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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-05-01 Daily Xml
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Henley and Grange ANZAC Day Dawn Service

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:27): I rise today to speak about and thank those involved in preparing the Henley and Grange dawn service at the Soldiers' Memorial on Seaview Road this year. The Henley & Grange RSL have been responsible for organising that event for a significant period of time. Each and every year our community comes together at dawn to remember and recognise the service and sacrifice of those who defend our country and our freedoms and our liberties.

This year, like every other year, it was a solemn occasion. It is a special place to have our ANZAC Day service, so close to the beach where you can hear waves crashing and where you can understand and reflect on to a greater degree the sacrifice and some of the thoughts and feelings of some of those young men who went off to defend our country.

Each and every year, in particular in regard to the Henley and Grange service, it has been important to reflect on and note the increased participation of our local schools and community groups. I think just about every school in the local area, both primary and secondary, this year was represented at that dawn service, as well as so many of our other community groups that play their roles in supporting our local community, whether that be the Western Hospital through to the Henley and Grange surf lifesaving clubs. The Airport Over 50's Club and a range of other community groups were all there laying wreaths on behalf of the people in the community that they represent.

As I do every year, I would like to thank Indy Rose Flowers, a local florist and small business in Lockleys, for preparing the wreath that I presented on behalf of our community. I thank them for their kind work in that regard. I also thank the other small businesses and community groups that support the day's activities, whether it be Crestcut Meats, who supply the meat for the barbecue and gunfire breakfast afterwards; the Rotary Club of Henley Beach and members from the local community bank who give their time to prepare and cook the barbecue; and the local hotels who donate alcohol and beverages for that morning.

The rain certainly did not dampen the spirit and the generosity of people on that morning. Again, I thank Malcolm Whitford as the President of the Henley and Grange RSL, Margaret Snowdon as the Secretary and all of the board for the work that they do each and every year in preparing the Henley and Grange dawn service.

I would also like to take the opportunity today to invite the whole of our community, on behalf of the Henley and Grange RSL, to the 100-year anniversary of the RSL in Henley. They have been operating since 1924 and this year they welcome everybody to their current facility on North Street, which has recently been upgraded, to celebrate with their members the 100-year anniversary of the club. That celebration will take place on 11 May at 2pm and will involve a whole range of festivities, not least of which will be performances by the Army Rock Band and the Royal Australian Navy Band of South Australia on the day.

I look forward to that celebration taking place, and I do hope that we get to potentially see the return of Ben Ford-Davies who gave, I must say, one of the best renditions of And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda at the dawn service the other day. It was an acoustic version of a song that certainly pulls at the heartstrings of many, and the lyrics have, over time, drawn a degree of attention. The presentation at the dawn service was something that I think he should be very proud of, and I hope that he has the opportunity to provide some music during that celebration at the RSL for their 100th anniversary as well.

Further to that, I also thank all of the local sporting clubs who have made me welcome over the last couple of weeks for their end of season awards. To the West Torrens District Cricket Club: congratulations on your two-time premiership season, both across the one-day and T20 tournaments. They were well-deserved victories. Thanks also to the Grange, West Beach and Henley lifesaving clubs and all the local sporting clubs I will be visiting over the coming weeks.

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