The first icy blast of winter failed to freeze the enthusiasm of participants in Anzac Day dawn services around the region yesterday morning.
In communities from Bulls to Raetihi hundreds of people braved the bitterly cold conditions to bolster the thinning ranks of old soldiers on marches to war memorials for
the annual commemoration services.
And in what is becoming a well-established trend for the dawn parades throughout this region, young people made up a significant portion of the crowds in many places.
In Wanganui about 2000 people stood fast around the Cenotaph in Queen's Park, battered by gale-force winds and lashed by rain squalls.
Most had at least warmed up a little on the march up the hill. But after the service, lead by Padre Jackson Campbell, they did not linger long on the exposed hilltop ... driven down as much by the thought of piping hot rum and coffee in the Memorial Hall as by the atrocious weather.
The size of the turn-out even surprised Wanganui RSA president Laurie Rod.
"Given the weather it was unbelievable," he said. And in keeping with the effort to engage young people in the dawn service, the children were "ordered" to the front of crowd by the Parade Marshal for the duration of the service and then "ordered" to return to their parents at the end.
Mr Rod said because of the weather the ceremony was kept brief but still had all the elements of the traditional Anzac Day dawn service.
At the top of the region, in Raetihi, snow threatened the more than 100 people who joined the march to the Maori and Raetihi town cemeteries for the laying of wreaths following the indoor commemorative service at the Waimarino Club.
However, Waimarino RSA president Harry Brown said the attendance at yesterday's dawn parade was on a par with previous years although fewer children were present, probably because of the weather.
The mid-morning service in Ohakune was also held indoors. The weather was somewhat kinder to participants in parades and services in the Rangitikei. Although cold and frosty, the day at least dawned calm and dry in Bulls, Marton, Hunterville and Taihape where good attendances were recorded.
Marton RSA president Jim Day said there were smaller numbers on the march to the Marton Memorial Hall but the overall attendance was about the same as in recent years with a wide cross section of the community represented.
Mr Day said the traditional rum and coffee after the service was consumed with enthusiasm ? as it was in other parts of the region.
Taihape RSA president Robert Webb said the dawn parade and service there was "up to expectations" in terms of numbers with more than 200 turning out.
Conditions in Bulls were described by RSA president Ross Hardyment as "perfect" for the dawn parade which attracted a large crowd including a "huge" contingent representing the Defence Forces ? Army, Navy and Air Force.
A "crisp but beautiful" dawn prompted "a mass of people" to turn out for Hunterville's commemorative service.
Hunterville RSA secretary Maureen Fenton the occasion followed the same pattern as last year with a large contingent of Brownies joining the parade after sleeping over night in the local RSA hall. Local school children and strong contingent of soldiers from the 16th Field Regiment helped swell the numbers on the march to the war memorial.
And in what is developing as a Hunterville Anzac Day tradition, the rum and coffee was accompanied with home-baked Anzac biscuits.
As usual, serving military personnel, from army units in Waiouru, Linton and Air Force representatives from Ohakea, were present at all the dawn parades across the region providing the firing parties for the three-volley salutes and catafalque guards for the various war memorials.
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