Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (Ryda)
The Ryda Program has many similarities to the U-Turn The Wheel (UTTW) Program which our club piloted in 2024 with students from Queanbeyan, Karabar and Googong schools. The decision to switch to the Ryda Program was made when RSE contacted our club early in 2025 to advise that they had secured the Sutton Road facility and had commenced discussions with one of the local high schools. As our club had already worked with three of the local high schools in 2024, we decided this would be a good opportunity to see Ryda in action. It was also agreed within our club that it would be too confusing for schools if we were to run UTTW and Ryda in the same year.
So in June 2025, our club assisted the Road Safety Education (RSE) organisation (rse.org.au) to deliver the Ryda Program at the Sutton Road Training Centre. Queanbeyan, Karabar and Jerrabomberra High Schools sent years 10 and 11 students, and a little over 150 students participated over the 2-day Program. Members of our Club assisted as Rotary Guides during the 2 days.
Using the Sutton Road facility enables more students to be accommodated in the Program, between 150 to 180 per day. The facility can also provide live demonstrations of vehicle stopping distances, which sends a very strong message. The Ryda Program is also able to bring a presenter with a disability (usually in a wheelchair) which also sends a powerful message. Teachers at each school can also access an on-line Learning Management System to reinforce driver safety following the driver training program.
Our club is now working with other Rotary clubs in our area to jointly assist RSE to deliver Ryda on 12 August 2026.
Projects and Events
FLORIADE GNOMES September to October 2026
Every year at Floriade, Rotary Club of Murrumbidgee Canberra runs the Gnomes workshop project at Floriade. Our Club takes on “ownership” of a weekend, however, this year we will only take on Sunday 27th September.
In 2024 and 2025, we were there from 9:30am to 4pm on the second weekend of the event, selling gnomes and helping people of all ages to get their wonderful creations ready to take home. It was beautiful weather and a very busy weekend! The 2026 Floriade website is available here. Hopefully we'll see you this year!
QUEANBEYAN MARKETS
- EVERY 3rd SUNDAY OF THE MONTH
Queanbeyan Rotary runs the BBQ stall at these markets every month, selling soft drinks, sausage sandwiches or sausages on a stick, steak sandwiches, and bacon and egg rolls. The Markets have now returned to the Queanbeyan Park (near Morisset Street), with more than 80 stall-holders, so lots to see.
Open from 9am to 2pm. Make sure to check facebook for times and locations because sometimes the Market moves to the Queanbeyan Showgrounds!
TEEN CLINIC
Our Club has made a commitment to cover the monthly costs of the pharmacy bill for this Clinic, which provides a very necessary service to the youth of our area. The Clinic provides a confidential counselling service, and where they can’t assist, they refer the teens to appropriate service providers. The Teen Clinic web site provides more information, click here.
QUEANBEYAN SHOW NOVEMBER 2026
Queanbeyan Rotary Clubs have been manning the gates at the Queanbeyan Show, for the Queanbeyan Show Society, for at least10 years now.
This is one of our biggest jobs, as it requires at least three (some years four) gates to be manned for two days, close to 250 hours of effort!
It is clear that each year, the Show has been getting bigger and better than any in the past, with the 2025 topping all previous Shows, with even bigger attendance numbers, and lots of new acts. We expect 2026 to be even better yet, and if you join the Queanbeyan Show Society, you get lots of benefits, so check out their web site, and then make sure you come along and have lots of fun! For more information, check out this link.
RCQ CARES FOR THE GARDENS AT HOME IN QUEANBEYAN
Starting in January 2024, our club took on the job of maintaining the gardens at HOME in Queanbeyan. Our first job was to dismantle and store the Christmas Nativity set, which was interesting, and took more time than expected. The grass was nearly knee-high, took about 2 hours to mow, and a few of the trees needed some significant pruning. Of course, we had come prepared with the right tools and seven of us to do the work, so we filled the green bins to capacity and then scheduled our return visits. We all were very pleased to see the difference in the grounds when we'd finished!
Men’s Health Education Rural Van (MHERV)
This year, on 6 and 7 March 2026, our Club once again hosted the Van and the accompanying Registered Nurse (RN), Kath Wyborn, on their visit to Queanbeyan. On the two days of the MHERV visit, the van was located in the Kmart car park, so many thanks to the management and staff at Kmart for their generous support.
The van travels around rural areas in NSW, stopping usually for a couple of days in each location, for around 8 months of the year. Whilst men are the key target in the rural areas, women are also very welcome.
The RN provides free checks of blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar levels; and also a quick chat about general health. A 10 minute visit could save you two trips to the doctor and a trip to the Pathology as well, not to mention a lot of money!!
For our the visits we sponsored in 2024 and 2025, we had more than 150 people visit the RN, with several having very disturbing results, including some requiring immediate medical assistance. This year, we tested just over 90 people, so they are now all more comfortable in knowing their health status.
We look forward to hosting the Van once again in 2027!
For more information, check out this link.
ANZAC DAY BREAKFAST
Queanbeyan Rotary was asked by Legacy to cook bacon and eggs for breakfast on Anzac Day 2026 at Walsh's Hotel in Queanbeyan. Naturally, we once again found a few people crazy enough to be available at 4am!! So, quite a few of us were there to help with the food prep, cooking, and then serving.
This was the third time we've been involved in this activity and we felt that we were better prepared compared to the last two years. Past experience has shown us that it takes a long time to cook breakfast for 350 people, and we were expecting quite a rush once the Dawn Service concluded. Our theory was that that nearly everyone who comes along can smell the bacon - but they also want to come in out of the cold!
We were pretty proud of ourselves that we were up to the challenge of cooking the bacon and eggs fast enough to keep the serving line moving!
We are looking forward to seeing you there next year!
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