Hugh Hunter, Raymond Ward-Smith and Reid Cowan received distinguished service awards at a gathering last week.
President Len Rapley said the men were acknowledged for the time they had invested in the club over the years.
Among other things, Mr Hunter had been the raffles convener for years.
Mr Cowan had turned 97 at the beginning of July, and had been in the club for a significant amount of time.
Over his time with the club, Mr Ward-Smith had been the treasurer and secretary.
"Well, I don’t really know what it is for, I just did my duty," Mr Ward-Smith said.
He said there was always space for new members to join the club.
He felt the club helped to keep him occupied in his retirement.
"I’ve noticed just recently — because I’m not working any more — I’m actively wondering when the next meeting will be."
The club began in the early 1980s, then called Timaru Men’s Probus Club.
It was formed after some of the Rotary Club members stepped back from active fundraising and charity work.
They still felt the need for the companionship and social contact — which the previous club had provided — so they established a group which was more focused on friendship and less focused on fundraising.
He said the group was non-religious and non-political, it simply provided retired and semi-retired men the opportunity to meet monthly.
It gave the opportunity "to hear a good speaker, have a cuppa and a yarn and generally sort out the world".
Visiting speakers covered a wide variety of topics, with the most recent speaker being Andrew Hurst who became an ambassador of Westpac Helicopter Trust following a farm accident in 2019.
The year had seen many adventures, like bus trips to view an early settler homestead at Levels and a visit to New Zealand’s biggest deer farm.
A bus trip to the Opuha Dam and Fairlie Museum, with lunch at the Kimbell Hotel, was planned for October 17.
He said wives and partners of members were always welcome at the monthly meetings as well as at other activities held during the year.
Anyone wishing to know more about the club can contact Mr Rapley on 021 0229-8357.
