By Dongyun Kwon
The sky joined this year’s Anzac Day service, weeping for the national heroes who sacrificed their lives to protect the freedom of the country.
Despite the bad weather, Healesville and Yarra Glen RSLs were pleased to host Anzac Day services successfully with people of all ages.
Healesville’s dawn service started at 5.45am with a welcome and acknowledgement by Healesville RSL president Colette Shaw, followed by wreath laying.
Ms Shaw said she’s happy to see the number of participants in the service getting bigger every year.
“We’re really grateful to the community for supporting our veterans,” she said.
“We’re particularly delighted with the ever increasing number of younger people, from children through to teenagers, who are upholding the tradition and paying their respects to our veterans and serving members on Anzac Day.
“Special thanks to our bugler John Stanhope OAM who’s been playing a bugle for 50 years supporting us.”
Guest speaker Bruce Argyle, who is well known within the community for his dedication, spoke about his extended family members who were killed on the same day at Gallipoli in the First World War.
The Healesville High School Band played Abide with Me and two Healesville High School captains read the two poems In Flanders Field and Reply to In Flanders Field respectively.
The dawn service ended around 6.10am with poppy laying.
Yarra Glen’s Anzac Day service started with the march from Yarra Glen police station at 10.15am and the service commenced at around 10.30am when the crowd arrived at the Yarra Glen Cenotaph.
A new president of Yarra Glen RSL led the service for the first time.
The president, Michael Watkins, said the service went well although he made a couple of mistakes.
“I hope not too many people noticed,” he said.
After the opening address by Mr Watkins, Rev Matthew Smith from Yarra Glen St Paul’s Church conducted an invocation.
The service culminated with the active participation of local students from Yarra Glen Primary School and Christmas Hills Primary School along with Yarra Glen RSL vice president George Miller OAM’s Anzac Day poem recitation and Ted Bowling’s The Ode recitation.
The morning service was finished with floral tributes and poppy laying.
Yarra Ranges councillor Fiona McAllister attended both Healesville dawn service and Yarra Glen morning service.
Cr McAllister said the both services were “heartfelt, special and moving”.
“The dawn service is always beautiful and the Healesville RSL did a wonderful job for the very special part of Anzac Day for the community,” she said.
“Bruce Argyle spoke really well about history and his family story.
“I went to Yarra Glen for morning service, which was again a beautiful service with a march that was attended by about a hundred people, where lots of schoolchildren were involved.”
