MILLICENT
The usual Anzac Day arrangements will apply at Millicent in 2024.
There will be a small band with bagpipes and drums to lead the mid-morning march on April 25 along George Street.
Marchers will assemble outside the George Hotel at 10.30am.
The dawn service at the Cross of Sacrifice will be followed by the traditional gunfire breakfast with the assistance of the Millicent Lions Club at the nearby RSL war memorial clubrooms.
An honoured guest will be a serving Warrant Officer from the 10/27 Royal South Australian Regiment in Mount Gambier.
Uniformed soldiers from the Light Horse re-enactment troupe at Naracoorte are not available to take park in the 2024 Anzac Day parade in Millicent
Meanwhile, a mid-morning Anzac Day service is expected to be held by the Baptist Church in the Diva Room at Boneham Aged Care Services in Millicent.
The service has many of the elements of the gathering at the Millicent Cross of Sacrifice including prayers, Bible readings, a minute’s silence and the Ode of Remembrance.
Millicent has two known World War II veterans ranging in age from 96 to 104.
They are residents of Boneham Aged Care Services.
ROBE
The RSL Robe Sub-branch will again lead the 2024 Anzac Day march and dawn service.
“We look forward to bringing the community together as we pay our respects to those who have served, those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and those currently serving,” Robe sub-branch president and naval veteran Fred Wasson said.
“Current and ex-service personnel are invited to participate in the street march at 6.15am preceding the service.
“If you wish to honour family members who have served and have their medals, we also invite you to join us in the march.
“Organisations, community groups, and individuals are invited to lay wreaths as part of the service.
“Please contact me by April 20 so that your group or family can be included in the order of service.”
GLENCOE
Members of the Glencoe community will honour wartime service and sacrifice at their annual observance of Anzac Day on April 25.
All participants are asked to gather outside the Glencoe Post and Rail general store at dawn and then march to the music of bagpipes to the nearby memorial.
The service will be followed by the traditional cooked breakfast at the nearby Glencoe Community Hall and provided by this facility’s committee.
The Glencoe Progress Association has arranged the Anzac Day observance for more than25 years and this followed the closure of the Glencoe branch of the RSL.
PENOLA
The Anzac Day service at Penola will commence at 7.30am in the Penola War Memorial Park.
The service will be led by Father Peter Zwaans from the Penola Catholic parish.
The annual service will provide an opportunity for the public to pay their respects for all service men and women who went to war and sacrificed their lives.
The school choir will participate in the service and bugler Evan Marwick will play the Last Post.
Wreaths will be laid by the RSL, schools and local organisations along with the general public.
The Ode will be read by RSL president Peter DeGaris which will complete the service.
Following the service a march by veterans will head to the RSL hall for a gunfire breakfast where the general public is most welcome to attend.
Mr DeGaris said everyone was invited to come along to both the service and the breakfast to acknowledge those who went to war.
PORT MACDONNELL
Alocal coastal town will incorporate new elements into their Anzac Day celebrations this year following requests from community members.
Port MacDonnell’s Anzac Day Dawn Service will include the raising of the New Zealand flag alongside its Australian counterpart as well as the recitation of the New Zealand National Anthem in both Maori and english by Port MacDonnell Anzac Day Organising Group member Linda Driver.
“There is actually quite a large New Zealand contingent in the Bay and the surrounding districts and they were just wanting to have New Zealand recognised as part of that,” Ms Driver said.
“It is Anzac so it was pointed out to us that it is Australian and New Zealand so we said that we would fold it in this year.
“Most people are pretty pleased with the service that we put on and there are those that travel from the Mount to come to our service because they prefer it because it is a more intimate service.
“I think everyone as an Australian wants to recognise the forces and the sacrifices that have been made, it’s a National Day of Pride and you want to be a part of that.
“You want to remember what your forefathers did … and with the amount of conflict we have in the world today why would not you want to honour those that willingly go and fight.
“It is also one day of the year where you know you are going to see so many people from the community. It is as much about the community catching up as it is honouring those who have fought.”
Members of the Port MacDonnell community will coordinate the Anzac Day Dawn Service for the third consecutive year following the closure of the RSL Port MacDonnell Sub Branch in 2021, which previously hosted the ceremony for a century.
The Port MacDonnell Anzac Day Dawn Service was nominated in the 2024 Grant District Council Australia Day Awards for the Community Event of the Year.
“I thought it was important for the community and it shows a bit of pride in the town district,” said Port MacDonnell Anzac Day Organising Group member Richard Ferguson.
The service will take place at the Port MacDonnell and District RSL Memorial from 6.15am next Thursday with around 500 people expected to travel to the service from Port MacDonnell and surrounds including Kongorong, Mount Schank, Eight Mile Creek and Allendale.
The Port MacDonnell Men’s Shed loaned their flag pole for use at the service while the Port MacDonnell Netball Club will provide breakfast and tea this year in the Port MacDonnell Community Hall for a small fee as part of their fundraising efforts.
Allendale East Area School year 11 student Madison Gavin will share what Anzac Day means to her at the service and Ms Driver will sing the Australian National Anthem supported by the Allendale East Area School year 4-5 class choir and music teacher Thomas Miles.
The Mount Gambier Highland Pipe Band lead by Ross Anderson will play their bag pipes and march to the memorial and army cadets will make up the Catafalque Party.
The Port MacDonnell Ladies Craft Group created two textile poppy maps to be laid at the service.
The Port MacDonnell Anzac Day Organising Group would like to thank the Grant District Council for its ongoing support and donation of services.
Anyone who would like to lay a wreath is encouraged to contact Mr Ferguson on 0427 184 753 by Monday May 2.
