Home Page | Rotary Club of Bega

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others

WELCOME TO THE ROTARY CLUB OF BEGA

Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship.

Becoming a Rotarian connects you with a diverse group who share your drive to give back.

The Bega Valley.

New firefighting water trailer for Quaama.

Informal social meeting.

Book Fair

Sarnelli House Thailand

Rotary sponsors Bega TAFE Hospitality Awards

For 22 years the Rotary Club of Bega has sponsored Awards for Bega TAFE Hospitality students. The awards were presented this week at a very special dinner at The Barracks Restaurant at Bega TAFE where the students are able to put into practice what they’ve been learning and diners are treated to outstanding food and service.

President Phil had us laughing at stories about the two Rotarians after whom the awards are named – Curly Annabel and Herb Parberry – who were stalwarts of the club from its foundation 70 years ago. Glen Stewart received the Curly Annabel Award and Jordan Airey and Thea Luimes received the Herb Parberry Award, though unfortunately Jordan was unable to accept his award in person and Thea is currently doing further training in Paris.

If you’d like to be on the email list for notification of availability for bookings at The Barracks, email: thebarracks@tafensw.edu.au, or you can follow on Instagram, @thebarracksrestaurant or on Facebook, The Barracks Restaurant.

Bega Rotary 70th anniversary and Changeover Dinner

A wonderful night of celebrations was held for the Bega Rotary annual Changeover Dinner. It was also the 70^th anniversary of the founding of the Rotary Club of Bega on June 16th 1954 and presentations through the evening outlined the many projects and accomplishments over those 70 years. It was a very impressive list of achievements including many youth programs, community programs, International sponsorships and fundraising for a wide range of programs and community organisations.

Incoming District Governor, Rob Uhl, was our special guest, and her address discussed “The Magic of Rotary” which is the new Rotary International theme for the coming year. Rob also had the pleasure of inducting a new member, Colleen Rietschel. Our Mayor, Russell Fitzpatrick, talked about the importance or service clubs like Rotary for the many important things they do for the community. Our continuing President, Phil McDonald, invited Paul Windle, who was a founding member of Bega Rotary and Dr John McKee, to cut the cake celebrating the 70^th anniversary. Sharing in the celebratory evening were members of other local service club including Merimbula, Narooma and Pambula Rotary Clubs and Tathra Lions Club.

Many thanks to Bega Country Club for hosting us and to Cool Catering for a delicious meal .

Cobargo Scouts to attend Jamboree with Rotary assistance

The Rotary Club of Bega was delighted to be able to make a significant donation to the 1st Cobargo Scout Group recently to help with sending students to the Australian Jamboree to be held in Maryborough, Qld in January.

The 1st Cobargo Scout Group is the closest Scout group to Bega since the Bega group closed several years ago. The Scouts, who are from all over the Bega Valley, have been busy fundraising as well, including collecting rubbish at the Cobargo Show and Cobargo Folk Festival and holding BBQs, plant sales and raffles.

The Australian Jamboree is held every four years. It’s an amazing experience for any Scout to join over 10,000 other Scouts from around Australia and across the world for a ten-day camp. There are exciting activities, new challenges and endless opportunities to make friends for life. It’s an experience of a lifetime and Rotary is proud to support youth of the Bega Valley to have the opportunity of this experience.

Road Safety for our Youth

RYDA, or Rotary Youth Driver Awareness, was successfully held again this year over 3 days 14-16 May. It is a program now run by by leading professional learning organisation Road Safety Education Ltd (RSE) and is designed to complement the high school curriculum. It provides students with the tools, habits and motivation to take action and stay safe on our roads throughout their lives, both as drivers and passengers.

The one-day program, held each year at Frogs Hollow near Bega, is supported by Bega Rotary and led by Eric Johnston who has been organising the program for 18 years. We acknowledge and thank Eric's dedication to this important program to help keep our young drivers safe as they begin to drive.

290 students attended and high schools and colleges represented included Bega, Bombala, Lumen Christi, Eden Marine, Jindabyne, Cooma Monaro and SCAC.

Lunch was provided each day by Lions Clubs from Merimbula and Bega as well as Pambula Rotary. Tathra Lions, Bega Rotary and other community members also provided much-needed assistance on the days. The presenters kept the students engaged throughout 6 learning modules including Road Choices, Mind Matters, I drive, SOS, Crash Survivors and Stopping demonstration.

Bega Valley Motors again generously donated the vehicle for the demonstrations.

'mherv' offers free men's Health Checks in Bega

'mherv' is the "men's health education rural van" and it will be offering FREE health checks in Bega 1-2 March.

It's estimated that over 450 lives have been saved over the past 5 years because of these free basic health checks. 'mherv' sees around 3,500 patients each year and around 40% require following up with a GP.

"It only takes 10 minutes out of your day to get free basic health screening but it could save your life”, says the Registered Nurse who travels around NSW.

The Registered Nurse takes your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar levels and can have a general quick chat about your health.

Women are very welcome to attend as well and the free health check only takes about 10 minutes.

The 'mherv' van is hosted by Bega Rotary Club while in Bega and Rotary also acknowledges the support of the NSW Department of Health and Electrodry in making this free service possible.

Friday 1 March 9:30 – 3:30 and Saturday 2 March 9:30 – 12:30 at Littleton Gardens, Zingal Place, Bega

Further information is available on the website: www.mherv.com.au or contact Adrian Payne on 0425 204 815

Rotary says NO to Domestic & Family Violence

Friday 1 Dec 2023, is the Day of Action for all Rotarians in our campaign against Domestic and Family Violence.

In Federal Parliament a list of the 60 women and girls that have been killed in instances of domestic and family violence this year was read out.

The United Nations is marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women with 16 days of activism from Nov 25 to Dec 10 - International Human Rights Day.

Please do whatever you can to support events, marches and actions in your community to raise awareness of the need to End the Silence to Stop the Violence. Wear purple and help your community Say NO to Domestic Violence.

Changeover Dinner for the new Rotary year

The annual Bega Rotary Changeover dinner was enjoyed by around 40 members and friends as well as Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick and members of Merimbula and Pambula Rotary Clubs. The evening is a celebration of all that’s been achieved in the previous 12 months and a welcome to the President for the upcoming year, Phil McDonald, and Board members.

Anne Ducray gave the address and spoke about this year's theme for Rotary International - ‘Create Hope in the World”.
Ed Chenery spoke about the Rotary Foundation which is Rotary’s Philanthropic arm. End Polio is their best known project but many others have transformed the lives of people around the world.
Several presentations were made:

Dirk Kruit – Honorary Life Member of Bega Rotary
Rotary Service Certificates for years dedicated to Rotary: Charlie Blomfield 30 years, Paul Windle 60 years, John Mckee 50 years (and Phil himself has been in Rotary for 30 years)

Four Paul Harris Fellows were recognised:

Margaret Taylor for her untiring support for the club
Eric Johnson for his dedication to RYDA and club service
John and Marilyn Hamilton for their dedication to many projects including the Bookfair, Art Fair and bush fire projects.
Phil thanked those retiring from the club and presented Dorothea with a beautiful bunch of flowers for her service to Bega Rotary.

The Bega Rotary Annual Report is an interesting read and shows how much has been done in the last year.

Many thanks to Peanut Eatery and all those who support Bega Rotary.

President Phil McDonald with Rotary year Theme and presentation to Dorothea Polonyi. Marilyn and John Hamilton receive Paul Harris Fellow from Phil and Ed

Chenery..

Eric Johnson received a Paul Harris Fellow. Margaret Taylor and Paul Windle. Margaret Taylor received a Paul Harris Fellow.

Past President Anne Ducray and guests.

Making safe drivers with RYDA

Hundreds of secondary students from schools in the Bega Valley, Cooma-Monaro and as far as Mallacoota came to the Sapphire Kart Club Track near Bega in May to learn about driver and road safety.

The one-day workshops were part of the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness or RYDA Program that aims to empower young people to make good choices on the roads. It gives students the tools, habits and motivation to be safe on the roads as both drivers and passengers.

Police, Fire and Rescue, crash survivors and others gave presentations during the day and on-road practical demonstrations that showed how far a car travels after sudden braking were often a surprise for the students.

Eric Johnston of Bega Rotary has been running these programs now for 17 years and is to be commended for his unflagging commitment.

Our first Art Fair alongside much-loved Book Fair

The Inaugural Art Fair of Bega Rotary Club was a great success! It was held alongside the much-loved Book Fair at the Bega Showgrounds from 19-21 January. Opening night was a fabulous event and attended by about 90 people. Andrew Gray, Executive Director of South East Arts and our President, Phil McDonald welcomed everyone and cut the ribbon for entry into the wonderful display of nearly 300 pieces of art by the talented artists of the Bega Valley. Before long there were red 'sold' dots on lots of exhibits.

Maz Hamilton was the initiator of the Art Fair and it was only due to her vision, persistence and organisation that it was such a success – thank you Maz. The running of the Art and Book Fairs side-by-side worked very well and the patrons loved being able to move between the two events.

A special thanks also goes to Charlie Blomfield and John Hamilton who organised all the set-up and running of the Book Fair which was very busy on both days.

Bega Rotary extends a huge thank you to the following sponsors for their generous support: Bega Show Society, Bega Cheese, Big W, Coles, Dan Murphy's, Design Post, Frill Neck Framing, Inkwell Art Supplies and Woolworths. A huge thank you also to all the Artists, Wendy Neville for the donation of many of her art pieces, everyone who donated books, and of course the many Rotarians, friends and family who volunteered their time for the hours of sorting, setting up, sales and packing up. It means a lot to us as this is our major fundraiser and there is uncertainty about when we can hold our next event because of the upcoming redevelopment of the showgrounds. We’ll just have to make it bigger and better!

Support for new aged care employees

Recently some Bega Rotary Club members became aware of the critical need for staff at our local Sapphire Coast Community Aged Care Ltd (SCCAC) facilities.

Now a Rotary Club Project aims to support strategies to increase the number of qualified aged care workers, particularly those recruited from overseas on special visas.

This project has now expanded to include the Rotary Clubs of Bega, Merimbula and Pambula. Eighteen ‘Welcome Packages’ have been made up and delivered to SCCAC. Each package aims to make new overseas employees (sourced by SCCAC) feel welcome on their arrival in the Bega Valley and hopefully encourage them to want to stay working for SCCAC.

The ‘Welcome packages’ include a bunch of fresh flowers, a food hamper, personal requirements such as sunscreen and insect repellent, information about services and attractions in the Bega Valley and an invitation for a tour of the Bega Valley with a host from the ‘Adopt a Family’ Program. We are very grateful to the local businesses and organisations such as pharmacies and Sapphire Community Pantry that have made very generous donations to the Project.

In addition to the welcome Packages, household items such as furniture and kitchen items are also being sourced and delivered to new employees because their rental properties are usually unfurnished.

If you meet one of these new employees in the community, please make them feel welcome!

For more information contact our President through the 'Contact Us' button near the top of this page.

Generous donations from our local pharmacies.

Bega Rotary members Geoff Purss and Jeff Tipping helping with the collection and delivery of household furniture items for our new aged care workers.

Thank you for successful Bookfair

Thank you to everyone involved for a very successful Rotary Bookfair - volunteers, patrons and especially Bega Public School.

We meet In Person

Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.

Grand Hotel

236 Carp Street
Bega , NSW 2550
Australia

Ordinary meetings: 2nd & 4th Thursdays each month. Breakfast meetings: First Thursday of each month, 7.30am. Vocational or Social meeting: 3rd Thursday. (See calendar for details of all meetings)