Would you like to become a member of the Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga?
We are always looking for members who believe in Service Above Self. Our Club welcomes adults of working age or retired. And, we want members who promote our Four-Way Test in their business and personal life:
- Is it the Truth?
- Is it Fair to all concerned?
- Will it build Good Will and better Friendships?
- Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?
The joining fee to our Club is $35. This is a once-only payment for your dinner badge and your Rotary induction package. The yearly fees, payable at the beginning of the Rotary year (July) is $230. This payment has 2 components - $180 for Club fees and $50 is a direct donation to the Rotary Foundation (the Rotary charity). Your fees cover the cost of our monthly magazine 'Rotary Down Under' delivered to your door. You can negotiate a payment plan with our Treasurer.
The weekly dinner meeting at the Commercial Club cost is $17. This buys you a 2 course meal, a ticket in the much sought-after door prize and a guaranteed high-quality guest speaker (visitors ALWAYS comment on the quality and variety of our speakers) . Our meetings run generally for 1.5 hours, and are lively and spirited with full membership participation.
There will be a couple of special events when the dinner tickets will be more expensive, and the menu will reflect that eg. our Changeover dinner. Several meetings during the year will be “barby” nights at a variety of locations, and the cost is usually $10 plus drinks at cost.
Our Club is renowned for our robust fellowship – from cocktail parties and wine tours to our famous ‘cultural weekend’ on the river, and family Australia Day barbeque brekkie in the park; we know how to have a good time! You will find that many life-long family friendships will spring from your membership in Rotary.
Also, there are plenty of opportunities to dig into your pocket if you want. Every week we have a sergeant’s session (rotated throughout the membership) where the sergeant-at-arms can fine you for your pocket change for almost anything. No-one is spared in this good humour activity and we raise significant funds for our projects. This year, our President is holding a monthly coin-toss – the losers (and the winners) donate their $2 coin to our Shelterbox project. And then we might have a slave auction, or a jumble sale, or an Art Show raffle. A group of our Rotarians are heading to India to facilitate an eye camp where hundreds of people will receive cataract surgery. Members choose what they would like to participate in. There is opportunity for Rotarians to become members of the Centurian Club by donating $100 to the Rotary Foundation every year. Centurians get to decide what special project this money will support, and this donation is tax deductible. Once again, this is not compulsory, but when you learn what the Foundation accomplishes we hope you would find it to be a great investment.
Our Club also has a more practical side. Our members enjoy ‘hands on’ projects that allow us to work directly in our community. Some of our ongoing projects are: reading to kindergarten children at our adopted primary school, manning the phones at Wagga Wagga Winter Warmth where items are collected for our local charities, offering youth leadership programs to our adopted secondary school, manning the kitchen at the Country Hope Holiday Camp for children living with cancer, cleaning up Red Hill Road twice a year for Clean Up Australia day and the Tidy Towns competition, cooking snags on the barby for the kids at Northcott, and transporting those kids with disabilities to swimming lessons. This year we hope to plant hundreds of trees to beautify the new section of Red Hill Road. Each year we hold a Book Fair (which involves a few nights of lively book sorting instead of a formal meeting), and an Art Competition which requires all hands on deck for a weekend or so. Once again, not everybody volunteers for everything – we choose when we can be involved.
A member has an obligation to attend a meeting every week, but not everyone can do that. Your goal should be to attend at least 50% of the meetings. If you participate in an authorised Rotary event such as Clean Up Australia Day, or Winter Warmth, this counts towards your attendance. There are members with many years of perfect attendance! If you cannot attend a meeting of our Club, you can ‘make up’ at another club in the area or wherever you are in the world - rest assured, you will be made feel very welcome. Making up at other clubs is one of the great benefits of being a Rotarian, as it is a nice way to see other cultures and meet new people. When members make up at another Club, they often exchange banners – most Clubs will display banners from all over the world. You can even do a make-up on the internet at one of the Rotary e-Clubs!!!
Members are assigned to a Club service committee and a Community service committee depending on their areas of interest. It is in these committees where planning takes place to carry out the projects that benefit the local and world communities. You will have the opportunity to develop your leadership skills at every level of Rotary if you choose.
We will invite you to our meetings. If you enjoy the experience, we will accept your application and consider you for membership.
If you think you would enjoy our company and could meet the commitment requirements of Rotary, we would love to hear from you. Please drop us a line using the contact page.
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