IF this year’s Anzac Day dawn service at the Moree Services Club’s memorial window is any indication, the Anzac spirit and tradition is going to be around for a long, long time.
More than 500 people arrived at the memorial window at 5.45am on Anzac Day to honour the fallen. They bowed their heads, stood silently, and remembered them.
Anzac Day master of ceremonies Roger Butler addressed the crowd, and parade master Eric Carrigan performed duties alongside special guests, Commodore Anthony Savage and Moree Plains Shire mayor, Susannah Pearse.
Afterwards, more than half the attendees stayed for breakfast.
Much later, when all ceremonies and marches were completed, pennies were polished and a game of traditional two-up was played in the club’s auditorium.
As the ringkeeper called heads, tails or ‘oned ‘em’, money raised was donated to the Moree branch of Legacy, which has strong ties with the Moree community.
Local branch president, Eric Carrigan, on Tuesday gratefully received a donation of $1500 from Moree Services Club.
“The club is very generous with donations like this, and always has been,” Mr Carrigan said.
“We have a very close relationship with Moree Services Club, and I think this year’s dawn service was the biggest I’ve seen in Moree – it was very well supported.
“There were 500 leaflets printed for the morning, and they all went – it was amazing,” he said.
Legacy started in Australia in 1923 as a small organisation, with Legatees – servicemen and women who made it home safely from the Great War – assisting wives and families of those who weren’t so fortunate.
Today, Legacy Clubs across Australia provide emotional, social and financial support to widows of war.
As the years roll by, numbers are shrinking, but Mr Carrigan said the spirit of Legacy is still very much alive.
“Our war widow numbers in the district are back to 10, and that includes Mungindi, Garah, Moree and Collarenebri,” Mr Carrigan said.
“We often visit the widows at Whiddon, and send them flowers, and keep in close contact with the ladies that are still with us.
“When I joined Legacy 42 years ago, we had a 142 widows in the district,” he said.
“Years ago, we’d have Christmas parties at Moree Services Club with 140 widows and guests, and the club always donated wine as well as the venue. That went on for years.”
Mr Carrigan’s small committee is still very active in the community.
“We have our big fundraising day each year, which is always the first Friday in September, and we always set up a stall in the main street as well as canvas businesses,” he said.
“We also do Anzac Day, which is very important, and this year was exceptional.”
Moree Services Club CEO Rob Shields said the club was committed to supporting local organisations like the Moree branch of Legacy.
“We have to continue keeping the money in Moree,” Mr Shields said.
“It doesn’t come easy, and it doesn’t come fast, and what we’ve donated today is really only a small amount.
“Anzac Day was wonderful at the club this year. It was a great day, and the boys always raise a bit of money, and we decided to give it to Legacy.
“The money raised mainly comes from the people playing two-up, and from breakfast after the dawn service.
“There were more than 300 people here for breakfast, and that’s how this small donation came about.
“We support Legacy in other ways too, with in-kind donations and that sort of thing – that’s what the club is all about,” Mr Shields said.
