Rotorua RSA vice-president Ron Hope at the Rotorua District Field of Remembrance last year. Photo / File
Rotorua RSA vice-president Ron Hope at the Rotorua District Field of Remembrance last year. Photo / File
For more than a century, New Zealanders have gathered at cenotaphs and Returned and Services Associations around the country on April 25 each year, to commemorate the fallen of Anzac Cove in World War I.
But this year, for the first time since Anzac Day services began in 1916, Kiwiswill not be able to gather together to mark the anniversary.
There will be no public events to commemorate Anzac Day during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the nation will mark the anniversary by standing by their letterboxes at dawn and with virtual services and online events.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo / File
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick acknowledged that Anzac Day is "one of the most important national occasions for both Australians and New Zealanders", in a statement on the Rotorua Lakes Council website.
"This year New Zealanders and Australians are commemorating Anzac Day differently," she wrote.
"Our lives have been disrupted in a way that hasn't been experienced since the World Wars. We cannot stand together to commemorate those who have fought for us in the wars that New Zealanders have participated in on foreign soils, and this is hard for us all."
Chadwick also encouraged Rotorua residents "to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice" by standing at the end of their driveways as part of the Stand at Dawn service, organised by the Returned and Services Association and the New Zealand Defence Force.
Starting at 6am on RNZ National, the Last Post, Ode of Remembrance and national anthems of New Zealand, Australia and Turkey will be played, before an address is given by Ron Mark, Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs.
"To our members of the Rotorua RSA, the Te Arawa Māori Returned Services League and the Kings Veterans, I know how much you will be missing the opportunity to march and stand together," Chadwick said.
"Please be assured that your service and the service of your fallen colleagues will never be forgotten."
After the Stand at Dawn service, Rev Tom Poata of St Faith's Anglican Church and Ngakohu Walker, head boy at Rotorua Boys' High School, will speak to the community via the Rotorua Lakes Council Facebook page.
Rotorua RSA vice president Ron Hope said commemorating Anzac Day at home, while disappointing, "was the right thing to do".
He was planning to take part in the Stand at Dawn service by standing at the end of his driveway, he said.
"It'll be good if people did come out to the gate and listen to the radio," he said.
Rotorua RSA vice-president Ron Hope at the Rotorua District Field of Remembrance last year. Photo / File
Asked whether there were plans to hold a second commemoration once the level 4 lockdown had finished, Hope said: "there is only one Anzac Day".
"But it's really a case of seeing whether people wanted to and going from there," he said.
They were also "waiting to see" where they were going with Poppy Day, which is normally held the Friday before Anzac Day, he said.
"The loss of the Poppy Day affects our welfare funds, which many will need as they get older," Hope said.
This Anzac Day will mark the first year since 1916 that New Zealanders have been unable to gather for a dawn service. Photo / File
The Pakeke Lions branch in Taupō is also inviting people to commemorate Anzac Day by standing in their driveway to observe two minutes of silence at 11am tomorrow.
President Ian Triscott said this year new arrangements are in place due to everyone being in lockdown.
"We will be standing in our driveways, doorways, or balconies at 11am and will observe two minutes silence in remembrance of all those who have served in past world conflicts," he said.
As there was no poppy appeal this year, Triscott said Pakeke Lions club members are drawing or printing poppies and attaching them to prominent places in their homes so they can be seen from the street.
He invited people in the Taupō district to make their own poppies this year as well.
