Rotary Club of Port Fairy Open Gardens Expo - a great success!
On Sunday 12th November 2023, the Rotary Club held its annual Open Gardens Expo and 2023 was rated as the "best ever".
Around 325 paying guests enjoyed four magnificent gardens located in Port Fairy, Rosebrook and Illowa - all uniquely different but a credit to their owners.
The Club is grateful for the generosity of all of the garden owners who willingly opened up their properties on the day and particularly to Rosebrook Manor which also doubled as the place where refreshments were served.
A special thanks is extended to Debra and David Digby (Port Fairy), Jill and Darryl Edwards (Port Fairy), David and Linda Handscombe (Ark Gardens - Illowa) and Aaron Sweet and Blain Collins (Rosebrook Manor, Rosebrook) for opening their gardens to the public.
A small band of dedicated Rotarian and friends helped man the gates on the day and to assist with the catering on the day. Organiser, Jill Gleeson and her band of helpers were kept busy all day keeping up the food for the guests.
Net profit is expected to be around $8000 after out-going costs are finalised for printing and catering.
At the end of the day, the Rotary Club's "Spring Raffle" was also drawn from a cache of around 790 tickets.
The winners were:
- 1st Prize: $200 voucher from Brooke's Hardware won byTrafford Morgan-Payler (Port Fairy).
- 2nd prize of a $70 Weerite Florist voucher went to Debbie Haberfield (Dennington) and
- 3rd prize of a $40 voucher from Rebecca's Cafe was won by Erin Giblin (Melbourne).
The raffle raised around $1110 for the Club.
Proceeds from all Club events are put towards Rotary community projects and a focus in 2023/24 will be targeted to support mental health issues.
