Anne and Frank Churchley moved from Victoria to Kamloops two months ago to be closer to their son and daughter-in-law.

They found a home with a small garden for Anne, and enough space inside for Frank’s grand piano.

They found a contractor and a doctor, with the help of their son.

They found a small notice in the newspaper while they were waiting to get their winter tires put on about a Probus Club getting started in Kamloops.

That fit with one of their other goals: to meet more people with similar interests.

When they lived in Victoria, the Churchleys belonged to one of that city’s four or five Probus groups.

Probus — short for Professional Business, which is how the group was founded in the 1960s — is open to anyone who is retired or semi retired who wants to get out, socialize and learn something once a month.

The group the Churchleys used to be involved with met one morning a month, with some time for coffee and chatting before a short meeting and then an interesting guest speaker who talked on anything from antiques to a project building schools in Africa to architecture.

Some members went to lunch together afterward.

“Each club sets its own rules,” said Frank.

Each group decides how big it will be, who will be invited as a guest speaker and how it will operate.

Anne said it’s good to limit the size of the group so that everyone knows everyone else. If a group hits its maximum, it then helps another group get started.

But they all have one thing in common: they don’t want to while away their retirement years doing things that will just kill time.

Crowe got drafted to help get the first Kamloops Probus group together because she has experience.

She organized a hiking group that started out with three people and now has 50 members.

“I’ve seen what being in a group can do for people,” she said.

Social interaction and mental stimulation, for example.

“It’s going to be a lifesaver for us,” said Anne.

“You have to find some way to interconnect with people.”

The Kamloops initiative came from a Salmon Arm Probus group that offered to help create one here. Lois Cutler of Wells Gray Tours heard about it and has helped push it forward.

Anne, who was a homemaker, singer and active volunteer, said she saw her husband go through a big adjustment when he retired. An organization like Probus can help with that transition.

Frank agreed, saying he got involved in other things like painting and taking French lessons after retirement. But people who are leaving a workplace that was also largely their social network can feel a real void.

Crowe said the club will decide how much the annual fees will be, but generally they tend to run about $35 a year. That covers any hall rentals, insurance and other costs.