After several changes over the past 12 months, all is set fair for another successful year as Stumperlowe Probus Club heads towards its Golden Jubilee celebrations in March 2027.
While many similar clubs are struggling to maintain their memberships at viable levels, Stumperlowe continues to thrive thanks largely to the dedication and hard work of the committee, which has something of a new make-up this year with several members coming on board while other long servers have taken a step back to becoming ‘co-opted’ members of the committee while still carrying out key functions within the club.
Our outstanding programme of speakers, who have been keeping near capacity audiences enthralled and entertained at Fulwood Sports Club on the first and third Mondays of each month during the past year, is of course down to our excellent speaker finders, and Richard Worth will be a particularly hard act to follow when he steps down at the 2026 AGM, brought forward this year and being held on Monday, 26th January.
Mike Etches, who has also played a big part in the quest for speakers, will also be stepping down, but Graham Anthony will continue for the time being while newcomers Chris Chapple and Stephen Ward are waiting in the wings to join the new team.
Andrew Shorthouse was appointed club chairman at last year’s AGM in May, but sadly suffered some ill health. We were very grateful that immediate past chairman Dick Birks was able to stand in for Andrew, who is expected to return on a permanent basis sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Gerry Meininger has agreed to take on the previously unfilled role of vice-chairman, in addition to assisting webmaster Peter Jackson when necessary.
As can be deduced, it is all a matter of teamwork, and on that basis the club is in a robust position as it heads into 2026.
The AGM in January will be the club’s 48th annual meeting, but we ‘lost’ a year due to the 2020 meeting being cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This means that we have little more than a year to prepare for our golden anniversary (the club was formed on 21st March 1977). Suggestions for suitable celebrations from the membership will be welcomed by the committee.
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