Probus meets at Kanata United Church, 33 Leacock Drive, Kanata, on the second Tuesday of each month. Social Time begins at 10:00 a.m.; the meeting begins at 10:30 with a short business meeting followed by a guest speaker. The meeting will finish shortly before 12:00. Members who so wish usually adjourn to D’Arcy McGee’s, Robertson Rd at Moodie Drive, for lunch.

Mr. Findlay is vice-president of 3-G Energy Corporation, which develops and installs wind-powered electricity generators across Canada. He is an engineer who has moved from working on the generation of hydroelectric power to that of wind-generated power. He is also a proponent of an innovative concrete wind turbine tower project that is expected to be constructed in 2009. The firms he has founded have created wind-powered electrical generating “farms” across Canada. As of 2008, there is a total of 100 MW of wind energy projects under construction originating from his efforts. Mr. Findlay will talk about this new and important source of electric power and how it is turning consumers of electricity into producers – even in their own back yards.

Members are encouraged to purchase name badges. Cost, in advance, is $12.00. Please see Barbara Stafford, Membership Coordinator. All cheques should be payable to the Probus Club of Kanata. Barbara has badges for those who ordered them at previous meetings. Please pick them up at the meeting on Tuesday.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 : Our March speaker will be Guy Thatcher, traveler and author, who will give an illustrated talk on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. More than a travelogue on one of the Christian world’s most ancient and demanding pilgrimages, the dynamic Mr. Thatcher will show how people who never thought they could do it, did it.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009. The April speaker is not confirmed as yet, but the Program Committee plans to invite a local gardening expert to give advice in anticipation of the gardening season.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Our May speaker will be Meredith Brown, Ottawa Riverkeeper, whose organization brings people together to protect and promote the ecological health and diversity of the Ottawa River and its tributaries. Expert and independent, Ottawa Riverkeeper advocates for responsible decision-making; advances public education and participation; and ensures compliance with protective regulations throughout the watershed.

In the event of a sudden cancellation of a scheduled speaker, Harry Needham will present “A Tale of Six Grandfathers; or how a bunch of vets started up a place called Ontario.”

Social Activities

Coffee Time: We all enjoy the coffee and tea during social time and are grateful to Yvonne and Don Ludlow, who are preparing the beverages during the period of January to March 2009. We need volunteers to make the coffee from April to June. Please consider helping out with this essential task.

February Outing: Bus Trip, Sunday Feb 15. As notified earlier, the Social Committee has arranged a bus trip with Ottawa Valley Tours. The tour will include brunch at the Ramada Inn in Cornwall, followed by a hilarious comedy performance “Don’t Dress for Dinner.” There will be a visit to a cheese factory in St Albert before returning to Ottawa.

Cost will be $110 per person, cheques to be made payable to Ottawa Valley Tours. The tour leaves at 8:30 a.m. and will return to Ottawa at about 5 p.m. At time of writing there are less than 10 people signed up for the tour so departure will be from Lincoln Fields shopping centre. It will be too late to sign up by the meeting date so please contact Joyce Sheehan at 613-599-6675 as soon as possible if you wish to go.

Euchre: Euchre will take place this month at Bells Corners United Church at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, February 6. If you require additional information contact Ruth Howes at 613-726-9540.

Probus Spring Fling ‘09: For your advance planning, please note that The Probus Spring Fling 09 for The Eastern Part of Ontario District and hosted by The Alta Vista Club is scheduled for Tuesday, May 26^th, 2009 and will be held at the Hellenic Centre on Prince of Wales Drive. This is a luncheon event. Cost is expected to be $28 per person.

Thinking of your Security. Considering the warning of the speaker on Fraud last month, the PROBUS Executive is considering a new practice for the annual release of the membership list. Usually the list of members and contact information is printed for all. This year, the list will be circulated by e-mail in a PDF format. A few printed copies will be available for those without computers. At the next meeting, there will be a short discussion on Privacy issues with the club members to seek your guidance.

Additional Information about our March Speaker ( This article was added to the Kanata Probus web site on February 25, 2009)

A year ago, Canada’s top travel agent told us about the dos and don’ts of the rapidly changing field of global travel. Our March speaker, Guy Thatcher, is going to tell us about walking one of the most historic paths in the world – El Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

Santiago de Compostela is in the northwestern corner of Spain and the routes to it are as physically demanding as they are rich in both scenery and history.

There are actually a number of pilgrimage routes to the traditional resting place of St. James, originating in various parts of Europe, as this has been, through the centuries, one of the most important pilgrimages in the Christian world. The route that Guy followed is the Camino Francés, historically used by 90% of the pilgrims. He followed the trail the entire distance from Pamplona to his destination.

Guy Thatcher served in the Canadian regular armed forces from 1955 to 1980 as a tank officer, helicopter pilot, anti-tank missile instructor and computer analyst, serving in Germany, Belgium, Cyprus, Texas and Alabama, as well as various bases in Canada. He then pursued a second career for a further 26 years as a management consultant, working primarily in the field of facility planning and management.

He is married to Carroll Thatcher, with whom he has four grown children and one almost new grandson, clearly the most wonderful little boy in the world. For the past 18 years he has been a home support volunteer for the Hospice at May Court. He skis, travels as much as he can, gardens, scuba dives, reads voraciously, mostly history and science, square dances and plays a truly dreadful game of golf. He lives in Kanata.

For more information on Guy, his travels, the book he wrote on the Camino and a free podcast, go to www.guythatcher.com.

Join us, as Guy’s illustrated talk paints a picture of this fascinating journey and encourages others to walk the Camino.