It's on again!

Hi folks, welcome to 2022.

Very soon we will start baking again, please follow this year's Aurora Anzac Bake at anzacbake2022.blogspot.com

See you all soon 😊

DId someone say free?

 Good morning and welcome to our last day of baking! 

You'll also find us at the kiosk on the Glenorchy City Council lawns today, come and get your Anzacs and have a chat to our bakers 😉

And of course this afternoon after the ovens are turned off, we'll announce the winner of this year's blog competition...

But what happened late yesterday afternoon? We had some visitors, someone must have told them about all these delicious Anzac biscuits being baked!

Come and get them!!!

Check them out!

Delicous, that will keep me going till dinner.

A tribute...

At this time of year we commemorate the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli in 1915, and pay tribute to those servicemen and women who have taken part in military operations during WWI and in many parts of the world since.

But whilst some ten million men died in WWI, there’s a lesser known fact – sadly at least eight million horses lost their lives also.

Australia sent 136,000 horses overseas, yet out of all these only one horse made it home.

Sandy, pictured above, belonged to Major General Sir William Bridges, who was killed in battle at Gallipoli.

“A gentle bay standing 16 hands high, he was the Major’s favourite charger and it was his dying wish to have his beloved horse returned home to Australia to enjoy a long and happy retirement.

When the Major died, Sandy was put into the care of Captain Leslie Whitfield and was transported to Egypt then onto France in March 1916. It wasn’t until the following year that the Australian authorities were able to honour the Major’s dying wish and granted Sandy a safe passage to return home to Australia.”

“Conditions on the Western Front and Middle East were often physically trying for the horses. Sometimes food, water or suitable shelter was in short supply. They suffered particularly in winter on the front because of the dampness and mud while in the Middle East, horses carried heavy loads of over 100kgs including their rider, weapons, ammunition, food, and water.”

Sources:

http://www.harnesslink.com/News/Commemorating-ANZAC-war-horses

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/lest-forget-campaign-honours-eight-million-horses-killed-first-world-war-637304

https://www.globetrotting.com.au/sandy-australias-only-war-horse-to-return-home/ 

So we can bake biscuits...

 But what else can we do? Well, let us show you 😊

Creativity - round biscuits? Chunks of butter? We can do better!!!

A new product has rolled out of the oven. Actually, these don't roll so much as cut a dashing figure. 

Introducing our new war-dog biscuits! What will the future hold? All kinds of animals played a roll over many years within our armed forces.

At just $2 each let us know if you'd like some.

And now...for a little creativity this afternoon. 

We've well and truly proven we can cut butter and pack biscuits so let's raise the bar a little...

After Bronte created her abstract sculpture we started
to think what else could she do?

First there was the shark!!!
Fearsome addition to any Anzac biscuits it makes.

And what about the butter-fly?!

Poor thing has melted into a pot by now...

Occasionally a biscuit doesn't make the grade,
these get packaged up separately and sold as "rejects".
But...just because no "reject"should feel rejected,
here's Joy's flower creation!

Now this really leaves it wide open as we still have three days of baking left, stay tuned!!!

Local history

Everyone around Hobart would be familiar with the Cadbury factory in Claremont but what was in this area before there was a factory and housing estate, and a golf course? The following was contributed by Paul Armstrong, President of the Claremont RSL: 

 

Claremont RSL War Memorial 

The Claremont war memorial is located in Windermere Community Foreshore Park at the bottom end of Box Hill Road, Claremont, with Windermere Bay and Dogshear Point as a backdrop. The decision to build the memorial in Windermere Community Foreshore Park was made because the site looks across to Dogshear Point (previously known as Triffit’s Point), where Claremont Army Camp was located during World War 1 and where the Cadbury factory, Cadbury housing estate and Claremont Golf course are now located.

With exception of those who trained at Pontville in 1914, and some who were trained for a short period at Ross, all Tasmanians who enlisted during World War 1 in Tasmania, were trained at Claremont Army Camp, with up to 2,000 soldiers in training at any one time.

The design consists of three concrete panels standing side by side on a raised plinth. The concrete material represents the strength and determination which has always been and continues to be shown by our armed forces when faced with adversity and the exposed concrete aggregate of the plinth conveys the rawness of conflict.

The outer panels are angled forward 15 degrees, and this is symbolic of three individuals standing with arms around shoulders in a show of solidarity and comradeship.

The central panel is rectangular in shape and the two outer panels have their tops tapered. The tapering of the outside panels is purely aesthetic.

The panels support the three service badges – from left to right when facing the panels – NAVY – ARMY – AIR FORCE. The words TO THOSE WHO SERVED and LEST WE FORGET will be placed below the army badge on the centre panel.

LED lights are set into the plinth near the base of each panel for after dark illumination. A pole stands behind the centre panel.

The paved walkway which leads to the memorial cuts across the remains of the roadway which led to the camp and there is a paved area in front of and to each side of the memorial. Five information boards are placed on the northern side of the walkway and the area has been grassed and planted with native shrubs and trees.

The memorial was dedicated on 11 April 2015 and unveiled by the Mayor of Glenorchy, Alderman Kristie Johnston. Members of the 12/40^th Battalion, Royal Tasmania Regiment formed the Catafalque Party. This in itself was historic as the 12/40^th is the descendent of the 12^th Battalion which was raised at Pontville in 1914 and went ashore in the second wave at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, and the wholly Tasmanian 40^th Battalion which was raised at Claremont Camp in 1916 and served with distinction on the Western Front. The 12/40^th soldiers were the first to carry out an official function on the site since the camp closed in 1918.

In 1914, Tasmania had a population of just on 200,000. Out of a male population of 45,000 who were eligible for enlistment 15,000 did so and just over 12,000 served overseas with 2,600 killed and 4,500 wounded.

We at Claremont RSL believe that our memorial will not only be a lasting tribute to all those who trained at the camp, it will be a fitting memorial to all Tasmanians who have served in all conflicts and peace keeping operations. 

Some of our heroes...

 Showing us how this baking is done!

Looking forward, looking back

 

Whilst we’re busy busy busy baking and delivering biscuits, let’s take a look at some early Anzac bakes…

About 40 years ago, before Aurora, there was Cosmos. 

And yes, even then Anzac biscuits were a part of the organisation. 

Here’s Keir Smith all those years ago baking biscuits 

from the very same recipe that is being used today.

Early Aurora days: Lorraine and Joy in the upstairs kitchen

at Mill Lane which is now an admin area,
baking more of the same delicious biscuits.

Jessica, remembered fondly by all who knew her,
also during an early Anzac bake.

 

And then...we walk into this building each day and get to work. But just what did it look like in the early days?

The video below was created specifically for, and shown to guests at the 2007 Autumn Twilight Appeal Dinner and Auction.

Aside from it being a reminder of our past and how far we've come, it also showcases the power and results of ongoing fundraising activities over many years. 

These days the Anzac bake is Aurora’s major fundraising opportunity each year, and all monies raised go towards the ongoing quality programmes and activities our organisation provides for people with disabilities. We’d like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support, be it selling, or helping to bake the biscuits we make each year.

.

The Eternal Flame

 

Image courtesy of Kelvin Ball

The Eternal Flame

A flame is widely accepted as a symbol of eternal life. An eternal flame at a war memorial symbolizes a nation's perpetual gratitude towards, and remembrance of, its war dead.

The Eternal Flame at the Australian War Memorial is a sculptural feature of the Pool of Reflection in the commemorative courtyard. It is a perpetual reminder of the service and sacrifice of more than 100,000 Australians who have given their lives in war.

The Australian Gas Association offered to donate an eternal flame to the Memorial as a bicentennial gift. Subsequent to Council approval, the eternal flame was installed in 1988. The eternal flame displaced an existing water cascade within the Pool of Reflection.

Origin Energy continue to provide the donation of gas to the eternal flame under a sponsorship agreement.

The Memorial received assistance in the formulation of a design for the Eternal Flame from the National Capital Development Authority, who engaged the architectural firm Denton, Corker and Marshall to design, document and supervise construction of architectural works associated with the Eternal Flame.

Les Kossatz, from Melbourne, was the sculptor of the original prototype for the flame brazier. It was installed at water level, thereby giving the impression that the flame comes from the water.

Two small plaques giving brief information are sited in the stone paving surrounding the Pool of Reflection near the flame. They read:

THE ETERNAL FLAME
A GIFT TO THE NATION FROM THE AUSTRALIAN
GAS INDUSTRY
ON THE OCCASION OF AUSTRALIA 'S BICENTENARY
LIT BY HIS EXCELLENCY
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR NINIAN STEPHEN
AK GCMG GCVO KBE
GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA

Source: https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/eternal_flame

Mural

 A picture is worth a thousand words...

This mural, created by local artist Andrew Baird and located in the Claremont RSL dining room, certainly is proof of that.

An amazing tribute, capturing the history, spirit, glory, sacrifice and suffering of our Anzacs spanning over a century around the globe.

Lest we forget...

It's official!

We're ready to bake...
But instead of cutting a ribbon,
lets thread it...through a gumnut!

Preparation and ordering of supplies has been underway for some time now. 2019's total of 38,350 biscuits saw us use rougly 350kg butter, 360kg flour, 525kg sugar, 220kg rolled oats, 205kg cocunut, and just over a 100kg golden syrup. Add a couple of litres of vanilla essence; and taking things with a grain of salt, add about half a kg of that too.

Then there's the baking paper to line the trays - a few hundred metres of it in fact. Cello bags to pack the biscuits, and labels, inserts, ribbon and gumnuts with holes pre-drilled (spare a thought for those who have been doing that job!). Hats, aprons and gloves and lets not forget batteries to power the scales used to measure out the butter portions.

And the whole building needs to be transformed also - workstations set up, the kitchen prepared for non stop baking...

But with all that completed before the easter break, we're ready to get underway. 2021: Ready...set...bake!!!

First delivery arriving...this is what hard work looks like!