Rotary rides on

Ashleigh Hill-Buxton
AN outstanding community fund-raising initiative, the annual Rotary District 9820 Ride to Conference has celebrated its 10th year and with it, has experienced great success.
From its humble beginnings in 2001 with just 27 riders participating, the event has slowly grown over the years to see an average of 50 participants since 2008.
Since its inception, the ride has raised approximately $650,000 for various charities and community groups.
Riders are asked to arrange their own individual sponsors, however various local businesses such as Yellow Brick Road, Pakenham Produce, Bendigo Bank’s Lang Lang Community Bank Branch and Yarra Valley Cycles have donated either money to the cause or resources to make the ride a possibility.
Life Education Victoria, Rotary Centenary House Traralgon, Disaster Aid Australia and Rotary Flood Relief were selected as this year’s recipients of the fund-raising money, with the event raising approximately $60,000 to assist these causes.
Participants come from various Rotary clubs throughout the district, with Pakenham Rotary Club providing three riders and four support staff from its 43 members to this year’s event, which was held from Sunday 20 March until Friday 25 March. Among the remaining 47 riders were 13 of the 14 foreign exchange students participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange.
Three of the riders have been participating in the event since its inception, with Pakenham Rotarians Helen and Peter Van Diemen among them.
“All the Rotary clubs in the district participate,” said Jim Armstrong, chair of the Rotary Ride to Conference committee and former president of Pakenham Rotary Club.
“There have been consistently around 50 riders in the last four years.”
This year, the 50 riders and 12 support crew traveled over five and a half days in a 600km loop that started and ended in Shepparton, stopping overnight at Heathcote, Euroa, Shepparton, Rochester and Kyabram.
The team finished the ride at the Maude Street Mall where they were received by the Mayor of Greater Shepparton, Geoff Dobson and District 9820 Governor David Piper.
“All riders are expected to ride the full distance,” said Mr. Armstrong.
Following the ride is the annual district conference, where members from Rotary groups throughout Gippsland and the Mornington Peninsula meet to showcase their accomplishments throughout 2010 and make plans for future events.