THE Casterton RSL’s Poppy Appeal is underway again as one of the most poignant dates of the Australian calendar approaches.
Five businesses in the region already have points of sale established with the variety of fundraising items regular poppy-buyers will be familiar with, including the poppies themselves, pens and other Remembrance Day commemorative pieces.
The appeal was originally launched with a sale box each at the Digby Hotel, Western District Tyrepower and Casterton Farm Supplies, but the Glenelg Inn and Casterton Central have also joined the fundraising effort.
Casterton RSL’s Damien Henty-Anderson said the sub-branch was excited to kick-off the appeal again and could not thank local businesses enough for helping sell the poppy badges and items.
“It shows the generosity and commitment of people we have living in our community,” he said.
“We hope with that same generosity from the community purchasing something to support the Poppy Appeal, that they support the businesses too.
“All funds raised go to helping veterans and their families right across the state, but this also includes those in our local community.”
He also said sale boxes would be dropped off to Sacred Heart and Casterton Primary Schools and Casterton Secondary College, which did an “amazing” job helping out with the appeal.
“(The schools) take it in their stride to sell as much as they can within their school communities, which is a great way of showing our younger generations the importance of our military history,” he said.
The sub-branch will also be set up to sell out the front of Foodworks Casterton between Friday, 4 November and Thursday, 10 November.
This year’s Remembrance Day service will be held at the Bahgallah Memorial Hall instead of its usual site in Casterton, contributing to the celebration of the centenary of the hall, which was built to honour the Bahgallah locals who served in the First World War.
Another event the sub-branch is looking forward to in the coming weeks is celebrating the 90th birthday of ex-Air Force serviceman, Peter Rodger.
The milestone will be celebrated with an open day at 175 Henty Street this Saturday, 29 October.
Later this year, the sub-branch is looking to give locals plenty of laughs when it hosts a comedy show on Thursday, 1 December, featuring comedians Dave O’Neil and Billy Stiles.
President Barry Kent said the sub-branch felt Casterton could do with a good laugh.
“After the way Covid affected and restricted everyone’s lives over the last couple of years, especially living as cross-border community members – hopefully a short, sharp comedy night can give the community something to laugh about,” he said.
He also said the event was about raising funds for the sub-branch.
“Our major project at the moment is to give the internal façade of the clubrooms a facelift,” he said.
“This also gets back to giving our members more for their contribution, so we are wanting to display and rotate the many items of memorabilia we have.
“It’s the first time that we’ve looked at a fundraising initiative this big to support our sub-branch to keep its doors open, which will then continue the support of our local veterans and their families.”
Mr Kent thanked the Glenelg Shire for providing the Casterton Town Hall for the event.
More information about Casterton RSL’s activities can be found on its Facebook page.
