Highway nod to our Diggers
AS dawn rose on Anzac Day, Jackie Mackenzie, 11, Ella Craigen, 10, and Imogen Craigen, 5, with mother Emma Craigen, rode horses Princess, Kiara and Mickey Mouse to their handpainted sign honouring our Diggers on their property on the Cook Highway at Holloways Beach.
FROLICKING behind a large “Lest We Forget” sign on the Captain Cook Hwy, three girls and their ponies drew plenty of attention on an Anzac Day where everything was different.
Emma Craigen and daughters Imogen, 5, and Ella, 10, and friend Jackie MacKenzie, 11, delighted in the beeping horns and salutes they received from traffic passing their Holloways Beach property.
“The girls enjoyed it. They did the march past last year at Stratford with their ponies but couldn’t this year,” Mrs Craigen said.
“They still wanted to get out and do their bit.
“My poppy fought in World War II, so it was important.”
At Kanimbla, Nicole Dalla Vecchia and her children, Blake, 12, and Sienna, 10, made a small tribute to the Anzacs on the family’s front lawn, using candles and rosemary, a longstemmed poppy, the Cairns Post’s Anzac Day poster and the Australian flag.
Sienna wrote “Lest We Forget” on the kerb near the display.
“We have family and friends in the army and navy and we greatly appreciate them all,” Mrs Dalla Vecchia said.
“Two of our neighbours were in the defence force, so it was great for the kids to see them all dressed in their uniforms. There was 10 of us all together out on the street.”
Holloways Beach resident Jeremy Kay said the atmosphere at dawn was heartfelt and emotional as he and his family joined neighbours to honour the country’s fallen.
“It was a lovely turn for everyone to mark their respects and a good turnout as a whole for the street,” he said.
“It was a lovely atmosphere. “Everyone turned up a little bit before time; we were able to be there for the whole ceremony. It lasted about half an hour.
“We had candles on the street and were playing the service through a loudspeaker.
“I’d love to see people at the dawn services in the future but for those who are unable to attend for some reason, it’s a lovely way to mark Anzac Day.”
Nearby, Andrew and Mary Provan also participated in a solemn dawn service in front of their house.
“It went really well – there were next-door neighbours, some across the road, down the street, there were at least six sets of people, maybe a couple more,” he said. “We had a wireless speaker which covered seven or eight houses.”
Mr Provan’s grandfather survived Gallipoli and another grandfather served in Papua New Guinea in World War II.
Continuing a “pretty strong tradition”, his father was in the Civilian Military Force and his sister served in the Australian Army.