Events around Otago to mark historic day
THE South will be sombre in commemoration during Armistice Day services at the weekend.
On Sunday, the country will mark 100 years since the end of World War 1 with a raft of events.
In Dunedin, a service at the Dunedin Cenotaph in Queens Gardens, starting at 10.55am, will head the city’s remembrances. It will be held around more than 4000 white crosses which represent fallen Otago and Southland soldiers.
Dunedin RSA president Lox Kellas said the key message was to pause and reflect.
‘‘Go and look at one name on a cross and just think what that person could have contributed to the country if they had not fallen or gone to war.’’
For Mr Kellas it will also end 20 years of convening Anzac and Armistice Day events for the RSA.
‘‘I suppose I’ll have a quiet moment to think about it and then I’ll get on with the day.’’
It was difficult to predict the turnout for Sunday, he said.
The service will begin with one gun firing two rounds followed by two minutes of silence at 11am on the dot.
Rev Monsignor John Harrison will officiate, with guest speaker Lieutenant Commander Paul Smith.
The RSA choir will lead the service with renditions of God Save The Queen and the national anthem.
King’s High School pupil George Bates and Queen’s High School pupil Hetty Finney Waters will continue the commemorations by reading poems.
It will end with the release of white doves.
The bells at First Church will ring and commemorative services will be held in other churches throughout the city.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said the war had a longlasting impact on the city. He encouraged all Dunedin residents to attend the service at the cenotaph to remember those who made the ‘‘ultimate sacrifice’’.
‘‘But also to acknowledge the pain and suffering for those who were left to carry on.’’
At the cenotaph, the two minutes of silence will be followed at 11.02am by a ‘‘roaring chorus’’ just like the one which broke out in Dunedin and elsewhere when peace was declared 100 years ago. On Sunday, Dunedin residents are asked to do their bit by joining in a cacophony of car horns, songs, drumming, cheering, church bells, fire sirens and ship horns as part of a national commemoration effort.
The Otago Museum will hold an event from 12.30pm at its reserve featuring food and activities.
Other events will be held around the South to mark the important centenary.
The Mosgiel RSA will hold a service at the Mosgiel Cenotaph at Anzac Park at 11am.
Commemorations in Central Otago begin with school visits from the NZ Mounted Rifles on Friday and include tree plantings, memorial unveilings, services, parades and a flyover of a commemoration event in Pioneer Park in Alexandra on Sunday. Services or events will be also be held in Roxburgh, Cromwell, Ranfurly, Oturehua and Omakau.
North Otago’s main service will be in Oamaru on Sunday, while a new memorial to HMHS Maheno will be unveiled at a special service in Maheno.
In the QueenstownLakes district, there will be a service at St Andrews church and a picnic and concert in Arrowtown.
All places will mark the two minutes silence at 11am and most will follow that up with a ‘‘roaring chorus’’.
In Queenstown that will include the TSS Earnslaw, which will sound some celebratory tooting, as its predecessor the steamer SS Ben Lomond did on Lake Wakatipu when the crew learned the war was over in 1918.
In South and West Otago there will be services in Milton, Balclutha and a street parade and outdoor concert in Tapanui.
In Southland, an early morning service in Bluff will be followed by services in Invercargill and Gore.
A WORLD War 1 honour board being gifted to a Southland school is ‘‘unlike any other’’ in the region, researcher Ann Robbie says.
The honour board being given to Makarewa School, north of Invercargill, listed members of the Makarewa community who served during the war, and included the names of four Southland nurses, a ‘‘unique’’ trait for an honour board, she said.
The board included the names of nurses Lily Lind, Emily Ruth Rhind, Alice Maria Victoria Rhind and Royal Red Cross recipient Annie Johanna Mackay.
Mrs Robbie, who was on a mission to locate and restore war memorials and honour boards throughout the region, said it was unusual for more than one or two nurses to be listed on a community honour board.
‘‘I don’t know of any other board anywhere in Southland that actually has four nurses listed on it.
‘‘It was quite significant for the Makarewa area for four nurses to go away,’’ she said.
The white limestone and sheer size of the board, weighing more than 200kg, also made it unique.
‘‘It’s beautiful, an absolutely stunning board, and so intricately carved.
‘‘It’s been quite an exercise to get it on the wall.’’
The board had been relocated from the Makarewa Presbyterian Church after the building was sold.
Makarewa School principal Kevin Silcock said the pupils had shown ‘‘quite a lot’’ of interest in the board and finding familiar names listed.
‘‘This has been gifted to the school and it’s our job to look after it and to make sure these people are remembered,’’ he said.
An official handover of the honour board will take place at the school tomorrow.