Speaker Schedule

 "She Also Served"

Journalist and author Ellin Bessner visits the Uxbridge Probus Club for Remembrance Day and brings the unknown story of the Canadian women of Jewish faith who helped defeat Hitler in the Second World War.

While most accounts of the war talk about the 6 million Jewish victims who were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust, not much attention has been paid to the liberators: the Jewish military personnel who fought in a Canadian uniform, stopped the war, and rescued the survivors.

Among the 17,000 Canadian Jews who did, were a couple of hundred female volunteers, including Ellin’s aunt, Cpl. Daisy Friedberg. She was a tough-as-nails, military police officer who guarded vital transport sites and kept unruly personnel in line.

Bessner is the author of “Double Threat,” published by the University of Toronto Press, about the contribution of Canada’s tiny wartime Jewish community to defeating the Nazis. She will take a fascinating look at the Canadian Jewish heroines, both at home and at the front, who helped Canada win WWII, but whose contributions to history have never been properly recognized.

You’ll discover Bessner’s own great-aunt, along with Sgt. Miriam Freedman, S/O Rose Goodman and Pt. Esther Bubis, as well as the legions of Canadian Jewish civilian women volunteers who “did their bit”: raised funds, packed boxes, made sandwiches and even built the bombs.

Books will be available for sale at the event. 

Photo Credit to Daniel Ehrenworth.

More info about Ellin:  https://ellinbessner.com

 "The Party Magician"

Ron Guttman is a Professional magician with over 35 years of experience.

Ron will bring his Tricky Bits show to the Uxbridge Probus Group. This show offers a magical experience that is targeted specifically to a grownup audience. The show features both classical and contemporary magic with a little something for everyone: magic, comedy, mystery and plenty of audience participation.  Like all of Ron’s shows, this one is also high-energy, and the performance is diverse, engaging and entertaining.

Ron’s performing career initially started as a young musician, and then as a comedy sketch artist and actor in numerous theatre productions, films, TV shows and commercials.

The magic started around 1990, and Ron was using his talents to help promote the software company he was working for at the time. Those clients still remember his magic-themed sales promotions and performances.  In fact, if you were to ask the staff at the Chicago steakhouse what happened that night in 1992, they might remember this very magical moment. A bank note was borrowed from an executive of a major European bank. The preliminaries got everyone focused on the bill and you could have heard a pin drop! Everyone was staring; even the restaurant staff stopped what they were doing to observe. What happened? The bank note that was lying on the table was starting to stand up and before long it was standing straight up. Ron never touches it! This was the beginning of Ron’s career as a magician, mentalist and psychic entertainer. Look to Ron’s diverse background and unique experience to deliver sophisticated, stimulating and engaging entertainment.

More information: Facebook.com/ThePartyMagician