The May general meeting of the Probus Club of Grafton was held at the South Grafton Services Club on 19th May. It was attended by 29 members who were welcomed by President Peter. The five minute speaker for the meeting was Marion Heldt who conveyed to the meeting an account of her long awaited trip to Antarctica. Marion flew over Antarctica in February and took family members with her. It was a long, but never to be forgotten day, worthy of the wait. The June midday lunch will be held at the Ulmarra Hotel on Tuesday 7th June and 30 seats have been booked for the ‘Afternoon at the Proms’ on Sunday 30th October. The tickets will be sold on a first in best dressed basis. The lucky winners this month of a Farmer Lou’s fruit tray were Gladys Andersen and Harold Noble. Our guest speaker for this meeting was Mary Griffin, regional Director of The Whiddon Group. Mary, now living in Yamba, covers a wide area of the state with her work for the Whiddon Group, where she has worked for 7 years, but still likes to visit and work in Grafton. Mary assured the members that they had “not too much to worry about” with aged care requirements at this stage. Only about 5% of the older population actually use aged care facilities and the Government encourage people to receive aged care at home – a far cheaper option for them. Mary encouraged members to plan ahead for the future by sharing their wishes with family or friends and ensuring that they have a “Power of Attorney” arrangement in place. Members were advised about a Government web site, “MyAgeCare”, that details all aged care facilities and what they have to offer. Mary outlined some details regarding costing of aged care and how a refundable deposit was collected on entry and returned to your estate when you departed. The old days of Home Care are no longer applicable so look at the website to get up to date information regarding your future aged care possibilities. Familiarisation of the website is important for those who are computer literate. ACAT assessment on an individual basis is still a requirement so that alternate services can be recommended. Mary continued her talk with recent pictures of the current progress of stage 1 of Livingstone House, which is projected to be opened in August 2016. Stage 1 will be a two story building and will be very bright and airy and will house 54 residents. Some of the features to look forward to in stage 2 of the development were discussed and these included a coffee shop and plenty of public areas. When completed, the home will provide 112 aged care beds. The next meeting of The Probus Club of Grafton will be combined with a luncheon at 12 noon on 23rd June at the South Grafton Services Club. Roz Chessell