|
|
Rotary Club of
Caloundra |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
__ HISTORY _Chartered 12 October 1954
The RC of Nambour sponsored RC of Caloundra in 1954 with 21
charter members. Our charter president was Ben Bennett (see below for more
information on Ben Bennett). Early projects
included: Scholarship bursary Surf safety beach notices Renovations to Lady Wilson Park Large draughts board at Stillwater Beach Tree planting in CBD Town swimming pool Caloundra cricket team sponsorship Piano for Girl Guides in 1959 Maleny Rotary park Bell’s Creek picnic area University QLD inter-house support School of Arts repainting National fitness club QATB stretcher trolleys Keep Caloundra Clean Aust Paraplegic Games Lighthouse Reserve park Centaur Park headland memorial & picnic area ~ 1967 Community youth support scheme CADET Skillshare Steam railway engine restoration at Happy Valley North Caloundra (Dicky Beach) Surf Club Meals on Wheels Active supporters of Donations in Kind Established Probus Club of Pelican Waters ~ Mar 2008 Picnic shelter and commemorative sign at Ben Bennett park
to celebrate club’s 50th anniversary ~ Oct 2004._ This was to honour our
charter president after whom the park was named. See below for further
information. Mobility Courtyard Garden (affectionately known as the
“MCG”) at Caloundra Hospital ~ 2007 PRESIDENTS
HONOUR ROLL
Club Objectives
& Activities: Early objectives of the club was to obtain new Members and
retain existing Members through the promotion of Rotary awareness. Whilst
recognising that funds were necessary for service projects, emphasis was also
given to fellowship. During the early years, “hands-on” projects were
preferred eg the Club would paint a building rather than give funds for a
tradesman. “Rotaryanns” was very much encouraged for member’s partners. Fund raising was achieved by street stalls (eg cakes,
plants, jams, etc), cook book publication & sale, dances, waste paper
collection, junk sales which developed into a white elephant auction at
Easter, progressive dinners, chook raffles, lucky envelopes, social outings,
fashion evenings, film premieres, basket lunches, businessmen’s lunches. The Club was involved with visits of Papuan school
children, Western QLD children visits to the coast, Caloundra High year 8
students attending a club meetings, sponsored career nights in both Caloundra
and Brisbane including tours to businesses. On the social side, the Club held or attended dances all
over the coast, had fireside meetings and social bus trips to Brisbane and
other destinations. Bt the 1990's, the Club was having a
difficult time. In particular membership had dropped to as low as 12 by
1998. In that year D.G. Henry Bodman urged strong action and the Club
responded magnificently. The Club made a number of important
decisions. Firstly in June 1999 it decided after 44 years to
convert from a Dinner Club to a Breakfast Club. Secondly the Club
transferred to its new meeting place at the Caloundra Golf Club.
Thirdly the Club opened its doors to women members and finally a membership
drive resulted in the Club winning the District's Membership Award by
boosting numbers to 38 men and women. Three years later, Lyn Gahan, the
Deputy Principal of Caloundra High School became the Club's first female
President. In recent years the Club has had many
successful projects and a very important one has been our Annual
Charity Golf Day that has raised over $50,000 in recent years. Now a vibrant Club once again, we
greatly look forward to the next 50 years of serving the Caloundra Community. Sponsored
Clubs: Rotary Club of Maleny in May 1959. A joint changeover with Maleny
occurred in 1962/63. Rotary Club of Caloundra Pacific in November 1977. Our Club has formed two Probus Clubs, one at Caloundra and
the other at_ Currimundi. Our club also surveyed the Beerwah/Glasshouse area in 1986
to set-up a new Club. However there was insufficient interest at the time. Ben Bennett
Botanical Park Project: On 12th October 2004 our club celebrated our 50th anniversary. A
special dinner was held during which we paid a tribute to our charter
president, Ben Bennett. This included a moving speech by Ben’s son, Ian
Bennett IPP Rotary Club of Woombye. As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations and in conjunction
with the Rotary International centennial in 2004/05, we have completed a
project at Ben Bennett botanical park in Caloundra. Our
project has provided a BBQ shelter, “rotary pavers” and a
sign which pays tribute to Ben Bennett at the entrance to Ben Bennett
Park at Queen St, Caloundra. This project was completed in partnership with
Caloundra City Council. We were keen to have a project where we could have lasting Rotary
recognition, and a park project lends itself with appropriate signage. Also,
in researching our history, one of our first projects included renovations to
Lady Wilson Park at Dicky Beach. Other park projects included: >
Large draughts board at Stillwater Beach
(now Bulcock Beach) >
Maleny Rotary park >
Bell’s Creek picnic area >
Lighthouse Reserve park >
Centaur Park headland picnic area (still
has minor Rotary recognition) >
Steam railway engine restoration at Happy
Valley >
Duck Hole creek park Over the years many of these parks have been redeveloped with no
visible Rotary signage. However there was a most over-whelming support to honour Ben Bennett,
and where better than at the park named after him. Ben had a strong interest
in flora & fauna and lobbied hard for the establishment of Ben Bennett
Park. On Tuesday 9th November 2004 we moved our breakfast meeting
to Ben Bennett Park to conduct the official opening and the unveiling of the
sign. We provided a bbq breakfast to members and guests. Deputy Mayor, Don
Smith PHF gave the official address on behalf of the Mayor. Special t’shirts
were printed for the occasion with the words “Rotary Caloundra - celebrating
50 years of community service”. Our special guests included Rotary International past president Clem
Renouf who continues to be a member of the RC of Nambour, who sponsored
our club back in 1954 and was a close friend of Ben Bennett. Other
special guests were Rod Robinson, honorary member of RC of Caloundra and our
longest serving member and friend of Ben Bennett. To complete the Rotary
family tree, we also had special guests from our daughter clubs; Mike Gregory
DGN from Rotary Club of Maleny (chartered 1959) and Win Fowles PAG from
Rotary Club of Caloundra Pacific (chartered 1977). A tree planting ceremony
was also conducted with each special guest planting a tree as a tribute to
our Rotary family. About Ben Bennett (1912
- 1987) His Family Life
Ben
Bennett was born in Nambour in 1912. His father worked for the ESA bank (Now ANZ).
The family moved to Brisbane in 1918, but returned to the Sunshine Coast in
1928 after
his parents purchased the Hotel Francis in Caloundra. Ben remained in
Brisbane where he attended Brisbane Boys College. On the completion of his
secondary schooling, Ben moved
to Sydney to work for the ESA Bank, but soon transferred back to Brisbane,
then to Landsborough
(1933) and then to Maleny (1934). It was here that he met his wife Millie,
the daughter of a Maleny dairy farmer. The couple would eventually have three
children Ian, Janet and Peter. At
the beginning of WWII, the couple purchased the Strand Theatre in Caloundra.
Soon after, Ben signed up as a reinforcement for the Second Tenth Artillery
and was posted to Cape York to man antiaircraft artillery after the fall of
Malaya. On his return to Caloundra, he and Millie continued run the theatre
until 1970 when they retired. Ben continued to work in the community until his death in 1987, aged 75 years. His Public Life
Ben became
actively involved in the Caloundra Community on his return from service in
WWII. His major contributions were as follows: > He
was charter president for the Rotary Club of Caloundra when it was formed in
1954. > He
served two terms as President, 1954/55 and 1962/63. > He
served two terms as and District Governor, 1974/75 and 1979/80 during his
service with Rotary Club of Caloundra. > He
was paid a tribute on the Club’s 25th anniversary for his unending
service having served in every club position and still being an active member > Organised
the only Rotary District 9600 conference to be held outside Queensland when
held in Port Moresby in 1980. Ben became governor for the second time in
1979-80 after nominee Alan Morris (RC of Boroko) withdrew from the position. > In
1986, he was honoured for his 32 years of service to the Rotary Foundation
with a 'Citation for Meritorious Service'. > He
was Chairman of the Caloundra Ambulance Committee for over 30 years and was
Zonal Representative on the State Council of the QATB for 13 years. > He
served as a Landsborough Shire Councillor from 1964 - 1970, during which time
he actively promoted native tree planting and recommended the preservation of
present day Ben Bennett Botanical Park. > After
his time in Council he became the Chairman of Caloundra's first tourist
committee. > He
was made Chairman of the Gardens in the Sun Committee and continued to
promote native plants on the Sunshine Coast. > He
was a life member of Metropolitan Caloundra Surf Club. This park
was named in honour of Ben Bennett, the person primarily responsible for its
preservation, and it is a testament to the many valuable contributions that
he made to the Caloundra community. Rotary has a proud history of improving the facilities of public parks in Caloundra. In recognition of the Clubs 50th anniversary a picnic shelter has been sponsored in honour of Ben Bennett. We received the following congratulatory comments from Mike Gregory DGN: To move your meeting
to celebrate the official opening was a master stroke and I was most
impressed by the program and the way everything ran like clockwork. I was
most honoured to be able to plant a tree on behalf of Maleny Club - I
reported fully to my Club on Wednesday evening but most of them had already
seen it on TV - so this was another big plus for Rotary PR, getting our deeds
publicised so that the community can see what we do. Our walk around
the park and coffee afterwards was the icing on the cake - a memorable day
for me - thankyou. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
top : Officials : activities : programs : contact : bulletin : history : links : home : |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
