BATHURST'S two main Anzac Day services will return next month with strict limitations placed on the numbers taking part in the marches.
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School children, school bands and community groups will be excluded from the marches which will be open only to past and present servicemen and women.
And crowds will also be encouraged to stay away to ease pressure on organisers who are working to comply with changing COVID restrictions.
Bathurst RSL Sub Branch president David Mills said plans for Bathurst's Anzac Day services were only finalised on Wednesday following months of negotiation with health authorities and veterans' representatives.
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He said the Dawn Service would go ahead at the War Memorial Carillon from 4.30am with only past and present servicemen and women before the community is urged to again stand in the driveway of their homes at 6am to take part in a commemoration to be broadcast on local radio stations 2BS and 2MCE.
The main service will feature a march from the Bathurst RSL to Kings Parade from 10.15am ahead of the commemoration at the Carillon.
Mr Mills said there was some disappointment among local veterans that their families could not take part in this year's marches but overall the response to the plans had been positive.
School leaders from across the Bathurst region have been invited to take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Carillon on Friday, April 23 instead of the marches.
Mr Mills said it was important for young people to have the chance to take part in some way.
"If we talk about encouraging the community and the next generation to take on the characteristics of the spirit of Anzac Day we have to continue to engage with them," he said.
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"The schools in the Bathurst area have been remarkably supportive of our commemorations and now the discussion is moving beyond the horrors of what's involved in war to looking at the personal traits they can use in their daily lives.
"That's become the stronger message."
The Anzac Day schedule will also include community services in Yetholme, Rockley and Sofala; a wreath-laying at the Boer Memorial in Kings Parade; services at the Broken Blade outside BMEC and war graves on the Mitchell Highway; and Lowering of the Colours at 6pm.
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