The club's esteemed secretary, Lew Day, was absent for this week's gathering by virtue that he and his charming wife Margaret were visiting sunnier climes, Cyprus in point of fact, to attend a family wedding. Before Lew and Margaret's departure, all members wished them 'bon voyage' and safe landings.
The meeting started in the usual 'bon ami' by everyone and the president opened the event with his usual anecdotes and this week's subject was the introduction of man-made fibres wearing apparel and their associated problems, for example, 'static electricity.' This subject prompted a wealth of humorous experiences, with particular reference to the wearing of underwear, nothing untoward, you are assured, but plenty of 'arcs and sparks.' Their introduction also curtailed the continuing development of wool; this was clearly illustrated by the promoting wool advertising jingles of this time.
The anniversary celebrity was Jack Davies (past president), his birthday celebration being on Friday, October 3, and all wished him a happy birthday.
Guest speaker for the day was Brian McMahon, whose chosen subject was appropriate to his wealth of experience and expertise, having served in the motor manufacturing industry for in excess of 25 years.
His presentation embraced factual erudition on the gradual rise and rapid demise by the application of 'Casino Capitalist Systems' throughout British manufacturing industries. Many of you may have heard of 'Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,' purely self explanatory, however, for the lay person, they were created by (American) Congress to 'provide funding to mortgage lenders by purchasing their mortgages, and then holding them or selling them to investors in the form of securities that they guarantee'. These companies are also known as Government Sponsored Enterprises, or GSE's. They were designed for the purpose of smoothing out region imbalances to mortgage supply and integrating regions to a national capital market; the plan proved successful for a time.
Brian continued in lay terms the economics within the manufacturing world and the stock market; the practice of 'short selling' stock which has been borrowed, in order to buy it back at a later date at a profit, once the price of that stock has fallen.
However, time doesn't stand still and following his conclusion, his excellent talk initiated many thoughtful questions by the members, which promoted quite an interesting discussion on present day global economy. He was well applauded for its excellence.
If you are retired and a man, over the age of 60 and interested in Probus, why not give secretary Lew Day a call on Tenby (01834) 844633.