By Mal Pidgeon, Probus Club of Stanthorpe
The Probus Club of Stanthorpe hosted the annual 5 Club Luncheon at The Exhibition Centre on Tuesday 31 August.
Unfortunately because of Covid restrictions two clubs were unable to attend, missing a very enjoyable and informative day.
We greeted our visitors and the show society ladies served them delicious scones tea and coffee for morning tea before our guest speaker Phil Matthews the regional chairman of Probus from the Gold Coast spoke on Probus, coping with lockdowns, and how we can learn from each other, summarising meeting challenges by quoting “everything is an opportunity”.
Gerard Torrisi was our next speaker informing us where we can travel in Australia, by air or by rail, and has some definite bargains.
After the break Jeanette Davis spoke on the wealth of glorious wildflowers on the Granite Belt, especially at Girraween where there are 950 flowering plants and 60 rare ones.
Jeanette suggested we visit the Rangers office for the best introduction to the wildflowers and park walkways in the area.
We then socialised, tasted wine and drew raffles, and had lots of fun and laughter.
After lunch Peter O’Reilly spoke on the Queensland College of Wine and Tourism and how it belongs to the local community, with USQ being the operating entity training students in the wine and hospitality industries in a commercial environment.
Peter presented a very informative and interesting address on the effects of climate, soil type, and altitude on the quality of grapes produced here and the variation in the flavour of our local wines.
After the farewell speech by our president Glen we departed thankful for a wonderful day.
