| PROBUS Club of the Gateway |
Member HandbookWelcome to Probus Club of the Gateway! This handbook has been prepared to help you get the most from your membership. Feel free to read through the entire document or simply click on one of the green links below and you will be taken directly to information that is most relevant to you. PROBUS Club of the Gateway is a social club consisting of retired and semi-retired men and women who are active participants in the Georgian Bay community. We connect with others, expand interests, gain knowledge and enjoy the fellowship of new friends by participating in the many events and activities the Club has to offer. We meet at 10 a.m. the third Tuesday of every month, except December, at the Legion, 490 Ontario Street, Collingwood. Guests are always welcome! PROBUS Canada, a not for profit Corporation, is our umbrella organization. Its purpose is to co-ordinate and provide services to PROBUS clubs across Canada. With the exception of some basic rules which are laid out in the Constitution, all PROBUS clubs run independently. Our Club Bylaws are currently under development. In the meantime, many of your questions will be addressed in our FAQ's. Some members of the Management team rotate on an annual basis. Others remain in their positions for years. Click here to see our current management team. While members have an opportunity to meet face to face at monthly meetings, our primary mode of communication is through our website. To go to our website landing page click here. We encourage you to explore our website so that you become familiar with the information that is there. You may notice that some information on our website is available to the general public, and other information is only visible and available to members who have logged in. Logging in is required to protect your own privacy and that of our other members. For example, only members who are logged in can see our member directory and sign up for upcoming events and activities. If you need help logging in, click here. Our Mobile App is a simpler option to the website for managing event and activity registration, locating other member information, finding "My Tickets" to know what you have registered for and adding or updating your profile such as phone contact, address or email information. To download the Wild Apricot App, go to the website landing page to download the APP. It is indeed called "Wild Apricot for Members" and says "Business" underneath it. You may need your Apple ID or Android Sign ins to get the download. You will need to use your email address and password (the same as the website) to get into it the first time. Once you are logged in, you may be able to keep the log in open so that you can easily go in and out of the APP. Attend the monthly meetings and enjoy coffee, conversation, and a great key note speaker. No need to register - just show up. Information on upcoming speakers can be found on the left side of our landing page - just scroll down. Names and topics of upcoming speakers can be found after Upcoming events. We meet every month except December. Attending social events are an excellent way to meet other members. Go to a theatre presentation, cocktail parties, hiking or snow shoeing or meet others at a variety of gatherings. You will receive email invitations to register for these events. There is often a lot of interest in attending these. To learn how to register for events click here. Being an active member in one or more Gateway Activity Groups will increase the variety and number of opportunities for you to meet other members and connect. To learn about Activity Groups click here. Probus Club rely on volunteers to keep things running. And there is a tremendous variety in the volunteer opportunities at our Club. For example, if you like organizing events such as a tour of a local business, consider joining the Social Committee or offering to set up a specific event. If you have a passion like cycling or kayaking, offer to lead a new Activity Group. Are you good with AV? Perhaps you can join our AV team and help work equipment at the monthly meetings. If you want to meet members, become a greeter. And if you can make a longer committment, perhaps the Management team is the right spot for you. We work hard to keep our volunteer opportunites flexible; acknowledging that many of our members are snowbirds, cottagers, or like to travel and only around for part of the year. As a result, we have moved to a model of "co-chairs" so that members can easily split responsiblities throughout the year. Anyone who has ever volunteered knows that you always get more out than you put in. So please think about how you can contribute - we need your energy, enthusiasm and talents. To get a flavour for volunteer opportunities at Gateway, click here. If something appeals to you, please let someone know and we will work with you to get involved. Contact Us Still have questions? Or suggestions? Bring your questions to the monthly meetings or send us an email at one of the addresses you can access by clicking here. |