FINAL preparations will be made today to plans for communities to honour the sacrifices servicemen and women have made to Australia.
ANZAC Day commemorations will be held at eight towns throughout the district tomorrow as part of efforts to recognise the 103rd anniversary of Australian and New Zealand troops landing on the beaches of Gallipoli, Turkey.
Now accustomed as a day to honour the lives of all servicemen and women who have served representing the country during times of conflict, dawn services will be held at Barham, Cohuna and Kerang.
All three towns will also hold services during the morning, commencing with marches.
Cohuna’s mid-morning services will begin at 9.30am with a march and wreath laying ceremony at the town’s new World War Two memorial, located near similar structures recognising the district’s World War One and Vietnam War servicepeople.
Commemorations will continue in the town’s memorial hall, with Member for Northern Victoria, Wendy Lovell to be the guest speaker.
Moama Catholic priest, Father John Tinkler will be the guest speaker at the Kerang and District Returned and Services League sub-branch’s ANZAC Day commemorations.
A chaplain during the Vietnam War and based in Singapore in the mid-1970s, Fr Tinkler will deliver a key address at the town’s service, occurring following a march from the town’s clock tower to its cenotaph, scheduled to start at 10am.
Barham and Koondrook will again share their services, with a march leaving from the Koondrook RSL headquarters at 11am.
The march will finish at the Barham cenotaph, where three local students will speak about what ANZAC Day means to them.Students will also play a role at Gunbower’s service, occurring at the town’s memorial hall from 10am, with Gunbower Primary School students joining former Cohuna Secondary College principal, Glenn Hall as guest speakers.
People will also be able to view a number of pieces of military memorabilia that will be on display during the day.
Other commemorations will be held at the Leitchville Memorial Hall, where Helen Cramer will be the guest speaker, and at Mystic Park, with Murrabit’s commemorations rounding up with lunch at the Murrabit Recreation Reserve.
