Cheryl Langevin, originally from Montreal, moved to Brighton with her husband Paul, a retired military person, in 2005.
“When I moved to Brighton, we had a friend here who was a member of Probus and she asked if we would we like to meet some local people,” said Langevin. “I really enjoyed the guest speakers, and it was so nice to meet people in the area.
“I could say hello to them when I saw them downtown. We started going to events of interest that both of us enjoyed with people we had met at the Probus Brighton club, even before getting to know them personally. We were very comfortable in that environment.”
Langevin liked the club so much she eventually became the current president. Probus was started in 1966 in England by retired Rotarians as a social club.
Today, it is a volunteer-based, non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian fellowship with more than 4,000 clubs worldwide, of which 252 are in Canada with more than 37,000 members. This April, the Brighton chapter will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. And the Probus Brighton club is evolving.
“This is an exciting time for us actively moving forward to re-establish membership numbers prior to the pandemic when we had close to 200 members,” said Langevin. “Brighton is a fast-growing community, so what better way to meet people than to join a social club?”
Monthly meetings consist of club business, a guest speaker and refreshments. Their speaker program provides a variety of interesting and awesome topics, ranging from community resources to authors, professors, health care and so on. Planned outings appeal to all members, such as theatre, wine tasting tours and museum junkets, including monthly luncheons in area restaurants.
“We are welcoming all adults irrespective of age or profession, from all walks of life, who appreciate valuable opportunities to meet others in similar circumstances, to expand their social network with a broad range of interesting speakers and stimulating activities, and a chance to explore our Brighton community.”
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The Brighton club is an active social network where even if you don’t know the people initially, you come together through mutual interests and meet new people every time you go.
“Especially after the pandemic, people are returning because they want to see friends they have not seen for a long while. It is not expensive to join and (you) enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded Brightonians.
“So, when you return to the meetings, it is not like going out and meeting people all over again. We are reaching out to new people in the community who want to meet others as we did when we first joined the club. A lot of people are coming in now (who) do not know what is happening around town.”
Anyone who thinks that they would enjoy the meetings and activities is invited to their next meeting on Feb. 8, and every second Wednesday of the month, at the King Edward Park Community Centre from 10 a.m. to noon.
You may contact Langevin at clangevin3@cogeco.ca or 613-475-9967 for further information.
Brighton resident Vic Schukov is a longtime journalist and writer of biography books for everyday people. He can be reached at victorschukov@gmail.com.
