The ANZAC March. Photo: Ben O’Malley.
From dawn until the afternoon, the Junee township commemorated ANZAC Day all throughout Junee with a dawn service, main service and then an afternoon service at Junee Reefs.
The Junee Cenotaph hosted thousands of people from Junee and beyond for what many thought was a respectful and impactful service that allowed them to reflect.
The day started at the dawn service by the Junee Cenotaph, which proved to be the largest dawn service in town that organisers had witnessed. The march commenced at around 10:15 am until they all gathered around the Cenotaph for the main service. At 3:00 pm, many went to Junee Reefs Ivor Hall, where they enjoyed a delicious spread and an afternoon service.
Junee RSL Sub-Branch President, Greg Zakharoff, said it was a proud moment to see the success of the service.
“The turnout was huge. It was absolutely brilliant. The weather was fantastic,” he said.
“The march was brilliant. The service was brilliant. I couldn’t have timed it any better. I’d finished my speech about Anzac Day, and as I said, lest we forget, the aircraft flew over the top of us.
“The choreography was fantastic. You couldn’t do it better if you planned it. It worked out spot on.
“The general consensus was dawn service, around 500 plus turned up. For our main service, we had easily at least 3,000.
“The beauty about it, too, is it’s not just the townsfolk, young recruits came down from Wagga, from 1RTU, this Anzac Day is their last public display before they get posted to their respective units and squadrons, so a lot of their parents come from interstate to Junee.
“There was no accommodation available. It was all booked out, which is fantastic for the town.
“Of course, Wagga was very choc-a-block too. Parents came down to witness their kids go through the routine, and everybody was very happy.
The meal put on at the club, the gunfire breakfast was great, and then the luncheon was very much appreciated and enjoyed by everybody.
“I had several ladies approach me after the dawn service, and they had tears in their eyes. They said, ‘We’ve never been to such an emotional service.’
“Just an outstanding day, but also a long day, because after that, we always go out to Junee Reefs.
“It’s brilliant for the town. It’s great to see so many children turning up and their parents explaining what’s going on. It is their heritage, and I take my hat off to the parents who took the time to bring their children down to let them experience a service and explain what it’s all about.
“I’m extremely proud and very appreciative. I’m excited for generations to come to embrace what Anzac means.
“Junee Reefs were about the same as last year. A very quaint, nice little service, and they were very appreciative of us being involved out there, and our guest speaker was from Canberra, at our main service and at Junee Reefs. He said a few words and asked some of the kids a few questions, and made the kids think a bit. That was good. It was not about me and the War or anything like that. It was about what Anzac actually means to people.
“We just had a wonderful day, a really, really good day.
“The RAAF recruits were just wonderful. When they went down to the Ex-Services Club for their refreshments and meal, they mingled with people and spoke to people. It was really good.
“It was a wonderful turnout, and we really believe those who attended got something out of it, doesn’t matter whether you’re five years of age or 80-90 years of age. We had a couple of 90-year-olds there at the service, and they all appreciated what we had done to put the service together.”
Lest We Forget
Jack Murray
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.
