General News
16 July, 2026
Probus hears tales from well-travelled local
Alan Lehmann, all about our Lucky Country, was this month’s guest speaker at the Probus Club’s July meeting.
The July 2026 regular meeting of the Combined Probus Club of Hopetoun was held on Monday, July 6, in Beulah, at the Uniting Church Hall, at 10.30 am, with a luncheon that followed.
President Marilyn Clancy welcomed 18 members and 1 guest, and noted 4 apologies. Member Alan Malcolm read the Probus prayer.
A minute’s silence was held for our foundation member Gwen Malcolm, who passed away after a short illness.
Alan thanked the club for all its support at this difficult time for him.
Alan Malcolm presented our new club president, Marilyn Clancy, with the president's Collar.
President Marilyn Clancy welcomed our two new members, Graham and Kerry Cardell and presented them with their club badges.
Entertainment Officer Kerry Cardell then introduced this month's speaker, Alan Lehmann from Beulah.
Alan spoke in general about Australia being a lucky country. Alan’s older sister Shirley travelled around the world for 10 years, and Alan remembers the letters sent home from afar fondly.
Alan started travelling at the age of 18/19, hitchhiking around South Australia and Victoria, then up to Queensland.
Alan remembers hitchhiking the Crystal Highway from Queensland to Rockhampton, Townsville and Mackay.
One day he was waiting a long time for a lift when a 4WD with a knapsack on the bull bar arrived.
When he got talking to the driver, he found out about the murders that had happened along the stretch of the Crystal Highway through the 1960s and 1970s, which would have been very daunting to hear as a teenager.
Alan’s sliding-door moment in life came whilst applying for two jobs: one at a mine in Mt Isa and another to join the army.
The mine job came through first, and a couple of days later, the army wanted him to join, so the army lost a new recruit. Alan went to Darwin next and, from there, started travelling around Asia.
Seeing the floating rubbish sticks in his mind in Jakarta.
Last year, Alan travelled to Christmas Island to see the crab migration.
Alan has been to Europe, including Finland and Norway, where temperatures have dropped as low as -35 degrees.
Alan loves small communities and lives by what he says: be kind to all, help each other out, enjoy the mateship, take responsibility for yourself, and stay on course to be a good, community-minded person.
Alan finished off by reading a poem by Carl Sagan, ‘The Pale Blue Dot’.
Entertainment Officer Kerry Cardell expressed her appreciation to Alan for his interesting talk on our country being the lucky country and presented Alan with a Probus pen.
The next meeting of the Combined Probus Club of Hopetoun will be a luncheon meeting.
A nominal fee of $20 for the luncheon.
The meeting will be held on August 3, 2026, at 10.30 am at the Hopetoun Uniting Church Hall.