Rotary Club of Noble Park-Dingley marked its 60th birthday in style last month.
More than 70 Rotarians and friends lunched at Dingley Hotel on Sunday 22 June, sharing tales from the club’s long history of service.
These included its 60-year tradition of junior citizenship awards for secondary-school students.
The club also funds annual hearing and vision testing for primary school children, an annual international student exchange and books for primary school libraries.
Dingley Hotel was festooned in blue, yellow and white balloons to mark the inception of Noble Park Rotary 60 years ago.
In 2020, rhe Noble Park club merged with Dingley Rotary to form the current entity.
On stage, decades-long stalwarts Keith Maxwell and Kath Williams who started with Noble Park Rotary and Steve Brough and Val Glenn from Dingley Rotary shared their recollections.
Noble Park-Dingley Rotarian Greg Penaluna was among the loyal members who enjoyed the milestone.
“It is always a good sign of a successful event when no one is in a hurry to leave.”
One of the club’s most lasting acts was helping to build the ANZAC Memorial in Marcus Road Dingley, and to support the landmark’s annual ANZAC Day dawn service.
At the end of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Rotarians pitched in to help clean the athletes village dwellings.
Internationally, the club funds toilets, deep-water wells and a mobile medical clinic in Moradabad, India.
It also provides a scholarship for a student in Tanzania, funds upgrades to the Thai Child Development Foundation School in Thailand and has built a small school in Mape, Timor-Leste.
