Levin war veterans keep Anzac spirit alive at Armistice Day service

Brian Hanify stood forward to recite the Ode of Rememberance at the Levin cenotaph for the Armistace Day service.

A small band of hardy souls braved wind and rain at the Levin War Memorial Cenotaph for an Armistice Day memorial service, unaware of a late venue change.

But like all good soldiers, they showed the Anzac spirit was still well and truly alive and carried on regardless.

It soon became apparent there was a mix-up as the occasion usually drew a much larger crowd. A late change due to bad weather had meant the service had moved to Te Takere o kura-hau-pō.

Senior Levin firefighter Andy Collins asked former soldier Brian Hanify to recite the Ode of Remembrance, to give the service a sense of ceremony in the absence of an official programme.

Hanify, who had toured numerous countries with the New Zealand Defence Force Veterans Brass Band, said he wished he had brought his bugle too, as he could have played

The Last Post

.

Raymond Hunia, Kiara Jeffery, Ricky Fonoti, Tura Hui Hill and Tupou Tosi from the Horowhenua College services academy attended the service.

The service was organised by Levin RSA and Horowhenua District Council and was advertised to be held at the Cenotaph, but a decision was made early that morning to change the venue due to the bad weather.

Every effort was made to notify the public. In addition to a Facebook message, Horowhenua District Council had sent an officer to the cenotaph, as did a Levin RSA representative, shortly before the ceremony was due to start.

Unfortunately, nobody was there at the time.

There was also a service held at the Cenotaph on Main Street in Foxton. That service went ahead despite the weather, although there was a back-up venue at the nearby Foxton RSA if needed.

Horowhenua College services academy director Raymond Hunia bought a contingent of five students from the school course to the service, while there were about 15 members of the public attending.