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DESPITE fears to the contrary, Wainuiomata’s annual ANZAC parade will go ahead friday week.
There was speculation about whether the parade had gone for good following the closure of the local RSA last year.
Bart Bartlett, the man in charge of organising this year’s parade says he wants to keep the ANZAC spirit alive in Wainuiomata.
“It’s so the community can remember what’s happened in the past. Many people went to war from this area and many didn’t come back,” he says.
Mr Bartlett says there has been plenty of positive feedback from the community, and everyone asked to help so far has obliged.
“The community just needed someone to grab the bull by the horns and get it going,” he says.
The organising group of 12 consists of mainly committee members but there are others helping out with odd jobs.
Wainuiomata councillor, Campbell Barry says Mr Bartlett and the team have done a fantastic job organising the parade and are working hard to re-establish the Wainuiomata RSA.
He says the ANZAC parade is a highlight of the year for Wainuiomata and it brings people from all across the community together.
“I’ve been attending the Wainuiomata parade since I was little. Initially it was with my granddad who fought in World War Two, and since then it’s always been a chance for me to reflect on how lucky we are today and what those before us sacrificed for the freedoms we have,” says Mr Barry.
Meanwhile organiser Bart Bartlett says he has no doubt that the parade will continue for years to come.
“After this year’s parade we will sit down and go through what we did and didn’t do, and look at what’s needed to improve it,” he says.
The ANZAC day parade will start at 11am by the BP service station in Fraser Street and finish at the Wainuiomata War Memorial Community Centre on Queen Street on April 25.
