General News
8 July, 2025
Here’s cheers to Rotarians
THE Cairns Show will toast its 120th birthday this July with a sparkling new bar after a $125,000 makeover by the Rotary Club of Cairns West.
Built by club members in 1971, ‘The Rotary Bar’ has undergone its first major renovation in more than 50 years.
The longstanding and much-loved bar has been stripped back to its frame and rebuilt with a new roof, stainless-steel benches and epoxy flooring, largely courtesy of a $100,000 Queensland Government Gambling Community Benefit Fund grant and hundreds of volunteer hours.
“We’ve been here every day except Sundays for the past three months,” club president Sam Dyer said.
“Anything that didn’t need a licence we did ourselves, including two coats on every surface, new furniture, even learning to lay epoxy. It’s been a real labour of love.”
Around $75,000 of the grant went into the structure, with an additional $50,000 in club funds upgrading burger vans, coffee trailers and medical equipment.
“When you factor in donated labour, the value is closer to $125,000,” secretary Col Craig said.
“A crew of 13 members, and a few honorary helpers, painted every breeze-block and rebuilt the storage room so our gear stays clean between events.”
The Rotary Bar will be put through its paces when an estimated 70,000 patrons hit the grounds for the three-day Cairns Show, on July 17-19.
Cairns Show Association president Ian Allen said the facility was a credit to the club and to a partnership spanning five decades.
“Rotary has stuck with the Cairns Show through thick and thin,” he said. “They’ve turned this into a fantastic venue that showcases community spirit.”
