By KATH GANNAWAY
FROM the first light of dawn, to the going down of the sun, they were remembered.
At Yarra Junction, Millgrove and Warburton, hundreds of people from school children to returned servicemen and women, recited The Ode at dawn and warmed their hands as they waited in line for a ‘gunfire’ breakfast, marched through the towns, enjoyed a game of two-up, and just caught up.
Tributes were paid in poetry, personal stories, music, song, prayer and with the laying of wreaths.
Jacob Tomlinson and his young family, were typical of a generation, standing in remembrance alongside hundreds of people, young and old, at the Millgrove dawn service.
As with many, he was there to pay personal tribute, as well as to honour all those who have fought and died in wars from the Boer War to Afghanistan.
Mr Tomlinson said from the time he received his great-grandfather’s (Fred Edwards) medals – found in a tin in his garage after his death, he had attended the Anzac Day service.
At Yarra Junction, 99-year-old Rita Mentiplay sat with the Upper Yarra Ladies’ Legacy group and sang along to God Save The Queen, played beautifully by the Upper Yarra Secondary College Concert Band.
And, in Warburton, local primary school children were presented with a book as a memento of their participation in the ceremony.
Every year, the Upper Yarra communities grow stronger in their remembrance of those who served, and serve their country.
