PHOTO GALLERY: Beaudesert remembers

Young and old filled Beaudesert CBD for Anzac Day in a clear display that the Anzac spirit is alive and well for generations to come.

GALLERY at end of story. Photos by Susie Cunningham for Beaudesert Bulletin.

Children rugged up in tracksuits gathered alongside veterans in their suit jackets and medals at dawn, and thousands of people turned out for the march and main service.

At dawn, the catafalque party mounted its guard before the didgeridoo rang out across the darkness as Mununjali man Jarred Fogarty paid tribute to the Anzacs. Click here to play video.

Silence fell as John Fisher, who used to do the local milk run, gave his annual recital of ‘Fallen Comrades’.

At both the dawn and main service Thomas Todd played the Last Post and Reveille, A-Choired Taste sung the Australian and New Zealand anthems and local piper Aileen Cooper accompanied the wreath laying.

There were heartfelt prayers, led by Venerable David Lunniss and Pastor Josh Cocks, and Beaudesert RSL Subbranch President Steve Monteath reflected on the day’s meaning.

“We do not come here to glorify war, we come united to remember sacrifice, mateship, service and something that subconsciously brings us together, ‘hope’, that we never have to go through what these people went through,” he said.

“25 April is embedded in our history, in our story, in our hearts and minds. We are the carriers of this story from then to now and into the future.”

In a symbol of the priority placed on keeping the Anzac spirit alive, Veteran Barry Fisher handed down the Torch of Remembrance to Gleneagle State School leader Charlize Folkes and Beaudesert High Captains Bailey Swanson and Shae Stubbs read the Anzac Resolutions and Anzac Requiem.

The town commemorated with a parade of epic proportions.

It featured veterans and their families, a pipe band and military vehicles, emergency services and Army Cadets, primary and secondary schools, Beaudesert Scouts, Girls Brigade, Girl Guides, the Beaudesert Freemasons, 11th Combat Service Support Battalion and Park Ridge Pathfinders, who this year marked 40 years participation with the Beaudesert service.

Rain showers barely dampened proceedings, umbrellas popping up across the crowd and stage as the air cooled and droplets fell.

Mr Monteath thanked the town for its support and said the youth represented the future of Anzac Day.