda Murdoch at 250-592-9446. Newsletter: If you have an item that may be of interest to your fellow members, and you would like it printed in the newsletter, please forward your submission to the Editor by the third Friday of the month. mshields@islandnet.com Need a ride to meetings or other Probus events? Please make your needs known to a member of the Executive Committee or check the membership list for a member living near you. You never know how exciting that might be.
ROYAL OAK PROBUS EXECUTIVE 2015-16
President Graham Howard Vice President Sandra Bryson Past President Margot Forrest Secretary Lyn Geiger Treasurer Richard Bryson Social Vicky Attwell Membership Brian Shields Program Phil Foster Newsletter Maureen Shields Care & Concern Linda Murdoch Archives Linda Murdoch
MARCH How many definitions can you think of for March? Besides denoting the 3rd month of the year and deriving it's name from Mars the Roman god of war, this tricky little month has a lot of other definitions. - to move along steadily usually with a rhythmic stride
and in step with others - a musical composition that is usually in duple or
quadruple time with a strongly accentuated beat and that is designed or suitable to accompany marching
- an organized procession of demonstrators who are supporting or protesting something
- a border region or frontier, especially a district originally set up to defend a boundary — usually used in plural <the Welsh marches>
But do you know there is also a Medical Definition of march? March is the progression of epileptic activity through the motor centers of the cerebral cortex that is manifested in localized convulsions in first one and then an adjacent part of the body <the Jacksonian march of convulsions> And then of course there is The March Hare. The March Hare is a character most famous for
appearing in the tea party scene in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The main character, Alice, hypothesizes, "The March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won't be raving mad – at least not so mad as it was in March." "Mad as a March hare" is a
common British English phrase, both now and in Carroll's time, and appears in John Heywood's collection of proverbs published in 1546. It is reported in The Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner that this proverb is based on popular belief about hares' behaviour at the beginning of the long breeding season, which lasts from February to September in Britain. Early in the season, unreceptive females often use their forelegs to repel overenthusiastic males. It used to be incorrectly believed
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that these bouts were between males fighting for breeding supremacy. The March Hare, the Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse sit at a large banquet table outside the March Hare's house having a perpetual tea party. As the Hatter explains, this is because he offended Time, and so now it's always the same time of day for him. The Hare and Hatter are mad (insane) for specific reasons: hares and rabbits are said to go mad in the Spring because it's their mating season, and hatters were said to go mad because of their exposure to mercury, a dangerous chemical used in the manufacture of the hats they sold. The Dormouse doesn't seem particularly mad, but it does fall asleep almost every moment – even when it's telling a story. The participants in the Mad Tea Party are some of the most famous characters in the Alice books, perhaps because they are fond of puns and jokes, or perhaps simply because they're rude. And by contrasting their rudeness, clumsiness, and silliness with the usual propriety and organization of a normal Victorian tea party, Carroll makes us realize that rudeness might actually be better than stuffiness.
EASTER The Easter Bunny There's no story in the Bible about a long-eared, cotton- tailed creature known as the Easter Bunny. Neither is there a passage about young children painting eggs or hunting for baskets overflowing with scrumptious Easter goodies.
And real rabbits certainly don't lay eggs. Why are these traditions so ingrained in Easter Sunday? And what do they have to do with the resurrection of Jesus? Well, to be frank, nothing.
Bunnies, eggs, Easter gifts and fluffy, yellow chicks in gardening hats all stem from pagan roots. These tropes were incorporated into the celebration of Easter separately from the Christian tradition of honouring the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
The first Easter Bunny legend was documented in the 1500s. By 1680, the first story about a rabbit laying eggs and hiding them in a garden was published. These legends were brought to the United States in the 1700s, when German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania Dutch country. The tradition of making nests for the rabbit to lay its eggs in soon followed. Eventually, nests became decorated baskets and colorful eggs were swapped for candy, treats and other small gifts. Easter Bilby It is said that Australians are the largest consumers of Easter eggs in the world, but as the Easter bunny is known to have a bad history of destroying the vegetable crops, the eggs are strangely provided by the Easter Bilby (a desert-dwelling marsupial that is endangered in Australia.)
Palm Leaves – Ethiopia Ethiopian Easter festival – also known as Fassika – is a special holiday celebrated by a noble feast featuring a large loaf of sourdough bread called “Dabo”. Generosity plays a fundamental role of the Easter holiday in Ethiopia. Visitors are greeted with a slice of “Dabo” as a means of honoring the crucifixion of Christ. Additionally, the Ethiopians wear white clothing exemplifying purity and display headbands created from palm leaves symbolizing the actual palm leaves during Jesus’ passage before crucifixion.” Fortune-Telling Eggs Easter eggs play an important role in the Easter celebration in Jamaica, Barbados, and other islands, but you won't find locals hiding eggs on the beach. Rather, tradition holds that an egg white placed in a container of water on Holy Thursday will form a pattern of coagulated egg white by Good Friday that can be used to predict the future.
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Blood of Christ – Greece The Greeks dye the Easter eggs all in one color: RED (as a symbol for Jesus’ blood). The eggs are used in making Easter bread.
Easter tree in Germany A decorated tree with more than 9000 Easter eggs in Saalfeld, eastern Germany. Though this tradition could remind us of the pagan ideas of sacrificing animals on trees, the egg is connected to the ideas of rebirth and resurrection associated with Easter.
Decorating wells in Switzerland The Frankonian Swiss have an old Easter tradition of decorating wells in order to celebrate the gift of water: life. They decorate wells with beautifully painted eggs and spring flowers.
Horse Parade in Southern Germany
Dressed in historical costumes local residents ride through all sorts of weather on Easter Monday. The procession, known as the Georgiritt, sees participants head to a local church to be blessed. The Bobolees of Trinidad In Trinidad, an effigy of Judas Iscariot called a Bobolee is constructed out of old rags and then left out to be beaten by local residents as symbolic punishment for Judas' betrayal of Christ. Cries of "Beat de Bobolee!" rise from the crowd as the figure is merrily torn apart. Sometimes, the Bobolee is fashioned to look like unpopular contemporary politicians or other public figures, giving the tradition a more secular and political spin. In recent years, the word bobolee has been used in the Trini patois to mean a poor sap who is easily taken advantage of. Rara in Haiti Haiti's Holy Week activities include loud and colorful processions on Good Friday, highlighted by bands playing 'rara' music on bamboo trumpets, maracas, drums, even coffee cans. As is typical in Haiti, Easter is a mix of Catholic and Voodoo traditions: voodoo believers make their annual pilgrimage to the Haitian village of Souvenance to express devotion to the African spirits, or loas, that form the foundation of the religion.
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World's Largest Easter Egg This Pysanka or Ukrainian Easter Egg is in Vegreville, Alberta. It symbolizes the harmony, vitality and culture of the community and is dedicated as a tribute to the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who brought peace and security to the largest multi-cultural settlement in all of Canada. The Pysanka is really an immense jigsaw puzzle containing 524 star patterns, 2,208 equilateral triangles, 3,512 visible facets, 6,978 nuts and bolts, and 177 internal struts. It is recognized around the world as not only a unique artistic masterpiece but also an achievement of nine mathematical, architectural and engineering firsts. The design represents the first computer modeling of an egg. It measures 25.7 feet long, 18 feet wide, and stands 31 feet high. The 2,000 pound aluminum skin is attached to
the central mast at a 30-degree angle with 177 turnbuckle struts. Cessco International Ltd. Edmonton, fabricated the massive internal structure which weighs 3,000 pounds. The Pysanka rests on a 27,000 pound base of concrete and steel and turns in the wind like a weathervane. It is one of the premier tourist attractions on the Yellowhead Highway and is known worldwide. Coco-Nutters of Bacup The Britannia Coco-nut Dancers or Nutters are a troupe of Lancastrian clog dancers who perform every Easter in Bacup, dancing 11 km. across the town. There are eight dancers and a whipper-in, who controls the proceedings. Some say the custom was brought to the area by Moors who settled in Cornwall in the 17th century, became miners and then moved to work in quarries in Lancashire. Similar dances are performed in Provence – the Danse des Coco.
Their name refers to the wooden nuts worn at their knees, waists and wrists, which are made from the tops of bobbins.
These are taped together like castanets as a percussive accompaniment to the dance, the nuts on the hands striking the nuts on the waist or knees in an intricate and dextrous rhythm. They wear white turbans with blue plumes, dark jerseys and trews, a white baldric, red and white skirts, white hose and black clogs. Their faces are blackened. This is popularly explained as either due to the origins of the dance in the mining community, a reference to the dancers' ancient origin as Barbary pirates or as a disguise to ward off evil spirits. RAMBLING THOUGHTS ABOUT AGING: I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is when you still have something on the ball but you are just too tired to bounce it. I found this timely, because today I was in a store that sells sunglasses, and only sunglasses. A young lady walks over to me and asks, "What brings you in today?" I looked at her and said, “I'm interested in buying a refrigerator.” She didn't quite know how to respond. Am I getting to be that age? Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. Application blanks always ask who is to be called in case of an emergency. I think you should write, 'An ambulance.' Some people try to turn back their "odometers." Not me. I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved. You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks. I thought about making a fitness movie for folks my age and call it 'Pumping Rust'.
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I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older. Then it dawned on me. They were cramming for their finals. As for me, I'm just hoping God grades on the curve. Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth. HOW IS NORMA? A sweet grandmother telephoned St. Joseph's Hospital. She timidly asked, "Is it possible to speak to someone who can tell me how a patient is doing? The operator said, "I'll be glad to help, dear. What's the name and room number of the patient?" The grandmother in her weak, tremulous voice said, "Norma Findlay, Room 302." The operator replied, "Let me put you on hold while I check with the nurse's station for that room. After a few minutes, the operator returned to the phone and said, "I have good news. Her nurse just told me that Norma is doing well. Her blood pressure is fine, her blood work just came back normal, and her physician, Dr. Cohen, has scheduled her to be discharged tomorrow.”
The grandmother said, "Thank you. That's wonderful. I was so worried. God bless you for the good news.” The operator replied, "You're more than welcome. Is Norma your daughter?" The grandmother said, "No, I'm Norma Findlay in Room 302. No one tells me anything."
AND GOD LOOKED DOWN... Most seniors never get enough exercise. In His wisdom God decreed that seniors become forgetful so they would have to search for their glasses, keys, and other things thus doing more walking. And God looked down and saw that it was good. Then God saw there was another need. In His wisdom He made seniors lose co-ordination so they would drop things requiring them to bend, reach, & stretch. And God looked down and saw that it was good.
Then God considered the function of bladders and decided seniors would have additional calls of nature requiring more trips to the bathroom, thus providing more exercise. God looked down and saw that it was good. So if you find as you age, you are getting up and down more, remember its God's will. It is all in your best interest even though you mutter under your breath. RAIN