INNER Wheel Swan Hill have celebrated their 60th birthday with a lunch held for past and current members.
About 50 attendees joined in for the occasion on Saturday, to recognise the work Inner Wheel provides for the community and celebrate their fellowship.
District president Lesley Glover made the trip to Swan Hill to speak to the audience, who also heard from Mayor Les McPhee.
Club secretary Lyn Ward said members from across the district’s six clubs came to celebrate the anniversary.
“Past members Wendy Rayment and Julie Truelove travelled from Melbourne, and they were delighted to mingle with club members and the meet new members,” she said.
“Unfortunately, past president of our club Maren Chandler, who is now residing in Melbourne, was unable to attend.”
But it wasn’t just former members joining in, club president Wendy Witty explained that even those outside the district attended the lunch.
“A lot of people weren’t in a rush to get home,” Ms Witty said.
“We had people lingering and catching up long into the afternoon.
“We had someone from the next district over travel all the way up from the Wandin club, in the Yarra Valley, to come celebrate with us.”
The lunch was catered by the Echuca Discoveries Swan Hill catering team, who provided a roast meal before a dessert of pavlova or trifle.
Ms Ward said the provided lunch was a hit.
“We had roast lamb or roast chicken, and so many vegetables,” she said.
“Nobody went home hungry. The plates were chockers.”
For Ms Witty the 60th anniversary was a time to reflect on the good the club has achieved and the changes it’s gone through in the last decade.
“Our club has gone through its highs and lows,” she said.
“There was a time not long ago where we were down to only eight members.
“We just had to keep plugging away and were eventually able to bring more women in.
“It’s great for us to have a couple of younger girls involved at the moment, they bring these great, fresh ideas which is fantastic.
“I feel like it’s really rejuvenated the club.”
Once the celebrations ceased, it was straight back to fundraising for club members, who have raised well more than $10,000 for cord blood research, Inner Wheel’s National Project.
This is on top of the more than $40,000 the club fundraised through their special movie nights and morning movies, enabling Inner Wheel to help those in need.
Projects include the purchasing of specialist equipment for Swan Hill District Health and donations to the Cancer Council’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea among many others.
The Inner Wheel club meets monthly, at 11am on every second Thursday of the month.
