By RUSSELL BENNETT
EMERALD’S exciting Anzac Walk project has taken another step forward with the release of the plan’s drawings and a mock-up of how each of the information pillars along the trail will look.
More than 30 fallen soldiers from World War I with links to the Emerald area will be officially heralded under the new Anzac Walk and Anzac Place projects to be completed well ahead of next year’s Anzac centenary.
Local residents gathered for an open house at the RSL on Memorial Avenue last Wednesday to have their questions on the projects answered by RSL and shire representatives.
“It’s about communication,” Emerald RSL president Peter Maloney said.
“We need to have the people of Emerald knowing what’s going on, so that’s what we’re trying to achieve.
Mr Maloney said it had been well over 12 months since the concept originated, which will see the RSL honour 32 fallen soldiers.
“We’ve been searching the world to get photos of them and we want to celebrate their lives,” he said.
The aim is to celebrate Anzac Day at Anzac Place – next to the RSL – next year.
“All the parts have come together now and we’re waiting for the final drawings, which the council will sign off on, and we expect to be turning soil on 1 October,” he said.
“It won’t take long once the boys get moving on it, and I am to have it finished by Christmas.
“We’d hope to have an official opening with all the politicians and the people from the various departments who have helped us here in February.
“This project is something that Emerald’s never seen before.”
In essence, it’s bringing the history back to a new generation of residents.
The RSL’s plan is to have eight information stands which would have four pictures of soldiers with a short notation on their individual histories.
The Anzac Walk, which will be interactive, will eventually link up to Emerald’s Heritage Walk – a tourist trail through Emerald.
The Mail understands that the Anzac football clash between Emerald and Gembrook-Cockatoo could be revived next season, with both clubs back in the same division of the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League.
An Anzac play depicting life in Emerald in 1914 could also open at Emerald’s Gemco Theatre in time for next year’s Anzac centenary and, finally, the Emerald RSL has also commissioned a Statue of the Unknown Soldier.
