Bacon and Egg Rolls or Sausages for Breakfast!

Come and join us on Fridays from 5 pm. Everyone is welcome to our Happy Hours, you don't need to be a member.

Another Successful fundraising effort was completed by our member volunteers at Mitre 10, Nuriootpa, SA. We are most grateful for our community's support.

Management Committee Feedback

Have you visited our Hut? Join us on Fridays from 5 pm. Everyone is welcome to our Happy Hours, you don't need to be a member. 

In the spirit of keeping our members informed, we like to provide feedback on what your Management Committee is doing. 

We held our last meeting on 7 April 25 5 May 25 and the following topics were discussed:

ANZAC DAY: As would be expected, we spent most of our meeting reviewing ANZAC Day which we considered to be one of our most successful.

The new march route leading to the Hut through an honour guard of football players was considered a highlight however, the Gunfire Breakfast was disappointing for several reasons. We will ensure we do a better job of that in 2026.

Entering the Recreation Park - Photo J Allanson

In summary, we thought the day went exceptionally well and we thank those many members and others who contributed to make the day special.

The inaugural ANZAC Day Poetry Competition was a positive with our two young winners delivering their poems at the Dawn Service and again at the Lunch. The perpetual plaque has been completed and will be visible within the Hut.

REVENUE: Having spent a considerable sum rejuvenating the Hut and some of our equipment during the last year or two, the committee agreed that we need to now focus on revenue and reduce expenditure. 

Treasurer Craig reported that we had increased our bank balance substantially with successful memorabilia sales days at Foodland Tanunda and Murray Street Wines. Interestingly, donations exceeded revenue from sales. We are blessed to live in a community with very generous people.

Other revenue from bar sales was excellent, aided by our opening during Easter and while football was in play. Our strategy of opening at other times instead of Friday evening is paying off and will be continued as you will have noticed by our next meal date, a luncheon on Sunday, 18 May.

GARDEN SETTINGS: We discussed the need for a couple more garden tables with bench seats to go on the area near the cannon and will obtain quotes for same. They will likely be our last major expenditure but will provide more outdoor seating for members and guests.

ENTRANCE SIGNAGE: Vice President Patsy was able to obtain a $1,000 grant from the Barossa Council to assist with payment for our new entrance sign that you may have noticed on the right-hand side of the Tanunda Recreational Park entrance. The remainder of the cost was generously donated by her and husband Jack.

That's it for this meeting.

Are you ready for Winter?

Caring for Veterans in the Barossa

Come and join us on Fridays from 5 pm. Everyone is welcome to our Happy Hours, you don't need to be a member. 

Barossa Aged Care is a local provider of a range of services, some of which are available for veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

If you or someone you know need their professional help, please contact them on 0431 044 584.

Other professional services are detailed in our Advocacy tab above.

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The Inaugural 2025 ANZAC Day Poetry Competition

---- Our Happy Hours are on Fridays commencing at 5 pm and we open on 26 April 25 also, why not join us, everyone is welcome. ---- 

Kym Milne, our newest Service member, who has done so much for us came up with the idea of running a 2025 ANZAC Day Poetry Competition and assisted by VP Patsy Biscoe, turned it into an inaugural event that we expect will continue annually.

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Kym advertised the event and, we received numerous submissions from aspiring poets via email and post. A small panel of judges was assembled to assess the entries and this included our in-house bush poet, Maurie O'Brien who is a published author of his title, ANZAC Poems and Other Sprigs of Wattle that you can read about in an earlier post here. 

The judges completed their assessment of poetry and nominated two joint winners, both of whom are surprisingly only 14 years old: Su and Ryka.

Both read their poems at our Dawn Service and again at our luncheon for those who didn't attend the Dawn Service.

 

At the luncheon, each was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and advised that their names will appear on the above perpetual plaque which at the time wasn't completed.  

The plaque has now been completed and has a chain horizontally across the bottom (it's straighter than it looks in the image) with a suspended military dog tag indicating the competition and the winners' names. As a perpetual plaque, each year, another dog tag will be hung across the bottom suspended by the chain. 

The winning poems follow:

 Stillness of the Dawn

In the stillness of the dawn, a bugle softly cries,

As we gather 'neath the sky with hearts both full and wise.

With heads bowed low and tear-filled eyes, we remember those who stood,

Brave souls who fought in distant lands, for freedom's greater good.

The spirit lingers in the breeze, on shores so far aways,

With every wave that breaks the sand, we honour ANZAC Day.

Through lines of courage, etched in time, their stories must be told

Of sacrifice and comradeship, of bravery oh so bold.

For every poppy that we place, a gratitude we share

To those who answered duties (sic) call, face the fight with care.

Yet in our hearts, a sombre ache, for lives forever changed.

The cost of war, a heavy price, for peace that they arranged.

So let us stand and raise a toast, to those who pave the way,

Their legacy of honour lives, in every word we say.

And though the years may drift away, their memory won't fade,

For on this sacred ANZAC Day, our heartfelt debt is paid.

By Ryka Dowley

1914

The sky was never silent here.
Even in the breath between the barrage,
we heard the ghosts of yesterday,
boots sinking into the mire,
missives folded tight against our chests,
names whispered like supplications to the dust.

The trench is a purgatory of waiting.
Of hands, pallid and trembling in the cold,
of eyes fixed upon the ashen beyond,
of home distilled to a flickering spectre.
A sunburnt crest, a wattle’s golden flare,
a scream of rage, a battlefield’s bloodshed.

They told us we would be legends,
that we would inscribe eternity upon the earth,
but the earth only swallowed us whole,
consumed our marrow, our bodies, our very names,
and left behind only stillness;
sprawling from the ridges of Gallipoli
to the fields where poppies dare to rise.

Above, the ethers simmered in a furious red,
like a cauldron brimming and roiling over,
churned with embers, blackened and bitter,
ash swirling like pepper upon the molten soup.

But the flowers remain,
carmine as the dawn we shall never behold,
soft as the hands we longed to clasp.
They do not wail, nor do they weep,
yet in solemn grace, they endure.
A requiem in crimson.

Lest we forget.

By Su Nguyen

We think you will agree that the poetry by these young ladies is an exemplar for others striving to be poets.

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Thank You!

---- Come and join us on Fridays from 5 pm. Everyone is welcome to our Happy Hours, you don't need to be a member but can become a member. ----

 

The RSL is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on public donations, bar, food, memorabilia sales, and membership subscriptions to keep operating.

Periodically we apply for and are sometimes successful in receiving grant funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans SA, and other organisations. These are usually for specific purposes eg, to build an Honour Board Wall and do not cover operational costs.

The support we get from individuals and private companies within the Barossa is excellent. Links to some of our supporters are shown in the right-hand column of this post.

If your company would like to become a sponsor please contact us.