September 10, 2019
Last weekend’s jam-packed program of local events failed to put a dent in attendances at Taabinga Rotary’s annual Bookarama book sale.
The annual bookfest draws hundreds of bibliophiles,who spend many happy hours browsing thousands of pre-loved books arranged on tables inside Kingaroy Town Hall.
This year Bookarama ran from 9:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday, and 9:00am to noon on Sunday.
Tthe crowd was thickest on Saturday morning as eager buyers flocked to the venue to take advantage of the biggest selection.
But on Sunday the event still attracted a good-sized crowd, who patiently milled around the tables in search of elusive tomes or stopped to chat with friends about lucky finds.
Bookarama is Taabinga Rotary Club’s major annual fundraiser.
Member Ralph Clark, who was helping out on Sunday, said he thought one of the nicest things about Bookarama was that the proceeds were always distributed back into the community to help other community groups complete their projects.
Last year the event raised a record $14,000.
This money was later shared between the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the Kingaroy Hospital Auxiliary and the Buy A Bale drought relief program.
This year, the beneficiaries of Bookarama’s eleventh outing will be CTC’s Emergency Relief Program, the Kingaroy Hospital Auxiliary, the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Rotary’s Polio Eradication program.
Ralph said while the final tally for 2019 probably won’t be known for a few days, he expected it would come close to matching last year’s record.
He thought this was amazing, considering how many other events were on the same weekend and how flat the local economy has been due to drought.
However, Bookarama has built up fans over the past decade.
Bookarama also caps off another busy year of activities for the club.
In the past 12 months this has included helping cater for BlazeAid volunteers who assisted with the clean-up after last October’s freak storms; running the bar at the annual Wine and Food In The Park Festival; and assisting with the Wondai Sprints.
The club also helped South Burnett Flight Savers raise funds for RACQ LifeFlight at their Easter in The Park event; organised the annual RYDA driver education program for local school students at Kingaroy TAFE; and assisted with catering at the annual Burrandowan Picnic Races.
People interested in joining Taabinga Rotary can make contact through their Facebook page
Related articles:
- Bumper Year For Bookarama (2018)
- Months Of Planning Pays Off (2017)
- Rotary Books Up A Record (2016)
- Rotary’s Bookarama Reaches Out To Farmers (2014)
- A Feast For Book Lovers (2013)
- Bookarama Raises $4500 (2012)
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