WHEN the Combined Probus Club of Numurkah started in August 1999, it had just 23 members. When the club met on Monday for its 20th birthday celebrations however, almost 100 members were in attendance.

When the club was formed, Numurkah already had both men’s and women’s Probus clubs, but there was a desire among some to form a club where couples could enjoy the fellowship of Probus together.

Unlike other organisations, Probus is purely social, with no fund raising component. Club members enjoy trips, guest speakers, friendship days with other Probus clubs, Christmas in July and other similar events.

A look over the combined club’s history shows that it quickly gained popularity, almost tripling in size to 62 members by March 2003, out-growing its early meeting spaces at the Uniting Church Hall and the Shamrock Hotel before moving to the seniors hub.

Monday’s celebration followed the regular monthly meeting, at which John Scott was awarded a life membership for services to the club. 

The birthday celebration was emceed by Lou Hamon, who presented current president Kirsten Strike with a certificate of congratulations from Probus South Pacific. 

Of course, a party without a cake is just a meeting, and as this was definitely a party.  The cake was cut by foundation member Sally Bugeya along with long-time members Wally Meek and Dorothy Walkerden.

Dorothy presented a reflection on the club’s history - including that at one point in 2006 there were no less than five members named Dorothy.

In that same year, four members of the club got married - two to each other, and two to non-members.

Proceedings wrapped up with a spirited quiz involving the unique place mats that were being used for the event - original vinyl record albums. 

When the prizes of scratchies and wrapped packages that looked suspiciously like bottles were exhausted, subsequent winners received a second piece of birthday cake.