club history

SPONSOR CLUB
Rotary Club of Hobart
RI CHARTER GRANTED
2 May 1961
INAUGURAL PRESIDENT
C. Dwight Brown
MEMBERSHIP AT CHARTER
26
Rotary International Director
John Thorne 2002 – 2004

Past District Governors
Athol Corney; John Thorne; Maurice Hill (with Devonport North)

Paul Harris Fellows
Barry Auchincloss (dec); Stan Barnet; Ian Barton; Rod Batchelor; George Brothers (dec); Derek Chambers; Hellen Chambers; Brian Claridge; David Clinch; Frank Clinch(dec); John Cogan (dec); Jim Colley: Robin Cooper; Athol Corney; Heather Emmett; Michael Fintor; Ian Geard; Peter Hewitt; Jenny Kerrison; Rex Kerrison; Wally Mainsbridge (dec); Tony Moore; Howie Oh; Terry Proctor (dec); Jill Savell;  Roslyn Teirney; John Thorne, AM; Velja Urosevic; Chris Webster; Doug Williams (dec); Andy Wilson; Rex Wilson, OAM; David Woods (dec); Murray Yaxley (dec).

Club Bell
The club bell is unique, being made of brass and bearing the signatures of all Charter members. The bell was donated by the late Harold Sargison, a craftsman known worldwide for his work in silver.

Club Banner
A drawing of the bell adorned the first club banner. In 1972, a new banner (link to the image) designed by Lynette Wilson was introduced featuring a map of Tasmania, a Rotary wheel and crossed sprigs of flowering Blue Gum, the Tasmanian floral emblem.  This was used on club publications until 2018, when Rotary International re-branded and imposed the same corporate image for all Rotary clubs world-wide.

Meeting Venues
In the early years meetings were held at … and then until 1998 at Valley Lodge, Lenah Valley. Since 1999 meetings have been held at the Black Buffalo Hotel in North Hobart.

Sponsorship of New Clubs
The club, largely through the efforts of Denis Donovan and Chris Webster, sponsored the formation of the Rotary Club of Salamanca, a very successful and dynamic breakfast club.

The club also sponsored the formation of three successful local Probus clubs, through the efforts of Murray Yaxley and John Thorne.

Fundraising
The club has been consistent over the years in its efforts to raise funds. Many small efforts such as BBQs, parking cars, chocolate wheel raffles, raffles, meeting fines, manning entry gates to events and others have contributed essential funds for the club. However, four major activities stand out.
  1. A Travel and Leisure Show, under the guidance and organisation of John Cogan, ran on an annual basis for 10 years. This raised substantial funds for the club and still forms an important basis of the club’s financial assets.
  2. A successful undercover Sunday market at a supermarket venue ran for several years until its demise with the introduction of Sunday opening hours.
  3. Various events held at the home of Derek and Hellen Chambers at their Lyndhurst home provided the club with significant income.
  4. Recently the introduction of a weekly Sunday market at a venue close the club’s meeting venue is promising to be another significant source of income.
For more details see our Activities page.

Service
The Club has been active in all areas of service. Of particular note have been services and support to youth, community needs, vocational and overseas aid in support of disasters and official Rotary projects such as End Polio Now and Rotarians Against Malaria.

​Our 2019-20 Annual Report is available here.  

For more details see our Activities page.



Rotary Club of North Hobart