Mr Shanahan expects the event, which will be held on Monday, April 25, will look exactly as it did before the COVID-19 pandemic — without a density limit and with the Anzac Day march going ahead.
“Because of the current COVID restrictions which are pretty much non-existent, we expect that it will be going ahead as normal,” Mr Shanahan said.
“We’ll continue checking as time goes on to see if there are going to be any restrictions still in place.
“The moral of the story is, the way things are going now with the government lifting all these restrictions over the next two months, I can’t see them implementing any drastic changes unless there is a really bad outbreak.”
The event will be set up for 500 people, but the Echuca sub-branch is anticipating many more than that to attend.
The dawn service is expected to go ahead at the Echuca shrine, outside the council offices, from 6am.
Mr Shanahan asks anyone who is planning on attending the service to be there by 5.45am.
This year, 120 seats will be set up for the veterans to take at the ceremony.
“For anybody else who doesn’t have a seat, they are quite welcome, and we even encourage them to bring their camping chairs which they can then set up on the lawn,” Mr Shanahan said.
“That’s a new thing for us and it will be good because there’s a lot of people who will be there for an hour or so that are still old enough not to be able to stand up for too long.
“Just don’t bring your Eskies full of grog with your chairs and we’ll be laughing.”
Campaspe Shire Mayor Chrissy Weller will be attending the service as a special guest speaker.
Local police, CFA and ambulance members will also be there.
Following the service, the Echuca Moama Men’s Shed will provide a cooked breakfast of bacon and eggs.
The Anzac Day march will then kick off at 10.45am.
Anyone hoping to march in the parade has been asked to assemble at the traffic lights on Hare St at 10.30am.
“We will not be cancelling the march unless something happens in the very last week prior to Anzac Day and it needs to be cancelled,” Mr Shanahan said.
He said there had been a big emphasis on trying to get the younger generation more involved with Anzac Day over the past three years.
“We want to get them involved as much as we can,” he said.
“The kids are the only ones that keep this tradition going because we’re all getting older. We’re hoping to one day hand over the RSL to the young and let them keep it going in a similar fashion.”
Mr Shanahan hopes to see some of the district school students attending the march.
“It’s important because they are going to be the generation who will follow in our footsteps,” he said.
Mr Shanahan said it was important that people came along to pause, remember, reflect and commemorate the day and the diggers.
“They’re the ones that preserved peace for us,” he said.
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