A DOUBLE celebration has ensured memorable services for both the Bridgetown Red Cross Society Unit and the Bridgetown sub division of the Returned and Services League (RSL) during the ANZAC centennial year.
The Bridgetown Red Cross Society unit was formed in 1915 with their mission of humanitarian relief continuing to be as relevant today as it was back then.
Last week the Bridgetown Red Cross Society planted five red roses at Bridgetown Memorial Park and celebrated 100 years of operation while honouring many of their volunteers.
South West MLC Robyn McSweeney and Warren-Blackwood MLA Terry Redman dug the roses in at the memorial park to help commemorate the special occasion.
During the celebrations, a number of members were honoured, with 98 year old Lesley Doust receiving a life membership for her 75 years of dedicated service.
Other members honoured for their long service were Rita Baldock, Barbara Davies, Adrian Elder, Anna Hayward, Lorraine Hester and Sue Waters, whom all received their 40 year bars.
Bridgetown Red Cross Society Unit President Patricia Martin was proud of the importance of the celebrations and pleased with the turn out at the various functions held over the weekend.
"The Bridgetown Red Cross Society Unit was established on June 22, 1915 and has been in continuous operation since then," Mrs Martin said. "This is not only a reflection on the dedication and commitment of our predecessors but also on the community of Bridgetown, they have supported this evolving group of volunteers right down the line."
"We were honoured to have Robyn McSweeney plant the first rose bush with Terry Redman digging in the rest of the roses for us," Mrs Martin said. "This was then followed by a wonderful catered lunch at the bowling club where a number of service awards were handed out.
"On Saturday night we held our gala ball, with the Navy band playing and an amazing $2200 being raised to go towards the Red Cross Nepal Region Earthquake Appeal."
Ms McSweeney said it was remarkable that in a small town like Bridgetown you could have 100 years of celebrations of the Red Cross Service with such notable service awards.
"I don't think that women were recognised or honoured enough for their roles in these times," Mrs McSweeney said. "It was during the war years that the women in town sent parcels to the front line. For those men who were over in the war, a parcel from home would have made a lot of difference.
"And Lesley Doust is just an inspiration. What an amazing feat to have been a volunteer for 75 years. She is such a lovely lady and there wouldn't be too many that have achieved such a record as hers."
Just before the commencement of the Red Cross Celebrations, RSL Bridgetown sub-branch President Terry Linz held a service to unveil two memorial plaques in front of a lone pine tree at the Memorial Park in Bridgetown.
"The Lone Pine tree and one of the plaques honours the 46 Bridgetown men killed during World War 1," Mr Linz said, "with another plaque honouring Dutchman Gerry van der Ham, who helped identify their final resting places in Europe.
"Mr van der Ham dedicated his time to searching for fallen Bridgetown Soldiers graves after making an agreement with a local Bridgetown resident during a South West trip in 2004. He wanted to find and document all 46 graves, but passed away in 2006. His family has since completed the project.
"We also celebrate the unveiling of these plaques to commemorate the ten Bridgetown men who died at Gallipoli, with seven of those men buried at the Lone Pine Cemetery."
South West MLC Robyn McSweeney said it was great to recognise such important parts of our local history.
"This service was great. We were up on the hill at memorial park to unveil the two plaques when Terry Linz shared that there were seven Bridgetown men buried at Lone Pine. I didn't realise this and when I was overseas at this memorial two years ago I did look at the graves at Lone Pine but I didn't find any Bridgetown ones. So now I'll have to go back for another look," Ms McSweeney said.
"I think it is a lovely tribute to Mr van der Ham to show what he did for our local war heroes. He has no connections to Bridgetown other than visiting here many years ago, and made the decision to go back to Europe and check where the graves were.”