{"id":373785,"date":"2026-07-01T17:30:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=373785"},"modified":"2026-07-01T17:30:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:30:01","slug":"rotary-ready-for-another-big-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotary Ready For Another Big Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The Rotary Club of Kingaroy’s new Board for 2026-27 … Deb Hails, Mark Huston, Neil Moxey, Brian Tessmann, Neil Black, Bev Watter and Kerry Heit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 29, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The completion of the Rotary Park project in Haly Street is one of the main aims the Kingaroy Rotary Club has on its books for 2026-27.<\/p>\n

Incoming president, Past District Governor Neil Black, detailed the club’s priorities after being officially appointed president at the club’s recent changeover dinner.<\/p>\n

Neil said the the park could become a lasting symbol of Rotary’s commitment to the Kingaroy area and he hoped the project could be completed in time for the club’s 80th birthday celebrations in 2028.<\/p>\n

The changeover dinner was held in the Kingaroy Town Hall reception room on June 20, with guests including officials from District 9620 as well as a strong roll-up of local members and their partners.<\/p>\n

It was chaired by Geoff Hosking, who shared some history about the club at the start of the evening.<\/p>\n

Kingaroy is the oldest Rotary Club in the South Burnett, with its history dating to December 8, 1948.<\/p>\n

2025-26 Vice-President Mark Huston also acknowledged Rotary’s international reach, noting that 37,000 people from 140 countries attended the recent Rotary International convention in Taipei, meeting as a “unified family”.<\/p>\n

“When we link hands globally, we become an unstoppable force for good,” he said.<\/p>\n

A highlight of the evening was the recognition of two new Paul Harris Fellows:\u00a0 Dianne Kowalski and Pat Pitt.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Paul Harris Fellowship honours Rotary founder and Chicago lawyer Paul Harris who began the movement in 1905.<\/p>\n

The recognition is the highest honour a club can bestow on a person and acknowledges outstanding service to the community.<\/p>\n

Dianne has been a quiet worker behind the scenes for Kingaroy Rotary for many years, while Pat has diligently worked alongside her husband Ray at many Rotary projects and events.<\/p>\n

Ray received the same honour in 2024.<\/p>\n

Outgoing president Brian Tessmann thanked his fellow Board members for their support over the past 12 months.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said the Rotary symbol was a wheel, but the members were the cogs … “without the cogs the wheel doesn’t work”.<\/p>\n

Total donations to the community over 2025-26 totalled more than $16,300, including support to schools, the Salvation Army and the Glendon Street bus stop bench project.<\/p>\n

Another round of donations, totally more than $10,000, were approved at the club’s June Board meeting which would support groups including the South Burnett Pantry, South Burnett Care and the Rotary Club of Goroka (PNG).<\/p>\n

Income came from running barbecues, catering, calendar sales, working at the Nanango Races, donations, Containers For Change and the Christmas Carnival ham wheel.<\/p>\n

Incoming president Neil Black said the club priorities for 2026-27 were to strengthen the club’s membership; increase Rotary’s visibility in the community by celebrating the club’s achievements; and completing the improvements at Rotary Park.<\/p>\n

The 2026-27 Kingaroy Rotary Board are: president Neil Black, vice-president Brian Tessmann, secretary Deb Hails, treasurer Kat Butcher, youth service Kerry Heit, community Bev Watter, club administration Mark Huston and membership Neil Moxey\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neil has experience in the president’s role, having served previously in 2012-13 and 2023-24.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
District 9620 Governor-elect Ian Hope, a member of the Brisbane Northside club, with Leslie Smith (Paddington club) and Past District Governor Eric Wood (Caboolture club)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
LEFT: District Governor-elect Ian Hope places the chains of office on newly appointed Kingaroy president Neil Black
RIGHT: Neil with South Burnett Mayor Kathy Duff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Dianne Kowalski was made a Paul Harris Fellow for her quiet work behind the scenes and support of Rotary and the wider community for more than 35 years … from left, Area Governor Bob Minchin and Dianne Kowalski with club members Cathy Roberts and Deb Hails who read out Dianne’s citation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Pat Pitt was acknowledged as a Paul Harris Fellow for her “sleeves rolled up” help and commitment to Kingaroy Rotary for the past 15 years alongside her husband Ray … from left, Deb Hails, Pat Pitt, Cathy Roberts and Area Governor Bob Minchin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
LEFT: 2025-26 Kingaroy Rotary Club president Brian Tessmann and his wife Dixie\u00a0 RIGHT:\u00a0 2025-26 Kingaroy Rotary Club vice-president Mark Huston and his wife Margaret<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Former club presidents Geoff Hosking and Ron Roberts … Geoff chaired the evening while Ron conducted one of the major toasts on the night, ie. to partners and friends of Rotary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Former club president Lex Petersen and fellow members Marian Petersen and Cathy Roberts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kerry and Cr Ros Heit … Kerry was appointed Youth Service Director for 2026-27<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kingaroy’s Town Hall Reception Room was the perfect venue for the Rotary Changeover Dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The completion of the Rotary Park project in Haly Street is one of the main aims the Kingaroy Rotary Club has on its books for 2026-27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":373786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1901,3],"tags":[21],"yoast_head":"\nRotary Ready For Another Big Year - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The completion of the Rotary Park project in Haly Street is one of the main aims the Kingaroy Rotary Club has on its books for 2026-27.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rotary Ready For Another Big Year - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The completion of the Rotary Park project in Haly Street is one of the main aims the Kingaroy Rotary Club has on its books for 2026-27.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T07:30:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260620rotary01.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/\",\"name\":\"Rotary Ready For Another Big Year - southburnett.com.au\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T07:30:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-01T07:30:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\"},\"description\":\"The completion of the Rotary Park project in Haly Street is one of the main aims the Kingaroy Rotary Club has on its books for 2026-27.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/\",\"name\":\"southburnett.com.au\",\"description\":\"Kingaroy and South Burnett News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\",\"name\":\"Anne Miller\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rotary Ready For Another Big Year - southburnett.com.au","description":"The completion of the Rotary Park project in Haly Street is one of the main aims the Kingaroy Rotary Club has on its books for 2026-27.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rotary Ready For Another Big Year - southburnett.com.au","og_description":"The completion of the Rotary Park project in Haly Street is one of the main aims the Kingaroy Rotary Club has on its books for 2026-27.","og_url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/","og_site_name":"southburnett.com.au","article_published_time":"2026-07-01T07:30:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":740,"height":460,"url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260620rotary01.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anne Miller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne Miller","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/","name":"Rotary Ready For Another Big Year - southburnett.com.au","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-01T07:30:01+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-01T07:30:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae"},"description":"The completion of the Rotary Park project in Haly Street is one of the main aims the Kingaroy Rotary Club has on its books for 2026-27.","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/07\/01\/rotary-ready-for-another-big-year\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/","name":"southburnett.com.au","description":"Kingaroy and South Burnett News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae","name":"Anne Miller","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373785"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373785"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":373842,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373785\/revisions\/373842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}