Rotarians from Rotary Clubs throughout the Blue Mountains will gather in Glenbrook Park on Saturday, April 24 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Rotary's arrival in Australia in 1921.
The first Australian Rotary Club was chartered in Melbourne on April 21, 1921, closely followed by the Rotary Club of Sydney a few weeks later on May 17.
Celebrations have been happening all over Australia since the beginning of the year and Saturday, April 24, will be a special day for local Rotary clubs - Lower Blue Mountains, Springwood, Central Blue Mountains, Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise, Katoomba and Blackheath - as they enjoy music, gifts for children and traditional sausage sandwiches in Glenbrook Park.
The program will commence with a Rotary flag raising ceremony at the Glenbrook Park flag pole area at 10am. Attention will then shift to the stone steps next to the Visitor Information Centre at the north west corner of the park.
Young musicians Jerrah Patston and Isaac Grouse will provide popular music until 11 am - and Lower Blue Mountains major sponsors Blaxland Tiles and Bathrooms will distribute free gifts to children.
Representatives of Blue Mountains Rotary Clubs will arrive in a spectacularly sign written red double decker bus for a brief official program at 11am.
The program will feature an addresses from Rotary District Governor David Clark of Penrith, Lower Blue Mountains President Michele Ellery and Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill.
The celebration will conclude with a traditional Rotary 'feast' of sausage sandwiches - for the price of a gold coin donation.
Rotary remains the senior service club organisation in Australia with 26,752 members in 1067 Clubs spread throughout all States and Territories. Worldwide there are 1,182,601 members in 36,490 Rotary clubs in 220 countries.
To mark the Centenary of Rotary in the South Pacific Region, Rotary Clubs in Australia and New Zealand are funding a mass immunisation program in the Pacific Islands - 'Give Every Child a Chance' - to cover a variety of childhood diseases.