Remember ANZAC Day 2024

---- We open most Fridays from 5 pm. Everyone is welcome ---- On ANZAC Day we commemorate all those who served and continue to serve in defence of our nation. From the first young men who sacrificed their lives in the Boer War between 1899-1902 and the most recent war in Afghanistan in which our men and women were engaged until 2021.

In an era in which our Western values are under attack and activists want to change Australia Day, abolish ANZAC and Remembrance Days, we need to stand firm and recall the many who served, those who died, and those who returned scarred for life so that we could live in a free, democratic country.

Without their sacrifice, Australia would be an entirely different place.

Those who serve in the Australian Defence Force today swore an oath to be available to defend our country if and when called to do so. They too are our heroes.

ANZAC Day Program

6:15 am DAWN SERVICE

Conducted by Father Mark Sexton at the Tanunda Memorial Gardens, Murray Street, Tanunda followed by a Gunfire Breakfast at the RSL Hut, Bilyara Road in the Tanunda Recreation Park.

($10 donation for ticketed breakfast)

10:15 am MUSTER FOR MARCH

Outside the Tanunda Post Office, Murray Street.

10:40 am MARCH STEP-OFF

March to the Barossa Regional Gallery (Soldiers Memorial Hall), 3 Basedow Road, Tanunda.

11:00 am COMMEMORATIVE SERVICE

Service conducted by Father Mark Sexton at the Barossa Regional Gallery.

12:15 pm LUNCH

Join us for lunch at the RSL Hut, Tanunda Recreation Park off Bilyara Road. ALL WELCOME. ($10 donation for lunch).

How to get your Military Memorabilia

---- We open most Fridays from 5 pm. Everyone is welcome ---- Don't miss this opportunity to stock up on your memorabilia!

Two happy customers at our
Foodland sales point

Our member volunteers will run a kiosk outside Foodland Tanunda on 17 and 18 April 24 just in time for you to stock up for ANZAC Day and buy your groceries - two birds with one stone. 

We have a wide range of badges, pens, bags, mugs, and other memorabilia too much to mention here, so we invite you to drop in and have a look. You're sure to find something you can't live without.

Do you have enough memorabilia? No problem, you can make a donation or pick up a free poppy. Everyone gets a free poppy.

If you don't intend to get to Foodland Tanunda on either of those days but would like to support our RSL sub-branch, you can make a donation HERE. 

We buy our memorabilia from the Military Shop which has a much larger inventory of merchandise than we have. The profit we make and donations we receive from many generous businesses and individuals goes towards planning and running ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day for our community, maintaining our Hut in the Tanunda Recreational Park, and to helping our fellow veterans and families.

We think it's a worthwhile cause and hope you do too.

PS: Visitors to our Hut are always welcome and membership is available but not essential.

Another Great Sausage Sizzle

---- We open most Fridays from 5 pm. Everyone is welcome ----On Saturday, 30 March 24 our volunteer members ran another successful Sausage Sizzle at Mitre 10, Nuriootpa.

It's possibly a misnomer to call it a sausage sizzle because we also sold egg and bacon rolls that are always very popular. We also sell a variety of soft drinks. Maybe we should just call it a barbecue. Whatever, we love running them and the public is always very supportive.

Malcolm and Errol

Barossa Mitre 10 generously donates sausages sourced from Barossa Fresh, provides a barbecue setup complete with gas, tables, a tent, and space on their property on which we can operate. We obtain some of our foodstuffs from Foodland Tanunda who generously provide us with a purchase voucher.

It's an early morning for the first of our volunteers who need to load equipment from our Hut at Tanunda Recreation Park, pick up some ice and get set up. 

No sooner do we fire up the barbecue and the sweet enticing smell of sausages and bacon drift through the air and we have people lining up for breakfast.

Malcolm, Elliott,
Andrew and Dawn

This Saturday the first team of volunteers consisting of Malcolm and Errol did the cooking, Andrew ran the cash and credit card processing, and Elliott and Dawn served our customers. Other teams took over during the day.

We are very thankful for our volunteers without which our fundraising efforts wouldn't happen. We're also grateful for the businesses and members of the public who always generously support us.

Our next fundraising effort (more of our member volunteers) will occur shortly before ANZAC Day when we will sell military memorabilia outside Foodland Tanunda on 17-18 April 24. If you are in the area, please call in and see us.

Management Committee Feedback

---- We're open Good Friday from 5 pm. Everyone is welcome ---- Here are the highlights of the last Management Committee meeting on Monday 18 March 24:

ANZAC DAY PREPARATIONS

There are literally dozens of tasks that need doing well before ANZAC Day; arranging bands, gaining council approval, deciding who will do which of the many jobs and so on. Then of course, the volunteers are busy on the day while also taking part in the march and two services.

I'm pleased to say that preparations are going well and you can expect another successful day on 25 April 24 thanks to the many volunteers and those who participate.

RECOGNITION OF MEMBERS

We discussed ways in which we can show our appreciation for those members who continue to contribute to our sub-branch's success. One suggestion was that they be issued with a name badge attachment indicating years of service eg, 5,10 etc.

Maybe a Certificate of Appreciation might be sufficient. It's a work in progress and we'll come up with a solution in the near future.

DONATION FROM FOODLAND TANUNDA

We received a $100 donation for which I expressed our appreciation for the support Foodland continues to render our sub-branch. It will be used to buy foodstuffs for the Sausage Sizzle next Saturday.

We are very fortunate that many local businesses continue to support us. Several of our members also continue to go above and beyond in generously donating food and equipment to us.

FORMALISING DUTIES OF VOLUNTEERS

We're working on formalising duties of volunteers eg, we have several members who look after catering, a few who handle our memorabilia purchases, stocktaking and sales, and others who beaver away behind the scenes. Who are they? What do they do? We want to document that so everyone knows who is doing what.

BAR SUSPENSION DURING DINNERS

Because Andrew and Craig deserve to have a meal break with the rest of us, we are bringing in a policy that the bar will be suspended during dinners. Members will need to buy their drinks before dinner and not expect service during dinner.

This will begin with the next major dinner evening on 5 April 24 which will be a spaghetti night. 

APPLICATION FOR ADVOCACY TRAINING

We've been without an advocate for some years now and are fortunate that our member Dr Jack Urlwin has indicated he is prepared to undergo the training and fill the vacancy. We couldn't wish for a better candidate. Jack has a lengthy history as a medical practitioner and is well known and respected.

The process of applying and the training are both lengthy and complex, but we've began the process and envisage a positive outcome.

LOCALISING CABINET MEMORABILIA

A majority of our display cabinet memorabilia has been donated by persons who are unknown to us. President David suggested we need to try to obtain memorabilia from members and their families whose names we can display beside the items. 

We will be writing to members soon to ask if they have any memorabilia from their military service or that of family members that we can display when we update our display cabinets.

If you are a member and have something you could donate from your collection of memorablia, please let us know.

That's it folks.