The main street was packed in Yass with hundreds turning out to pay their respects.
The Yass RSL Sub-Branch of the Returned and Services League of Australia invited the community to participate in the ANZAC Day Commemorative Services scheduled last Friday. The day commenced with the traditional Dawn Service at the Cenotaph, located at the Yass Soldiers Memorial Hall, starting at 6:00 am. This solemn service paid tribute to the bravery and sacrifices of veterans and those who served in conflicts past and present.
The Dawn Service was followed by a Gunfire Breakfast at the Yass Soldiers Club.
Following the Dawn Service, a Parade assembled at the intersection of Comur and Lead Streets, stepping off at 10:45 am.
The main Commemorative Service, featuring a wreath-laying ceremony, took place at the Cenotaph at the Yass Soldiers Memorial Hall beginning at 11:00 am. Guest speaker for the event was Yass local Cayla Pothan. As the Creative Director of Tootsie Gallery Café, a mosaic artist, and former Deputy Mayor of the Yass Valley Council, Cayla brings a unique and deeply personal perspective to the commemorations.
As the granddaughter of a World War Two veteran and daughter of a Vietnam War veteran, Cayla has grown up with a rich tapestry of experiences shaped by the after effects of war on individuals and their families.
President of the Yass RSL, Steve Neuhaus, said, “we had a good turn up at the Dawn Service, probably well over 500 people there, so that was good and we had a huge crowd at the main service and all the services seemed to go well. There’s always room for improvement in many of these things but when it’s all requirement on volunteers and so if something goes off without much of a glitch, it’s good.
“It was a busy couple of days with lots of people attending and mostly the feedback has been very positive about all the services.
“The main difference between the dawn service and the main service is that the dawn service is very much a short, hair back service. It’s mostly focused on reflection, on contemplation, there’s no speeches.
“It’s also in the dark, whereas the main service we have pipes and drums during the day. We had both New Zealand and Australian anthems. It’s like a full service with all the bells and whistles, whereas the dawn service is very much a more reflective service.
“It enables the community to come together, commemorate and to remember the effects of war. It allows participants and their families to come together as well and we’re very much being focused the last few years on that inclusion of the sacrifice that families have made in allowing veterans to go to serve as well as the sacrifice of the veterans, and in that way it starts to help the families to have some healing and closure as well.
“We’ve changed the focus from a single aperture focus to a dual aperture if you want to look at it that way, where we are striving to reach out and be inclusive to families as well. A lot of our activities and the way we’ve changed things have been to ensure that the families, also the younger generation of the community are aware of what’s been happening in the past because the younger generation are going to have to be the ones that step up in the future to defend this nation.
“I am just very thankful to the positive support of the Yass community, also all the visitors that were floating through, but very much the support of the Yass community to the commemoration of the sacrifices that the veterans and their families have made in the past.”
-Jack Murray
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