REMEMBRANCE Day 2014 was a special one for Wauchope, with the traditional solemn ceremony at the Cenotaph followed by the official unveiling of the Centenary Memorial Wall at the RSL Club.
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Oganisers remarked on the strong attendance at the Wauchope Cenotaph for the 11am Remembrance ceremony and, while rain looked imminent, the event passed without weather problems.
Wauchope RSL sub-branch president Des Hancock read the Remembrance Day dedication, the Salvation Army's Jim Crombie read the prayer and Wauchope High School's captains, Eliza Colby and Willis Thompson spoke about the significance of the day.
The always moving Last Post and later Reveille were played by Anne Geoghegan of the Port Macquarie Hastings Municipal Band.
Unlike in historic film clips from, particularly, the early years of the 20th century, showing Australia's cities and towns coming to a standstill at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, cars, trucks and motorbikes roared past the Cenotaph during the minute's silence at 11am.
But at least those present were remembering them.
After singing Advance Australia Fair many of those present walked the short distance to the Wauchope RSL Club for the Dedication of the Centenary Memorial Wall there.
The Wauchope RSL sub-branch's Alex Hamilton spoke of the significance of the memorial and the meaning of the remembrance poppies and, after a prayer by Jim Crombie and a brief address by the Member for Lyne, David Gillespie, they unveiled the plaque.
The Wauchope RSL Club and the Wauchope RSL sub-branch asked the Gazette to pass on their gratitude to the following groups and individuals for getting the Memorial Wall ready on schedule for the dedication:
* Trevor Lindsay Building Contractor, who was the project manager and laid the foundations.
* Edstein Creative Stone, which has been involved since July in conjunction with Phoenix Foundries Uralla.
* Coastal Backhoe Hire (Nigel Kidd).
* Ninness Haywood Bricklaying.
* Steve Robb Tiling.
* TFH (Temporary Fence Hire).
Gay Hancock was also instrumental in driving the Memorial Wall project, according to her husband Des.
"She's been quite amazing," said Des.
"Without her help with things like the graphic design, administration and all the communication that goes with a project like this, it would never have been completed on time".