PROBUS CLUB OF BRACEBRIDGE
www.probusbracebridge.ca
P.O. Box 55, Bracebridge, ON P1L 1T5
Club No. 69, Founded September 11, 1996
Volume XIX
May 6th, 2015
Issue 8
TODAY
LAST MONTH
Greeters:
Joan Ball and
Lois Ratchford
O Canada:
Mary Lou Chuter
Attendance:
85 members but no guests
Armchair Travel – Help Wanted
Welcome:
Members and Guests
President’s Remarks:
Ken Geller
Reports:
Frances Balodis, Social Committee
Donna Sale, Special Events
Jane Craig, Nominations Committee
Bio:
Mary Lou Chuter’s Bell Cruise/Choir
COFFEE BREAK
Speaker:
Cathryn Rodney and
Arlie Freer
Plans for Bracebridge Public Library
COMING EVENTS
June Bio:
Peter Rickard
June Speaker:
Fleur-Ange Lamothe
Walking from Montreal to Deerfield:
By the Second Day, the First Day
Seemed Like a Dream
In April, our Care Bear enjoyed another
month of leisure, poking about looking for
the first signs of Spring. We were all
healthy.
Worldwide PROBUS info at www.probus.org
George and Mary Moroz have ably managed our
monthly Armchair Travel event for several years,
and have asked to be replaced. It’s a popular
event. We need two people to step up and run it.
Free training to the right applicants!
Bio:
Linda Acton-Riddle
Linda built her bio around the succession of
names she has worn
during her life. She
began in Kirkland
Lake as Linda, the
middle of five
siblings. Her Dad
had a plumbing
company, and also
taught skiing at the
school and to adults.
Everyone in her
family learned to ski,
several competed at
the provincial level,
and the tradition continued and culminated when a
niece competed in the Olympics in Turin, and
again in Whistler. Linda? Not so much; she halffroze her face early on and was satisfied to
compete only locally.
During her teen years, she became Tawny Owl to
a group of Brownies, and when she acted the lead
in Oliver in high school, she briefly became
(Continued on page 3)
page 1
Probus Club of Bracebridge
2015
May
Sign Up
Date
Wed.6
th
Location
Probus
Rotary Centre for Youth
Weekly
Mondays
Fabric
Engineering
Phone for location.
Weekly
Friday
Outdoors
Thurs.7
Mon.11
Investment
Club
Armchair
Travel
th
th
th
Wed.13
Issues
th
Thurs.14
Wed. 20
th
Tues. 26
th
Cooking
Group 1
th
Book Club
th
Happy
Bookers
Thurs.28
Fri.29
Food for
thought
Dining Out
Thurs.28
Yes
Event
th
Social
Time
Contact
10am
Nancy Telfer
646-9766
Marianne
Phone for information.
10am
Meeuwisse
645-6549
RBC Investments lower level beside the old
Alan Clark
9:30am
Zellers Store. Park in Zellers lot.
646-9516
Vibrant Vietnam presented by Sally Mills @ St.
George Moroz
2 – 4pm
Thomas Church, BB
646-0777
Who Really Wrote the Bible continued
Nancy Thompson
10am
@Nipissing University, BB
645-4639
Frances & Gunars
Spring Sprouts
5:30pm
Balodis 769-3449
5:30pm social Bruce Danard
Old Station, choice of menu, all inclusive.
6pm dinner
645-2188
Erika & George
Mexican
Harris 684-9199
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel
Jane Craig
10am
Joyce
687-3942
Susan Shaw
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
10am
385-3713
Stratford: Taming of the Shrew. Carpool to the
Festival Inn. Dinner @ continental breakfast,tour
Joanne Krawczyk
of costumes and props, lunch, $212. Carpool
766-9026
gas contribution.
10am
June
Sign Up
Date
rd
Event
Location
Time
Wed. 3
Probus
Rotary Centre for Youth
Weekly
Mondays
Fabric
Engineers
Phone for location
Weekly
Fridays
Outdoors
Phone for location
10am
th
Investment
Club
RBC Investments lower level beside the old
Zellers Store. Park in Zellers lot.
9:30am
th
Issues
TBD @Nipissing University, BB
10am
Social
Luncheon Cruise on Winona II followed by
11:30am to
Gravenhurst Opera House: Fly me to the moon.
5pm
$80
Thurs. 4
Wed. 10
Tues. 23
rd
10am
10am
Thurs. 25
th
Book Club
Ransom by David Malouf
10am
Thurs. 25
th
Happy
Bookers
33 Artists in 3 Acts by Sarah Thornton
10am
Worldwide PROBUS info at www.probus.org
Contact
Nancy Telfer
646-9766
Marianne
Meeuwisse
645-6549
Alan Clark
646-9516
Nancy Thompson
645-4639
Tom Krawczyk
766-9026
Sheila MacIver
259-2001
Susan Shaw
385-3713
page 2
(continued from page 1)
Nancy to some in the community!
daughters across Canada and the US and as far as
Australia and New Zealand.
Linda became Miss Acton when she entered
Teachers College in North Bay, and that name
stuck through a teaching career in which she
taught every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 8,
as well as serving as Vice Principal in her last few
years. Just before entering Teachers College,
Linda met Gordon Riddle at church. The family
was none too sure of this Air Force member –
they were generally known to be heavy drinkers.
But Gordon was different – he was a farm boy
from Southern Ontario, and, besides, he repaired
their television. Her family fell in love with
Gordon even before Linda did, but when she did,
she entered her Darling phase.
Linda retired from teaching in 2000, and took up
hand-bells. She also cared for her aging mother
for some time. Then, in 2004, Gordon and Linda
felt called to Bracebridge, where Gordon joined a
group practice, and suddenly, Linda was Mrs
Riddle. She knew she had to do something about
that! Habitat for Humanity provided that
something. Linda joined the Board, became
President, and completes her term on the Board
this year. She saw Habitat Muskoka develop the
ReStore enterprise, and has now overseen its
merger with five other affiliates - Midland,
Orillia, North Bay, and Sudbury as well as the
Parry Sound Chapter to form Habitat for
Humanity Ontario Gateway North. She is full of
admiration for the volunteers and employees that
make Habitat what it is, and is Linda ActonRiddle again.
By the time they were married, Miss Acton was
teaching and Gordon had moved from Air Force
to student life at Ottawa University. Female
teachers were now earning on the same pay scale
as men, but they had to wear skirts, even in the
depth of winter, outside, during recess duty. Miss
Acton led a revolt one winter, last day of classes
before Christmas – the female teachers all came to
work in stylish pant suits and never looked back.
Gordon completed his B.Sc. and enrolled in
Medicine. Linda commenced her first degree
part-time. They graduated together, he with his
medical degree and Linda Acton-Riddle with her
BA. Gordon announced they would list their
phone under her name, so his patients would not
bother him at home. Thus began a period living
in Orleans (a fast-growing town east of Ottawa)
with a new puppy, and a new house in a new
subdivision with mud everywhere because the sod
was not yet laid. Linda had bought the house a
year earlier, signing her own name with no male
co-signer. Another first!
A few years later, they started a family; Linda
switched to part-time, and became Mom. They
also became more actively involved in their
church, where Linda served as Superintendent of
the largest United Church Sunday School in
Ontario (550 children, fortunately not all present
at one time). School breaks became time for
family visits at lake or ski hill with Actons and
picnics with Riddles, as well as travel with their
Worldwide PROBUS info at www.probus.org
Linda had difficulty finishing her story. Gordon’s
loss is still very present. But she wanted to point
us to a story, Significant Cardinal Visit, at
http://thecardinalexperience.com/cardinalstories/index.php and close with a simple
quotation:
Life ends when you stop dreaming
Hope ends when you stop believing
Love ends when you stop caring
And friendship ends when you stop sharing.
Reported by Peter Sale
Speaker:
Terry Russell
Our speaker, Dr. Terry
Russell, has had a
lifelong interest in
theatre history, and
since his retirement
from his university
career, has devoted
himself to looking at
how actresses of the
London stage were
treated in Edwardian
times. His website,
http://drurylanechronicles.neocities.org provides
access to some of the material he has uncovered.
page 3
Terry regaled us with a sometimes salacious series
of anecdotes concerning actresses of the
Edwardian stage, illustrated with sometimes
savage cartoons of the actresses and the important
gentry who regularly controlled their lives.
Georgian England extends just over 100 years
from the start of the reign of George I in 1714 to
the end of that of William IV in 1837. It was
followed by the Victorian age, 1837 to 1901, but I
expect all members of the Probus Club of
Bracebridge know those details of British history.
In fact, Terry wandered outside Georgian times
because the first anecdote he told referred to
Charles II (1600-1685), known as the King of
Tarts, a lover of ladies, showbiz, and actresses.
He abolished the rule against women on the stage,
and Nell Gwyn (1651-1687), a famous actress of
that time, became the premier mistress to Charles
II – not his wife, not his only mistress, his premier
mistress, who had two of his children, one of
whom became a Duke.
Terry continued in this fashion while making the
general point that it was a very tough life being an
actress, and that some individuals became very
proficient at extracting economic and social
benefits, and perhaps some love, from the
influential men who assumed they had the right to
any actress they favored. Thus we heard of Mrs
Siddons, Mrs Dora Jordan, Madame Vestris, each
of which gained fame and success on the Drury
Lane stage, by showing a bit of leg when acting
male parts (could not show leg in a female part),
and by playing one suitor off against another.
And we heard about famous libertines such as
George IV who, as Prince of Wales, was quite the
theatre-goer, spending as much time in actresses’
dressing rooms as out front watching the play. Or
William IV, who as Duke of Clarence was
infatuated by “the delicious Dora Jordan”, of
whom he is reported to have said, “those lips were
made for kissing”. William and Dora were
together for 20 years (10 children, 2 miscarriages
– strange how this relationship was described as
Dora accepting William’s “protection”!)
Eventually, William was forced to dump Mrs.
Jordan and marry a German princess. But when
he became King, he commissioned a stature of
Worldwide PROBUS info at www.probus.org
Dora (that rather too obviously resembled the
Pieta). The statue was refused by Westminster
Abby and several other churches, languished in
the artist’s studio for 10 years, but found its way
to a tiny chapel in Yorkshire (one of Dora’s sons
was the priest), and eventually ended up as a
garden ornament before Queen Victoria became
“interested” in it, and acquired it. It remained
hidden away until Elizabeth II installed it in
Buckingham Palace in 1980. Even the statues of
these actresses had a tough time making their way
in the world.
Reported by Peter Sale
New Member – Patrice McKenzie
Patrice McKenzie was inducted as a new member
at our April meeting.
In fact, she has been
participating for some
months, particularly in
our Outdoor Group, so
is already known to a
number of us. Patrice
bought a Muskoka
cottage about 5 years
ago, and has been
winterizing it and
turning it into a
permanent home. She
retired last year from 41 years in the civil service
– her last role was in aboriginal economic
development. She also has interests (and
credentials) in psychotherapy. Please help make
her welcome at our club.
The Cabana Restaurant
On April 22nd, 36 members of the 'Dining Out'
group enjoyed an Earth Day dinner at Cabana.
page 4
The tables were laden with leis, candles, flowers,
plants, and other gardening paraphernalia. Names
were drawn for new plants, garden sets, a
mosquito net and garden gloves. A free seed pack
came with every meal. Brian Thompson gave a
for one circuit. Alan and Mary McLeod provided
that site for the other circuit.
Main courses were served at the homes of Mary
Lou Chuter – three tables –
short history of Earth Day mentioning that over
174 countries are involved this year with over one
billion people.
Outdoor Group
By some miracle, I have no photos from the
outdoor group this month. They left their cameras
at home. What I do have is an inordinate number
of photos of members of our club eating. I can
only conclude that we are all exceptionally fond
of food! And so, since we have run over to page
5, we might as well keep going, beginning with:
The Progressive Potluck Dinner
and Nancy and Brian Thompson – one very long,
and one shorter table.
On the 17th April, 38 club members participated in
a two-circuit progressive potluck dinner. Each
circuit had appetizers at one home, main course at
a second, and dessert at a third. Frances Balodis,
with much help, coordinated this extravaganza.
Jan and Peter Rickard provided the Appetizer site
Worldwide PROBUS info at www.probus.org
page 5
Desserts happened at the homes of Joan and Art
Ball, and John and Beth Moffatt. By all accounts,
everyone had a great time.
from the Happy Cookers taken back in March,
when their theme was Asian Fusion.
My mouth seems overfull, and my wine glass is
already empty.
Then there are the snacks at Armchair Travel,
occasionally at Book Club, sometimes after an
Outdoor hike. And of course there are almost
always meals as part of our social events, such as
the up-coming Stratford trip – a dinner and a
lunch. Yes, we look after ourselves very well in
the feeding department. And so…..
Luncheon cruise and visit to
Gravenhurst Opera House.
Most important of all, everyone seemed to be
enjoying themselves meeting, talking, eating. Ah,
Probus!
So… that is what happened on the 17th April.
And the visit to Cabana happened on the 22nd.
We also have three cooking groups that meet
monthly or bi-monthly, but I do not have any
recent photos from any of them. I do have photos
Worldwide PROBUS info at www.probus.org
Our social event for June will be a luncheon
cruise aboard Winona II, followed by Fly me to
the Moon at the Opera House. Do participate, and
let’s ensure we have photos of people eating lunch
on board. The view should rival that from the
restaurant in Niagara last year.
Eating – perhaps the only pleasurable activity we
can engage in together that no religion has ever
banned! We need more cooking groups!
page 6