Taree Parish Rector, Fr Peter Tinney will officiate at this annual event in Old Bar. He is also the Old Bar Beach RSL Sub-branch chaplain.

In addition to the normal holy eucharist held that day, members of the Old Bar Beach RSL Sub-branch will be in attendance and an RSL tribute will be conducted. Everyone is welcome. Full size medals may be worn.

With the first stage of the Old Bar Men's Shed at Trad oval being granted an occupancy certificate and the relaxing of the COVID-19 restrictions, the shed has started to come back to normal, although attendance is still over three mornings to comply with the separation requirements as it is still congested with equipment and benches in the one building.

A big step forward has been made with a slab being laid recently for stage 2.

Club Old Bar kindly donated its old maintenance shed which will be erected as a part of Stage 2. This will greatly improve the working space and provide the opportunity to be involved with a broader range of projects.

One of the current projects is to construct some wildlife boxes for TIDE (Taree Indigenous Development and Employment Ltd). This is well underway with the next batch of wildlife boxes being for FAWNA (For Australian Wildlife Needing Aid).

As a part of NSW Seniors Festival, the Old Bar Men's Shed invites the community to come down to the shed on Wednesday, April 21 from 9am until midday to have a cuppa, a chat or have a go at making a small project. All are welcome but if you want to do a project please wear enclosed footwear.

Craft at Old Bar will be resuming on Wednesday, April 21 after the school holiday recess.

The program for this date includes UFOs (Unfinished objects), trading table and workshop preparations for Fathers' Day Combat Cards. You can participate by bringing along any of the following - perhaps a UFO, goodies for the trading table (all takings to improve our funds) and your ideas for card-making and embellishments. Lots of materials and equipment are for our card project and all are free.

The following meeting on May 5 will be concentrating on Fathers' Day cards. If you are unfamiliar with Combat Cards, this is an Australian organisation Craft at Old Bar has been supporting for many years.

Cards are made for special occasions, sent to a central address and forwarded to many parts of the world where our servicemen and women are stationed and where cards in the English language are not available. They are totally free to our servicemen and women and are a way of indicating our appreciation for their service. Cards must be hand-made and free of glitter.

Craft at Old Bar meetings are held on the first, third and fifth Wednesday of the month, school holidays excepted. The venue is the Soldiers Memorial Hall, Hall Street, Old Bar. All ladies are welcome. Further information is available from 0438 655 005.

Old Bar RSL Sub-branch president, Jeff Early, was pleased to learn that the Old Bar Pharmacy Token Hero fundraiser, which has been running for some months, has finished and more than $350 will be donated to the sub-branch.

"We thank them so much for their continual support of the sub-branch," Mr Early said. "This is not the only support they have provided to us."

The sub-branch has made a request to MidCoast Council for the streets to be repaired for our Anzac Day march with the safety of marchers and horses in mind.

Although there will be a Dawn Service and then later a march and community service at Club Old Bar on Anzac Day, some people may not be able to attend either. There is still the opportunity to participate as we did last year.

'Light Up the Dawn' was an idea which originated within the Australian community and was supported and promoted across Australia in a year of great challenge and change, 2020.

As the sun peeked above the horizon, the country stood united - in uniforms or pyjamas, wearing medals, poppies and sprigs of rosemary - to let Australia's veterans know that their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten. That opportunity exists again this year and probably will for many years.

Sub-branch and auxiliary members joined with Old Bar Soldiers Memorial Hall committee members last Saturday for a working bee at the hall to complete concrete works around the cenotaph and the rock wall. A barbecue on completion was the reward.

Meat raffles were held in support of the sub-branch at the Old Bar Tavern last Friday night and will be at Club Old Bar this Friday night, April 16, commencing at 5.30pm..

Members are reminded that the next meeting will be tomorrow night, April 15 at 6.45pm at the Soldiers' Memorial Hall.

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