Rugby League great Shane Webcke will be the guest speaker at a dinner and auction this Saturday 15 July to help raise funds for the building of a new war memorial and dais in Leslie Park.
The project is being driven by the Warwick Community Development Anzac Memorial Committee, and aims to have the new memorial wall and dais in place in time for Anzac Day 2018.
The new memorial wall – to be built near the existing Leslie Park Cenotaph – will commemorate every conflict in which Australians have served, from the Boer War to Afghanistan and the dais will be a permanent stage for Anzac Day and other wartime commemorations, with a temporary stage currently used at those events.
But a particular emphasis of the memorial wall itself is on recognising the service of younger veterans – in post-Vietnam conflicts like Somalia, Rwanda, Bougainville, East Timor, the Solomon Islands and Iraq and Afghanistan.
The fund-raising dinner and auction will be held at the Warwick RSL Memorial Club’s Kings Theatre this Saturday 15 July.
Many people know Shane Webcke’s father Tom lost his life in a workplace accident at the Warwick Woollen Mills, but many will be unaware he was a Vietnam veteran.
Leading Engineering Mechanic Tom Webcke served aboard the Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Brisbane during the Vietnam conflict, with Brisbane deployed to support the US Seventh Fleet.
His son Shane will speak about his dad’s military service as well as his successful career in rugby league and life after the game.
Tickets for the dinner on Saturday 15 July are $50 per person and are available from the RSL, the Free Times and Daily News or by phoning memorial committee chairman Johnno Felton on 4661 8679 or 0467 612 342.
A ‘meet and greet’ from 5.30pm will be followed by a two-course meal, entertainment by DJ Vince, and Yellow Cabs Warwick has donated two nights at the Gold Coast, a return stretch limo trip and complimentary bottle of wine to be raffled on the night.
An auction following the dinner will see a wide range of desirable items up for grabs, donated from the local area and including meat trays and firewood.
Kids are free to attend the event but will need to pay for their meal at the RSL Bistro.
