Outgoing President Peter Thompson has had a fantastic year highlighted by the evening’s presentations.

“The Club has worked extremely well this year and our focus on reducing costs of our inputs has resulted in more disposable income enabling us to be a bit more generous this year,” Peter said.

The major recipient this year was a donation to Western Care Lodge in Orange for assistance in refurbishing some of the rooms.

Residents of the Parkes Shire are among the major users of this fantastic facility.

Jan Savage from Western Care Lodge was on hand to receive the cheque and seemed to be very pleasantly surprised by the amount which was $10,000.

President Peter and incoming President Jenny Jewell then presented cheques for $2000 each to St Vincent de Paul Parkes, Can Assist Parkes, Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal Parkes, Anglicare Parkes for Christmas Hampers and Uniting Church Parkes for Timor Leste projects.

Over the past year the Club has distributed just under $40,000 to local organisations, and to Rotary projects in Australia as well as to Rotary’s own charity’s the Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus.

The Club welcomed two new members on the night being Ray White Real Estate Principal Tracie Robertson and Shire Councillor and local policeman Wally Biles.

The recipient of the Arthur Roeder Award for Club Rotarian of the year went to a very deserving Colin Offner.

It was a big night for the Offner family as President Peter in one of his last jobs before handing over the reins, awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship to Colin’s wife Janet.

Although not a Rotarian, Janet has made a significant contribution to the work of the club for a number of years.

The Changeover was conducted by Past District Governor John Egan from Wagga Wagga

Jenny Jewell was inducted as the 79th President of Parkes Rotary Club and will hold the position for 12 months.

She will be only the second lady to take on the responsibility.

Parkes Rotary Club is part of District 9700 which is made up of 40 clubs across regional NSW.