By Callum Ludwig
Members of the Wandin community gathered on Monday 11 November to pay respects to the many Australians who have served.
The Rotary Club of Wandin helped organise the Remembrance Day event at the Wandin Cenotaph, gathering at 11am.
Rotarian Tim Manders rallied the troops to put together the event and said he think it’s very important that people still come together to remember those who have served.
“From the kids’ perspective, it’s maintaining that connection with the Australians in our past, I think the war memorials in some cases have become forgotten monuments, and by instilling this tradition in the kids from a young age, they maintain that relationship through their lives,” he said.
“It’s also an opportunity for the wider community to come together, leave everything else at home and just remember the men and women who gave us everything they had to effectively have the lives that we take for granted today in many cases,”
“I think it’s a wonderful experience, it’s a beautiful location and we’re very fortunate to have what we have and we’re also very fortunate in our case that the war memorial, whilst it sits on a Crown allotment, is adjacent to a private residence and the homeowners allow us to use their front garden for the ceremony because they’re community people and that’s who they are.”
Chase, Claudia, Harry and Harper of Wandin North Primary School and Saveria and Naomi from Wandin Yallock Primary School presented, alongside Wandin Rotary Club’s Brian Hodgson, Mt Evelyn RSL’s Chris Derry and Roman, Adrian and Andy from the Victorian Military Vehicles Corp, who also put on a display of light vehicles at the event.
Mr Manders said the Rotary Club of Wandin were more than happy to coordinate the event gain.
“Rotary is all about the community in all shapes and sizes, it’s not all about fundraising though we do fundraise a lot for various charities, but it’s also about that community hub and the connection,” he said.
“By us organising this, it’s to maintain connection with the wider community and in actual fact, the people who own the property adjacent to the war memorial, their house was partially destroyed in a fire two years ago and Rotary came to their aid with financial assistance in the early stages.”
