Poignant Dawn Service well attended at ANZAC Park Myall Coast Myall Coast - popup ad Myall Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - May 1, 2024 Jimmys Beach Aquatic Club rowers approach the sandy shore of ANZAC Park as the Gallipoli audio starts the ceremony. COMMEMORATIONS of ANZAC Day 2024 were held by the Tea Gardens RSL sub-Branch at ANZAC Park in Tea Gardens, beginning with a moving Dawn Service on Thursday, 25 April. An unprecedentedly large turnout gathered on the dewy lawn along the Myall, while the morning sounds of birds, bats and amphibians filled the air in anticipation. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au After an impromptu opening herald from a flock of rainbow lorikeets, the RSL sub-Branch’s Terry Munright began the service introducing ABC Radio’s vaunted audio of the Gallipoli landing. This year a visible augmentation was given by the Jimmys Beach Aquatic Club (JBAC), which had three row-boats land upon the sandy shore of ANZAC Park in unison with the Gallipoli audio description. After some magical singing by the Myall Melodians, the sky slowly lightened as local padre Reverend Richard Goscombe spoke, leading the large assembly in prayers. “In Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, there is an inscription, ‘Greater love hath no man’, and at 11am every day the sunlight shines through the building to illuminate that one word, ‘love’,” Rev. Goscombe said. “The Biblical phrase, ‘Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friends’, reminds us, in this day and age of entitlement and fierce commitment to self-interest, how important it is to serve others, especially the ones who made the sacrifice so we can live in a country that we still call free.” Terry Munright orated on the origins of the ANZAC shrine concept. “It was borne of an ancient custom of placing a rock before heading off to battle, and taking it back again if one returned… if not, the rock stayed where it was.” RSL sub-Branch President Mal Motum recounted the first landings at Gallipoli in 1915, focusing on the widely-held perspective that “the Great War played a definitive role in the formation of Australia’s identity”. The dark clouds to the south portended rain, which finally fell as the last songs were being sung by the Melodians, including the two national anthems of the countries that make up the ANZAC acronym, saluted by those veterans present, and by the JBAC oarsmen with their oars held high. Many headed down to the Tea Gardens Country Club to take up Terry’s offer of a free bacon and egg breakfast, put on by the Club and manned by the Pindimar-Tea Gardens RFS volunteers. Most in attendance had only a few hours to return for the even larger 11am service and march. By Thomas O’KEEFE Jimmys Beach Aquatic Club rowers stand at ease on the shores of ANZAC Park in Tea Gardens. Reverend Richard Goscombe leads the large Dawn Service in prayers. The Dawn Service this year at Tea Gardens was particularly well-attended. Tea Gardens RSL sub-Branch President Mal Motum recaps the Gallipoli landings in 1915. Jimmys Beach Aquatic Club rowers salute the ceremony using their oars and tillers. The ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Tea Gardens Memorial, 2024.
