Tullamore Central School Captain Lachlan Curr delivers speech on Anzac Day

Trundle Community Day Care. Come along and join the fun and activities from 10am to 12 noon at the Trundle Services and Citizens Club. Dates for May for Community Day care are: May 24- Biggest Morning Tea, May 31 - Word games and Trivia games. Gold coin donation.

Marg's Golf Day at Trundle Golf Club. Sunday, May 26. 11.30am for 12noon start. A fun day of golf in memory of Margaret Maher. Two person Ambrose, sausage sizzle, great trophies. Come as a couple or we will find a partner for you. $10 per player. Play nine holes or all 18! All invited.

Trundle Branch of the Red Cross are having a Street Stall on Friday, May 31. All donations will be gratefully received.

Jimmy Barnes. We are VERY excited to announce that when Jimmy Barnes kicks off his national tour to promote his new album My Criminal Record, Tullamore has been included as one of the venues he will play at.

What makes this event even more amazing is that it is the only show in the tour schedule to include Troy Cassar-Daley and The Daisy Dukes.

Tickets go on sale on the 31st May 2019. Tell your friends and stay tuned for more details.

Tullamore's tennis courts refurbishment are nearing completion and are looking sensational.

It won't be too long before we will be able to hold tennis competitions on the court again.

Thanks to Parkes Shire Council for their hard work organising this to make it possible. Looking forward to the grand opening.

Haven't played Tennis in a while? Want to try a new sport? Our Adult lessons will help get you started. Starting on Thursday, May 30. Visit www.facebook.com/Tullamore-tennis-club to find out more.

Tullamore CWA will be holding their meeting on Friday, May 24 at 10am at the CWA Rooms in Tullamore. Everyone welcome for a cuppa and a chat.

Tullamore Central School Captain Lachlan Curr participated in the Kokoda Youth Leadership program late last year.

He delivered a speech about his trip at this year's Anzac Day commemorations.

In October of 2018 I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in the Kokoda Youth Leadership program which was a unique opportunity to challenge myself in a foreign country of extreme terrain, with an unknown group of people, on the historical Kokoda trail.

We had been entrusted with a privileged opportunity to follow in the footsteps of our diggers, and were there to commit to the challenges that lay ahead of us.

I was extremely glad to play a part in creating a greater awareness of the Kokoda trail, and the role our diggers had played in this difficult campaign.

The leadership shown by our trek leaders Reg and Fiona was first class, they brought a diverse group together as a close-knit team over the ten-day period.

Our carriers were always willing to help with a big PNG smile and laugh, leaving me extremely grateful, and with memories of such warm and beautiful people who had once again looked after Australians in their care.

Kokoda has a way of making you re-evaluate things, physically & mentally, our group was made up of people from different parts of NSW.

Country and city, girls and boys, with mixed physical abilities, but all with ONE common thread.

We were all determined to finish Kokoda out of respect for our diggers, our family, leaders, RSL clubs, our communities, our country, and ourselves.

By day two, after reaching Ioribaiwa, we had come together as a team.

We had helped one another along the trail with a bit of humour and a sense that we were all in this together, just like our fellow diggers 77 years earlier.

At times along the trail when we felt physically exhausted, words of encouragement and a joke from others in the group lifted spirits and determination, kept it all real, and created a sense mateship within the group, without ever losing any respect for where we were, or who we were representing.

As we moved along the trail Reg talked of decisive battles that had occurred in various locations, how Australia had sent ill-equipped, poorly trained militia battalions up against well-trained Japanese battle harden troops.

They spoke of how our troops, similar in age to us, had fought courageously against overwhelming odds. How, in terrible conditions, the diggers had lived fought whilst waiting for reinforcement from our well-trained AIF counterparts.

That with good leadership shown at times by young officers, NCO's and with determination the diggers were able to slow the Japanese advance to Port Moresby to a point where the supply lines, troops and ammunition were stretched to breaking point.

This eventually turned the odds in the diggers favour pushing the Japanese back to the beach head & eventually defeating the Japanese.

On arrival at Isurava, we were presented with 4 standing solitary granite pillars in the jungle engraved with-

Mateship, Endurance, Courage and Sacrifice, what had these words meant to our diggers? I stood, admittedly quite emotional, taking it all in as I looked out at the beautiful valley behind us.

Mateship - a proud Australian term referring to an unbreakable bond between friends, that each digger was fighting for this mate and didn't want to let him down rather than fighting for king and country.

Endurance- the ability to continue against unspeakable conditions and odds for any length of time necessary to get the job done.

Courage- to show total disregard for your own safety against overwhelming odds, all for the sake of your mates, and your country, which was shown on many occasions in Kokoda.

Sacrifice- to put the needs of your group & mates, in front of yours to show leadership and to accomplish a task.

These valves are still relevant today in our society & thanks to our diggers make us proud to be Australians.

I personally thank Kokoda for a stronger sense of self-worth, a sense of independence & adventure, a deeper appreciation of what our diggers went through, the importance of mateship.

All gave some, some gave all, some are still giving - lest we forget.

By Lachlan Curr

If you have a sense of humour and a strong stomach, watch Lachlan's movie he made with footage from his trek on YouTube titled "Kokoda by Lachlan Curr".