ANZAC Day in Bulahdelah saw those who have served in Australia’s defence forces honoured at commemorative services at Dawn and 11am.
Both were well-attended.
“I was surprised at the amount of people at the morning dawn service and the main service,” said President of the Bulahdelah RSL sub-Branch Dennis Coulter.
“The people… who came and helped; it’s unbelievable in a small country town.”
The dawn service focused on the theme that Anzac Day provides us with the opportunity to simply stand in awe of those who have served and sacrificed.
“We are all recipients of their hope,” said pastor Stephen Rae.
“Their hope [was] for a future [for] we who are left to grow old, that we would live in a country at peace, that we would learn to deal with issues and disputes faithfully, democratically and humbly.
“We know [to] live our lives imbued by the same sense of courage, the same loyalty, the same fairness and the same compassion.”
The Dawn Service was followed by breakfast and the opportunity to catch up.
The 11am service commenced with a well-attended march.
Its theme was about understanding the Anzac spirit and what it means today.
Mr Rae told the crowd that, “110 years ago a unique generation of Australians and New Zealanders wrote the distinguished narrative of their nations; they did it through their service and they signed it with their blood.
“They gave birth to the spirit that is Anzac, a spirit which has imbued the men and women of the Australian defence Force from then until today.”
Following the service, RSL sub-Branch members gathered together for lunch and to share stories of their collective experiences.
By John SAHYOUN
