Aiden to mark Anzac Day in Motuoapa

Chris Marshall Reporter from Taupō Times

Teenage trumpeter Aiden West is keen to sound the Last Post on Anzac day morning (Saturday, April 25) in the Lake Taupō settlement of Motuoapa.
But there’s some discussion around the time and chain of command.
“Mum wants me to do it at 6am,” he said over the phone on Thursday, hinting at room for negotiation.
But a muffled sentence or two in the background is followed with: “And Dad’s telling me I’m doing it at 6am.”
Settled then, outside the house on Kahotea Place, 6am.
I suggest before he follows with the Rouse he makes sure his younger sister is up in order to read the Ode of Remembrance.
It’s the sort of sharing that meets with his approval.
“That’s a good idea.”
West has built on the preparation he put in for playing the Last Post at Taupō’s mid morning civic service in 2019, for which in the end he served a backup role.
The thirteen year old, who is in his first year at Tauhara College, has been playing the trumpet since he was six and is a keen participant in the school’s stage band and the long running interschool Taupō Youth Windband.
He was “pretty sure” he was doing grade five Trinity College music exams in October this year - like everything else these are a little up in the air - and is sure the neighbours will have heard his practices.
“It’s the least soundproof house in all of existence.”
West’s will be one of a number of low-key initiatives to commemorate the day as New Zealanders are being encouraged by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage to gather as virtual communities.
The ministry said this would be the first time since Anzac services began in 1916 the day would not be marked with public services and gatherings at war memorials nationwide, as all
– including those at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park and the Atatürk Memorial in Wellington – had been cancelled as part of the campaign against the spread of Covid-19.
“Despite the restrictions in place, we know New Zealanders will still want to take the time to remember and acknowledge all those who have served or continue to serve our country in times of conflict, peacekeeping and disaster relief,” said Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage chief executive Bernadette Cavanagh.
She urged people to get involved with some of the initiatives that organisations had come up with to allow New Zealanders to connect with the past, and each other.
Opportunities include:
Join the New Zealand Defence Force and RSA's #StandAtDawn campaign, RNZ National will broadcast a dawn service at 6am in support of this campaign.
Make a poppy or a wreath to add to your window or letterbox.
Lay a virtual poppy at Auckland Museum’s Online Cenotaph for a loved one or for one of more than 235,000 New Zealand service men and women represented there.
Watch Anzac Day 2020 – Stories of Remembrance at 11am on TVNZ 1 or TVNZ On Demand.
Watch two new NZ On Air-funded documentaries exploring the military history shared between New Zealand and the Pacific: Paradise Soldiers (TVNZ 1 8.55am) and Coastwatchers – Operation Pacific (TVNZ 1 10.10am) also at TVNZ On Demand.
Watch a live broadcast of the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Anzac Salute on Facebook. It features two works commissioned to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landings in 2015 - Andrew Simmon’s Dear Horizon and Neil Ieremia’s Passchendaele.
Bake some Anzac cookies with the kids or listen to David Hill’s The Red Poppy or Feana Tu’akoi’s Lest we Forget on RNZ Storytime.
Learn more about New Zealand’s experiences of war and its far-reaching impacts on those who served, families, communities and the nation at NZHistory.govt.nz.