The Rotary Club of Bargara is part of District 9570 and is a small club of 15 members ( 2 female and 12 male) that meets at the Bargara Lakes Tavern at 6:30pm every Monday. Meals are available at the Tavern and members and guests are welcome.
Bargara is about 4.5 hours drive north of Brisbane and a 13 kilometre drive through lush sugarcane fields from Bundaberg. It is a popular coastal town famous for the loggerhead turtles that nest in this area. Bargara is the southernmost point of the Great Barrier Marine Park.
The initial formation of the club was undertaken by our parent club Bundaberg East in July 1978, The first meeting was held as a provisional club at the Dine-Inn restaurant in Bargara on 4th September 1978 with 20 members, The Charter Executive comprised of President - Keith Scott, Vice President - Bert Crawford and Secretary - Peter Wells along with the Treasurer Ron Gurney.
The club was admitted to Rotary International with the granting of its Charter on 21 Oct 1978. The presentation of the charter was conducted on 2nd Feb 1979 at the Bargara Golf Club and was attended by 180 visitors. Among the guests were fellow Rotarians from Brisbane, Gladstone, Maryborough, and Gayndah. Also attending the function was the Minister for Works and Housing - Mr C Wharton and the Mayor of Bundaberg - Mr C Nielsen and Mrs Nielsen.
In March, the club took its place as one of the host clubs at the Rotary District 960 conference held in Bundaberg and celebrating 50 years of Rotary involvement in the Bundaberg District. The conference included His Royal Highness Prince Uluvalu of Tonga and His Grace Archbishop Virgil Cpas of the Kerema District of Papua New Guinea. The conference also saw the last involvement with District 960 as the area was then amalgamated into District 957, having Maryborough as its southern most boundary.
The club began its fund raising projects with a Golf day held at Bargara Golf Club. The first of the events was held in April 1979. This continued to be an annual event on the golf calendar for many years and provided a good source of revenue for the club. The club also collected money in the early days by cleaning and collecting coins from the gas operated BBQ's on the Bargara foreshore.
Youth Merit awards were introduced into four local Primary Schools in the coastal region for Grade 6 students. These continue to be awarded at the end of each year with shields inscribed with successful male and female students. Alarm systems were installed in the homes occupied by sole pensioners.
On the international scene the club has supported an indigenous primary school student in a Mission school in Eastern Papua and supported another student in Zambia. The club has also hosted members of GSE teams from various parts of the world. The club has been involved in the Youth Exchange Program and has been host to students from Japan, Canada and the Philippines.
In terms of the local community the club has been involved in the cleaning and beautification of our coastal area in tree planting and the development of the parks and walkways.
