Neighbours Jill and Noel Promnitz and Peter and Ann Morgan marked ANZAC Day 2020 with a flag raising ceremony at Peters house at dawn with the National Service on the radio with many others in the Sandstone Point street coming out. COVID restrictions did not prevent the ceremony from going ahead but did require some innovation by the locals.
At the time Peter remarked to Jill that all that was missing was an unknown soldier to set the scene and Jill got her artistic ideas going after that. She had seen the craft of wire sculpture online and set about teaching herself to work with the medium starting off making a horse for a cart. After a few trial and errors on that project she started on Peters Unknown Soldier working on it off and on for around three months.
Peter and Jill share the ANZAC story even though Jill was born across the ditch in Tolaga Bay near Gisborn in New Zealand and being of the Ngati Porou Maori people moving here in 1986. Peter served in Vietnam as an Engineer in the Royal Australian Engineers 1 Field Squadron and Jill’s two brothers in law served in Vietnam in the New Zealand Army Corp.
In April Jill presented Peter with her art work of the Unknown Soldier which was mounted next to the flagpole in Peter’s garden ready for ANZAC Day 2021. This remarkable piece has attracted many locals to stop and remember and ask about the artwork.
A plaque commemorating the fallen has been added rounding off this example of ANZAC spirit and friendship amongst neighbours in our local area. Well done Jill.
