Club Activities

Club management and individual members have initiated and promoted a wide variety of activities.

Note: Activity pictures on this page have members’ features blurred for privacy.

Apps and Bevies

Apps = Appetizers and Bevies = Beverages.  In essence this is a group that loves to share apps and bevies with each other in a 2 hour social setting, monthly, at different homes, hosted by members on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. To be part of the apps and bevies group the member contacts the leader and their name goes on the email list. As an Apps and Bevies group member, members then receive an email with the location of the next meeting and they must respond if they want to attend. This will generate another email by the leader to let the participants know details regarding parking and/or additional itinerary  (i.e. one summer they ended an evening with a boat trip, or dip in a pool, etc) Members are to bring and wear their name tag!   It’s also a suggestion in the summer to bring a lawnchair (always handy to have just in case). Also, participants are asked to bring appetizers for themselves and some to share and BYOB! Monthly get-togethers every 3rd Wednesday of the month from 5 to 7pm hosted by members of this group. Details for each monthly event are sent to registered Apps & Bevies participants.

Book Group 1

This group meets on the third Thursday of the month in the Picton Library (208 Main Street) at 11:00 am. Over the past years the books selected for discussion are for the most part contemporary fiction. Before breaking for the Summer, the reading list for next year is determined by the group. Each member nominates two books and the group then selects ten books from the list of nominations.

Book Group 2

This group meets on the third Wednesday of the month in the Picton Library (208 Main Street) at 3:00 pm. In June, members select the program for the following year. Selections tend to be “classical”. The group re-starts in September after Summer break.

Bridge Group

The PROBUS Bridge Group meets on the third Friday of the month at 1:00 pm. Location rotates among members homes. This is a social group that enjoys sharing local news, light snacks, and beverages – all of which are available – and wishes that they had been dealt a better hand. Typical bridge players.

Current Affairs Group

The Current Affairs Group meets in comfort virtually using Zoom™. Topics are chosen by the Group Leader with occasional suggestions from group members. National/Federal, Provincial, and sometimes Local Issues. The group meets monthly [Second last Tuesday 10 am on Zoom] with the chosen topic for the discussion being provided well in advance of the meeting date to allow participants to hone their discussion points and do ‘due diligence’ research on the chosen topic.

Cycling Group – seasonal

We favour rides of 25-40 km, always in the County – so there are no massive hill climbs to deal with, and plenty of quiet roads! Rides normally start around 9:30 am to avoid the heat (and winds) and are on every Thursday every month for the Summer.

Golf Group – seasonal

This group golfs weekly during the summer.

Hiking/Snowshoeing Group – seasonal

The group meets on Fridays at 1:00 pm. We start in September and close our season in mid-May. Most hikes are 1.5 hours, some easy, some more difficult. Most of the activities are lead by the Group Leader who decides where it would be best to hike – given the expected weather, bugs, etc.

The notice email that goes out to the group members explains the hike and difficulty level.

Power Walking

Come join the Power Walkers every second Tuesday at 10am. We look for routes that usually include a hill or two and try to keep the pace fast enough to benefit your cardiovascular system. It’s a great way to start your day by invigorating your system and having a nice chat with the rest of the group. Our meeting spots are closer to the Picton area and we walk for approximately one hour. If ‘Power Walker’ isn’t your thing, the ‘PROBUS Walkers’ might suit you better.

PROBUS Walkers

Typically, this is a more relaxed group than the Power Walkers. The group meets every Monday morning at 10 am and walks for one hour on the Millennium Trail in or near Picton/Bloomfield. All levels of walkers welcome. We all walk at our own pace – 30 minutes ‘out’ and 30 minutes ‘back’. Friendly coffee and chat time afterward.

Pub Night

The Pub Nights are the last Thursday of each month from 5:00-7:00 pm, exploring different pubs around The County. More members always welcome.

Travel Talk Group

PROBUS members have visited the High Arctic, visited all the tourist (and many not-so-tourist) places of importance in mainland China, been through the ‘Golden Triangle’ in South East Asia, cruised around Australia, photographed their way through New Zealand, left their marks throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, as well as visiting Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands … and those are just a few of the trips they’ll own up to.

The Travel Talk Group welcomes all those who love travel either in person or through the experiences of others. We meet intermittently and – using ZOOM – share our experiences.

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Note: the Current Affairs group and the Travel Talk Group meet (very effectively) via Zoom™ which enables the sharing of Powerpoint™ presentations and web-based content. Our club has members who will assist you with connecting reasonably up-to-date systems so you can enjoy the ‘virtual’ presentations.

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Starting a new activity/group

The PROBUS Club of Prince Edward County can have any number of activity groups to meet the interests of members. Any member can start a new activity group. All they need to do is reach out to the Social/Entertainment Chair who will pass it by the Management Committee. Then the person who has volunteered as leader can write a piece for the next newsletter and send an email to the membership to introduce the new activity group. People will then sign up to participate. The person can then act as “leader” or the task of arranging things can be shared by members of the group. Each group decides where, when, and how often to meet.

Join me

“Join Me events” are a one-time occurrence that any and every member can take the lead on. A few of them have been done, i.e.: boat tour to Main Duck Island; the Mini Putt last fall; 2 skating events; The Drake International Women’s Day event; the Sugarbush Trivia walk; the Dukes Hockey game; ballroom dancing; a vegan meal.

If a member of the club wants to invite PROBUS members to join them on anything, whether it’s to meet for a coffee or see a play, all they need to do is email the Social/Entertainment Chair with some details and they will send the invitation to the PROBUS members by email.

Some ideas for a Join Me event would be coffee, lunch, a movie, a music venue, bowling, a visit to the casino or a visit to the Kingston Pen. This is a great way to hear about things.

Special Events Arranged by the Management Committee

From time to time the Management Committee arranges special events that members of the Club can sign up for. Such events have included: Boat Tour on the Napanee River; lunch at The View Restaurant following a monthly meeting; lunch on site at the Elk’s Hall following a monthly meeting; a tour of Macaulay Heritage Park followed by lunch at the Stone Room, which is part of the museum; picnic at Mariner’s Park Museum; tour, talk and picnic at the South Shore; dancing with The Reasons Band and a pot luck.