The PROBUS Club of Applewood
Mississauga
Senior Common Room
Drop-in for Coffee and Discussion
Our club’s Senior Common Room (the SCR) is a monthly Zoom drop-in coffee hour and discussion group for club members and guests.

When
For now, while the pandemic lasts, we meet on the last Friday of each month, with doors opening at 9:45 am for a 10:00 am start.

We send invitation-links the day before each get-together to persons who have signed up for the SCR.

Membership
Our inaugural get-together on Friday April 23, 2021 was a great success with 26 men in attendance out of an enrolment of 34.

Since word of the success of our first get-together has spread, we have had additional club members






ask to be enrolled in the SCR. We have a current enrollment of approximately 40 as of May 1, 2021.

We invite club members who have not yet signed up for the SCR to do so by sending an email to HYPERLINK "about:blank"paulmansellmoore@gmail.com saying: “Sign me up.”

Organization
We have an organizing committee (the “Primers”) consisting of a Convener, Paul Moore, and Lloyd Posno, Bob Weese, Tom Axworthy, Les Mayer, Jim Carmichael, Alan Lytle, Doug Johnston, and Doug Gilpin, to prime the pump and manage the get-togethers.

The Primers meet 10 day before each SCR get-together to pick a topic for discussion and a moderator for the day. Advance notice of the topic for discussion is then sent to SCR members.

Get-together format
After a 15 minute pre-meeting meet-and-greet, we open with a 10 minute plenary session where the moderator for the day highlights possible points for consideration relative to the topic for discussion.

We then go into breakout groups for 30 minutes. Each group consists of 5 or 6 persons with one Primer designated as group moderator in each group. Each group is free to go its own way and discuss various issues more or less related to the chosen topic. Preparation is not required.

At the 5 minutes-left-mark (with notice of pending termination) the group moderator asks the group to summarize its discussion and designate a person to report back on the discussion.

The attendees reconvene in a plenary session for 20 minutes with each group reporting on their breakout discussions and a general discussion ensues.

Discussion is free-wheeling and casual and a good time is had by all. Attendees treat each other with respect. (Intemperate argument is not permitted.)

(We understand that the quality of each person’s coffee, other refreshments, and jokes, vary, but that is out of our club’s control!)

Benefits of participation
The SCR provides a wonderful opportunity for interesting discussion, pleasant social interaction, getting to know one another better, and to form new friendships among club members in this time of physical isolation that has limited in-person club activities.

Paul Moore
SCR Convener 
How to submit a report
One email with pictures and reports will make it to both the newsletter and the website.
Please submit them as soon as possible.
Photos and videos from more than one member are OK.
Send to: applepro805@gmail.com
 
March 28, 2024

The SCR met by Zoom on March 28 for coffee and discussion.

We discussed the wisdom of the recent indictment of Donald Trump and how to foster public trust in election results and fairness.

We reviewed the dangers from social media and the internet but decided that another session was warranted on this topic. Doug Johnston and Wallace Khella also attended for a total of 10 attendees
February 23, 2024

The Senior Common Room was in session for one hour by Zoom at 10 am on Friday, February 23, 2024. We had 10 members in attendance.

The topic for discussion was “Hate in society through abuses in communication.”

We discussed lying through false news, misuse of AI, social media, and demonization of others, whether politicians, religious practitioners or specific groups, such as jews, immigrants, the rich, etc. Many incidents of suffering from this were described, including personal incidents. We discussed the difficulties youth, and even some of us oldies, have in coping with false news, gossip, and calamities directed at us.

Skepticism, questioning and verifying information without falling into cynicism were all touched upon. So was the balance of permitting uncontrolled free speech and appropriate legal limitations thereon.

We discussed the lack of civility, the absence of old fashion dialogue and free expression of opinions not shared by others, and  extreme position taking evident  everywhere (except in the SCR!!) now-a-days.

The discussion was respectful, informative, and an enjoyable rhetorical exercise for the participants.


Paul Moore
SCR Convener
April 28 2023

The Senior Common Room met  for its monthly gathering by Zoom  on April 28, 2023  to discuss “how we keep ourselves informed about current affairs in modern times”.

We touched on: the role of the CBC and its the possible defunding; the declining influence of newspapers; the impact of social media and the Internet; false news; lies, lies, and more lies; how young people use social media; the tracking and manipulating of subscribers to Internet apps by corporations; and much more.

As usual, we enjoyed the socialization very much, and found the session informative, insightful and as stimulating as  in-person chats  at our general meetings.

Paul Moore