Saturday, April 26, 2025

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.

Our Perpetual Plaque
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 when it is completed. The plaque will have a chain horizontally across the bottom 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. Unfortunately, the dog tags have been ordered, but were not received sufficiently early to attach them to the plaque.

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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Friday, April 25, 2025

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. 

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

ANZAC Day 2025 - Commemorating those who Served

And showing gratitude and appreciation for those who serve today in our Australian Defence Force.


Monday, April 21, 2025

Foodland Tanunda Memorabilia Sales

If you're near Foodland Tanunda on Tuesday or Wednesday, do drop in for a chat, view our exciting range of memorabilia and see what you can't live without.

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Gather Round Saturday Success

---- Several new static steel servicemen have appeared near our flag pole ... take a look when next you visit the Hut. ---- 
One of the Committee's new approaches is to open on other days and at other times than Friday evenings after 5 pm. 

So far we have opened on Vietnam Veteran's Day and a couple of other occasions and in fact will be having a luncheon on Good Friday. 

Gather Round Visitors and President Babbage
Last Saturday we opened during the Gather Round football event from 11 am until late afternoon and had a large number of visitors come into our Hut. Many simply wanted to use our toilets or view our memorabilia that is displayed in several large glass-front cabinets, others wanted a cool drink on what was a warmish day.

One astute lady told me we could have made a fortune hiring chairs. She pointed out the shortage of sitting spaces around the oval. A couple of others sat in Ferdie's Chair at the front of the Hut for the duration of the game.

Chatting to those who came into the Hut was interesting with people coming from all over Australia just to attend Gather Round. It must have been a winner for Barossa Valley accommodation and other sales outlets as it was for us. 

We're going to continue opening during football and other events and trust this will help to encourage people to visit us, buy our drinks or memorabilia (we sold $300+ worth on the day) and maybe find a few new members.