Hundreds of people enjoyed the Songs at the Silos event in 2025.
Photo by
Emily Donohoe
The Rochester Rotary Club has been honoured as Community Group of the Year for the remarkable Songs at the Silos project.
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The award is a testament to the group’s dedication, resilience and unwavering service to the Rochester community.
The club has made a profound difference in the community, particularly during the 2022 floods, when all five group members stepped up with extraordinary compassion and courage.
One member initiated a blanket appeal to support vulnerable community members and rolled up their sleeves in the kitchen to provide meals for residents, volunteers and emergency workers.
Other Rotary members provided support by sourcing bedding, heaters and essential supplies to help the community during the recovery period.
The club members’ actions during the aftermath of the floods embody Rotary’s highest ideal, Service Above Self.
In 2024, with only three members remaining, the club demonstrated leadership by recognising the community’s need for connection, and from there conceived Songs at the Silos.
The arts-based event came to life on March 8, 2025, and drew hundreds of people to the town for the event.
National opera singers performed popular songs while the event itself delivered social, emotional and cultural benefits that uplifted the community’s residents who were still processing the impact of the floods.
Rochester's own Evie Scoble, singers Alex Lapina, Adam Miller, Karen Van Spall, Eleanor Blythman, Mikey Lapina and Michael Lapina at Songs at the Silos.
Photo by
Emily Donohoe
The Rotary club inspires the community by showing that even thesmallest group can spark change through compassion, resilience and community leadership.
The Rochester Rotary Club and other award recipients will be formally recognised for their achievements at the Rochester Australia Day breakfast on Monday, January 26.
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