A dawn Anzac Day service for Richmond

With the rising of the sun, the country rendition of Lest We Forget from singer Lee Kernaghan will be a poignant backdrop to Richmond’s first public dawn service on Anzac Day.

Arvida Waimea Plains’ retirement village in Lower Queen Street had a dawn service last year, and this year it is inviting the public to join them at the flagpole beside its clubhouse.

Resident Lynda Scott has been the main driver behind the dawn service in the village, where many residents had parents involved in World War II, often growing up with the stories and repercussions of war. She has her own memories and says Anzac Day has become more meaningful to her as she has got older.

“I’m really passionate about it. My father went to war and lost an arm, then died 18 years later from shrapnel in the brain, when I was eight. When he came home from the war, he was a dairy farmer, creating all kinds of ways to manage tasks.”

The first year the village held an Anzac Day service, it broadcast a service from Wellington outside the clubhouse. Then last year, Lynda suggested they organise their own service. The result was more casual than the usual RSA Anzac services which have military input but Lynda says it was a beautiful service with the sun rising over the hills in the east and a full moon to the west.

“Then someone said we don’t have a dawn service in Richmond, so why not open it to the public?”

Though the full moon will be missing this year, the music, speakers and the bugler will all be there.

Another Lee Kernaghan’s song, Oh Passchendaele, will play as guests arrive and the service will include the senior leadership team from Waimea College, plus an RSA speaker and, of course, a bugler. The village singing group will join the chorus of Lee Kernaghan’s Lest We Forget and national anthems will be played.

“It echoes around everywhere and it’s beautiful.”

Lynda says the involvement of young people this year will be the icing on the cake for the village’s Anzac Day service.

After the service, there’s a hot drink and Anzac biscuits in the clubhouse where there will also be a display of memorabilia.

Those attending the service are asked to meet at the flagpole by the clubhouse in the village, 455 Lower Queen St, at 5.45am, with the service starting at 6am.

People should bring a chair, torch and dress warmly. Parking is available on the bare site just inside the Queen St entrance.