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ANZAC Day was that rare event in this stormy season, a temperate day when the rain stayed away and the wind was no more than a good breeze.
The gathering in the KBC was seemingly unfazed by the absence of the hospitality resources available in previous years. Indeed many of those attending had gone to great efforts to ensure that they could gather to share this day with like-minded friends, colleagues, and neighbours.
Beth Houlbrooke, our Club Captain, welcomed the gathering of approximately seventy people to the Club and introduced the Master Of Ceremonies, the indomitable Pippa Tabron who proceeded to command the event with the aplomb for which she is known.
Warwick Palmer lead off with the Lord’s Prayer, the St James version we all know, and continued with a recital of the Seafarer’s Prayer. The Seafarer’s Prayer being a particularly suitable addition on an island where we have all been buffeted by the weather events of this year.
Beth led the National Anthem and showed her confidence commencing in Te Reo. Pippa followed up with the ANZAC prayer, a recital in which we all joined.
It has been a practice in recent years to have a reading from a personal account of service in the conflicts that we seek to remember and reflect upon in an ANZAC Day ceremony.
This year Nikki Porteous read a poem “50 Years.” This poem was written by an Australian who had served as a nurse in the Greek theatre in The Great War. Fifty years later she returned to the places where she had been stationed throughout that conflict. The poem recounts her feelings and emotions of those days as she remembered them now as a woman in her 70s. I am sure that this quite moving account prompted us all to think of how the lives of those who returned had been changed forever by their experience.
Andrew Aitken, RNZYS Commodore delivered the ANZAC Day Message by Dame Cindy Kiro Governor-General of New Zealand. Andrew is a stalwart supporter of KBC and upon the weather frustrating his desire to sail to Kawau, drove to Sandspit and took the ferry in order to participate in this ceremony. From the sidelines, I am sure Andrew enjoyed his part in this day.
Dave Ollason represented the Warkworth RSA, and spoke of the RSA. I am much indebted to Dave for ensuring that we performed the flag ceremony correctly and accompanied it with the Reveille and The Last Post as expected.
The money we raised on this day goes to the Warkworth RSA. The ensign we fly from the club on this day is a relic loaned to us each year for the day by an island family. Its origin is with the 6 Infantry Brigade NZETC Trentham from WW2.
Our thanks to all those so generous with their time on this day.
Fendall Halliburton
Committee Member
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