If you can have stars at an Anzac Day service, then a huge number came out at the 11am service in Te Awamutu.
On a day when organisations queued up on Anzac Green to lay wreaths at the 101 year old cenotaph bearing the names of 58 soldiers who did not come home, it was the children who caught the eye.
Pekapekarau School, from left, Erin Stinton, Ziara Cairns , Dahlia Taylor and Koby Mason in the background.
On a day when organisations queued up on Anzac Green to lay wreaths at the 101 year old cenotaph bearing the names of 58 soldiers who did not come home, it was the children who caught the eye.
None more so than the preschoolers from The Barnyard in Racecourse Rd who strove to get everything right, while taking in the atmosphere, and the gazes from the cadets looking down on them.
Brass Band Te Awamutu
The services in Waipā were blessed with fine weather and involved contributions from across the board. Graham Lyttle from the Te Awamutu and Districts Pipe Band played the lament at the Te Awamutu dawn service for the third year in a row.
Guest speakers at the 11am service included Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan and from Te Awamutu College, Seanna Sanders.
The list or those who laid wreaths included Te Awamutu and Districts Memorial RSA including the women’s section, companies who have served abroad, army and regular force cadets, police, fire service, St John, Waipā District Council, Corrections, Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Te Awamutu-Kihikihi Community Board, Māori wardens, scouts, cubs, guides and Pippins, young farmers, sports clubs, rest homes, marae, a preschool and the following schools – St Patrick’s, Te Awamutu primary, Pekapekarau, Kihikihi, Puahue, Korakonui, Pirongia, Te Pahu School, Te Awamutu Intermediate and Te Awamutu College.
RSA president Peter Watson, Waipa Mayor Susan O’Regan and her escort for the ceremony, Captain Cameron Stapleston.
Anthony Gibbes on the left and Noah Gillette on the right
Cruiz Riddiford and Kayelyn Collett presented a wreath on behalf of Te Awamutu Intermediate. Photo: Roy Pilott.
Scouts and Keas wait their turn, from left: Peyton Brice, Melissa Hessell-Shearer, Dylan Scull and Daniel Lindsay and Kea Leader Jessica Lindsay. Photo: Roy Pilott.
All eyes were on the Barnyard Kids pre-schoolers’ wreath laying skills at the Te Awamutu service as they were guided by Lee-Anne Waters and Debbie Tucker. Photo: Roy Pilott.
Heaven, via the depths of hell
Peter Emery spoke on the trials faced by those who went to war and the enduring legacy of war. Photo: Viv Posselt.
Te Awamutu and District RSA padre Rev Murray Olson called on those attending Anzac Day memorials to remember the sacrifice of their forebears by strengthening their resolve to pursue international peace and justice.
Addressing last week’s Anzac Day service in Kihikihi, he said many of those who had died in global conflict through the decades had come from around the district. He prayed for peace across current areas of hostility, including Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Iran and Sudan and urged the world to “turn from retaliation to reconstruction”.
Kane Rangitonga, manager of Te Awamutu’s social services agency Kainga Aroha, was one of the guest speakers. Photo: Viv Posselt.
Speaker Peter Emery said the journey soldiers undertook to fight in other parts of the world took them “to the depths of hell”.
“Those who went to Heaven had to go through hell to get there. Those who came home suffered PTSD… they had to pick up their lives and carry on as best they could. Kihikihi played its part.”
His own forebears were among those who shipped out to Gallipoli, and he recalled their recollections of endless dead bodies and the tortuous sea of mud soldiers endured in France … “they were like sitting ducks.”
Also speaking at the service was Kane Rangitonga, manager of Te Awamutu’s social services agency Kainga Aroha.
Te Awamutu RSA president Peter Watson laying a wreath at the Kihikihi cenotaph. Photo: Viv Posselt.
He said he was 10 when he went to his first Anzac Day commemoration. One of the things that struck him the most was the ‘Lest We Forget’ sign on the gate – its symbolism is something that has remained with him since.
He said the sacrifice undertaken by those soldiers to preserve the freedoms we enjoy today is still happening. “We are able to stand up and say what we don’t agree with… I love that about our country.”
Veterans stand to attention at the cenotaph in Kihikihi, with RSA member Lou Brown at left.
A hymn was sung by members of the Kihikihi Māori Women’s Welfare League and Adan Te Huia read the Anzac dedication. Several wreaths were laid at the foot of the cenotaph, including those placed by Te Awamutu RSA president Peter Watson and Waipā District councillor Marcus Gower.
Members of the Kihikihi Māori Women’s Welfare League Waipā District singing at last week’s Anzac Day memorial in Kihikihi.
