Visitors and locals alike can thank the Merriwa chapter of Rotary who have recently celebrated 50 years of profoundly contributing to life in the Upper Hunter town.

Rotary is in international service organisation with more than 34,000 member clubs and in excess of one million members.

The organisation is open to all and it aims to bring together business and professional leaders together in order to provide humanitarian aid and to advance goodwill around the world.

Visiting and local Rotarians recently helped celebrate at the Merriwa Sports Club with some travelling from places like Sydney and Nelson Bay.

According to Rotary District Governor Helen Ryan, Merriwa Rotary is situated within a huge district “covering an area from the east in Newcastle to southern Lake Macquarie, north to Murrurundi and then out west to Bourke”.

“I’ve been involved in Rotary for about 20 years (based in Nelson Bay),” she said.

“I really wanted to give something back to the community and it’s so much easier to give back when you’re part of a group.”

Local Merriwa farmer and Rotarian Robert Goodear agreed.

“I’ve been in Merriwa Rotary for approximately 10 years and it’s all good fun – being with good people and helping others, it’s rewarding,” he added.

Merriwa Rotary publicity officer Mark Smith is another veteran Rotarian and, for him, the organisation is also about helping the community.

“We’ve done a great many things, raising funds for charity, assisting young people in overseas exchange programs and funding student grants, but the three biggest achievements in my opinion would be the construction of the Merriwa Hospital Helipad, the Bicentennial Skate Park as well as the Rotary Playground,” he said.

“I was initially involved with Apex in the 1970s but had to leave for a few years due to family and work commitments. 

“I was then asked to join Rotary and I still enjoy being part of an organisation that has a good spirit and performs great community work.”

It was a great celebration.

Rotarian and farmer John Sparrow entertained the audience with a quick five-minute account of the club’s achievements that lasted 15 minutes.

His wife Elaine enthralled the audience with a painstakingly collected display of photos, pennants and historical documentation that gave a lovely insight into the club’s past.

The opinion of the crowd was unanimous and best summed up by Barry Ghersi and Bill Reynolds, who almost spoke in unison. 

“Being part of Merriwa Rotary is all about doing good work for the community”.

Merriwa Rotary has thankfully been a vital component of life in Merriwa for five decades and hopefully will still be contributing to rural life for at least a few more.