As a young boy growing up in Templestowe the 1970s, I would often pass the Templestowe Cenotaph on my way to the shops. Sometimes I would stop and read the names on this granite monument, other times I would just pass on by. I remember one day as I passed the cenotaph I noticed bunches of flowers at it’s base. I wondered what they were doing there and who may have placed them. Then I remembered that we had recently had a day off school for ANZAC Day but there was no ceremony at school and a seeming lack of interest from the broader local community. Fast forward about 50 years and on ANZAC Day 2023, I again stop by the cenotaph in Templestowe, this time surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of people, young and old, men, women and children, returned service personnel, families and friends. Instead of a couple of bunches of flowers, many came forward and bowing respectfully offered up beautiful floral tributes which covered the entire base of the monument. The students from Whitefriars were there in force too with the Whitefriars concert band and chair led by Mr Nick Fitter and Mr Matthew Frampton providing a moving hymn to the fallen and a rousing rendition of Advance Australia Fair. Our Student Leaders offered prayers and relfections also.