Wagga Rotary women recognised for service, 18 years after the first female member

Since then, 30 women have joined the club, with three former presidents among its current nine female members.

This year, the men of the club got together to surprise those nine members with Rotary International pins recognising women's participation, donating funds for the gesture out of their own pockets.

Ellen Brasier, who has been with the branch for about 13 years, said the club had "blended" well with the introduction of more women through the years.

"We work together on whatever projects that are going, it's not a women's project or a men's project, it's a joint project," Ms Brasier said.

"We just all see something that needs to be done and we do it."

Rotary member Elaine Almond said the women had brought with them some additional ideas around projects to help disadvantaged children, with the men always happy to pitch in.

"Most of the men that have ever talked to me have said it's the best thing that's happened to the club, having women in the club because we come with a different perspective," she said.

Ms Almond said Rotary had benefited from increased flexibility, with weekly attendance in previous years compulsory for all members.

"That was fine for men but the women of course were at home doing the homework with the children, feeding them, bathing them ... now it's not as rigid and I think in the last couple of years Rotary has realised that if it doesn't become more flexible it won't have newer, younger members," she said.

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Mary Ann Kelly has been with the branch for about 15 years after first attending as a guest speaker.

She said she wished more women knew about the opportunities rotary presented to make a difference in people's lives.

"What we do as rotarians is we do it as a group ... to try and do something individually it's really hard but as a group we're pretty dynamic," she said.

Vida Smart joined alongside her husband about six years ago and said they enjoyed being able to give back while running a business.

"It's great the number of people you meet that you don't ordinarily connect with," she said.

She said the group was like a family and pitched in whenever a member was going through a difficult time, and as a younger member of the club she had been inspired to see the energy older members bring to fundraisers and events.