Karlie Brady

Journalist

While there will be no physical Anzac Day ceremonies held in the Douglas Shire this year, residents can still participate in a local service by tuning into FAB FM.

Starting at 5:30am, a podcast featuring local speakers, such as Douglas Shire Mayor, Michael Kerr and Mossman RSL President, Ron Savage, will be accessible on FAB FM’s website for listeners to follow along with at home.

Residents are encouraged to join the country in the Light Up The Dawn campaign by standing on their driveways at dawn while tuning into the FAB FM podcast to add a local flavour to the experience.

FAB FM owner and announcer, Paul Makin, said he wanted to put together something that would reflect what people of the Douglas Shire would normally do on Anzac Day.

“We could just listen to a piece from Brisbane or Canberra but this is us, these are the people of the Douglas Shire, it is very personal and I think people appreciate that,” he said.

“I did a ring around and asked people like Ron Savage (RSL President) what they would normally do and he said he had a speech already prepared but now couldn’t now use it due to COVID-19.

“I asked Reverend Kenneth Lay and he had a speech and I spoke to Sean Hawkes who plays bag pips and others and they all had items pre-prepared but now couldn’t do anything, so I asked would they if they could?”

Mr Makin was able to record locals fulfilling the usual roles of an Anzac Day service to compile for his Podcast.

“It was tricky to record because of social distancing. I couldn’t have them in the studio because it’s fairly small, so we got a recorder on an extension pole and did it that way, complying to regulations.

“It’s quite a historical piece that can be kept showing that that was our service in 2020 when we couldn’t have a real service,” he said.

The local service includes:

• Welcome to 105th Anzac Day
• Address by Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr
• Address by RSL Mossman President Ron Savage
• Prayer by Reverend Kenneth Lay
• Ron Neate recites the ode
• Minute Silence
• Mossman High school student Cohen Barnes plays the Last Post
• Sean Hawkes plays Scottish lament
• Mossman High school student Cohen Barnes plays Rouse
• End of Service