Autumn in the Village
Autumn is such a wonderful time of year; the weather cools, trees break into rainbows of changing colour, and on April 2nd daylight savings time ends and our clocks fall back an hour. It may be the “extra” hour to sleep in, the many public holidays, or just the milder weather in April that makes everything seem a little more relaxed. It’s a great time of year!
April also brings the celebrations and togetherness of Easter and its promise of renewal and new beginnings, tempered with the commemorations for ANZAC day prompting us to reflect on service and sacrifice.
The Village will hold our annual ANZAC service in collaboration with Frankston RSL and Mt. Erin College on Thursday 20th of April. This is always a very moving event. The lone pine grown from one of the seeds of a tree from Gallipoli continues to grow stronger each year and now provides a wonderful backdrop for the service. The fence around the lone pine garden is home to the white marble Honour Roll of the young boys from the Minton Boys home who served in WW1. The home became Frankston’s ‘Menzies Homes for children’ providing care for orphans and children since 1865 and in more recent years, Menzies Inc. that now funds philanthropic programs that ensure vulnerable young kids in the Frankston area have access to health and support (I am one of their volunteer Board Members). It is always a sobering reminder to me that the names on the Honour Roll were just young boys living in an orphanage who went to war, one of these boys, Arthur Bolger, was killed at Gallipoli.
This year is Legacy’s Centenary year. “Legacy” began in April 1923 when returning soldiers realising the dire circumstances of tens of thousands of veterans, widows, and children.
Major General Sir John Gellibrand formed the Remembrance Club in Hobart and Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Savige, was inspired to establish a similar club in Melbourne which was named Legacy. Legacy is still caring for 40,000 Australians who have lost their loved ones in the Korean War, Malayan Emergency, Vietnam War, as well as campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan and in peacekeeping operations across the globe.
The Legacy Centenary Torch Relay begins on April 23rd and will be in Mornington in September.
Best wishes to you and your family for a very Happy Easter.
Kim Jackson, Chief Executive Officer