Te Awamutu’s commemoration of Anzac Day starts tomorrow with Poppy Day. The annual appeal being marked this year on April 19 will see the sale of poppies swell funds for New Zealand’s Returned Servicemen Association in support of the country’s veterans and their families.
At 11am on Sunday, there will be the annual Anzac Day service at the Pukeatua War Memorial Church, to be attended as usual by members of the Hauraki Chapter of the Patriots Defence Force Motorcycle Club.
Some of the local veterans and RSA members who attended the Te Awamutu mid-morning commemoration service two years ago.
Following that will be a memorial service at Tokanui Hospital Cemetery near Kihikihi. Te Awamutu RSA’s Lou Brown said research showed that among those buried there are veterans of the Boer War and the world wars, with many having suffered lifelong trauma because of their experiences.
On Anzac Day itself, April 25, the dawn parade will start at 6am from the RSA building in Alexandra St and make its way to the Te Awamutu Memorial Park Sunken Cross. That will be followed by a flag-raising at the RSA cemetery. The main Anzac Day Civic Parade will take place 11am at Anzac Green in Teasdale St.
Anzac Day will be marked in Kihikihi at a service at the cenotaph outside the Kihikihi Town Hall, starting at 8.45am.
