WHEN Moree’s crocheting granny Mel Gilkison spotted an image of an Anzac-themed blanket earlier this year, she knew immediately what her next project was going to be.
Mel regularly submits crocheting works to the Moree Show pavilion, and with the show this year falling on the Anzac weekend, Mel knew her timing had to be perfect.
“I was looking for a project to put in the Moree show,” Mel said.
“I had a couple picked out in January and realised I needed to get started, and then one day I came across a photograph of a Lest We Forget blanket.
“With the Moree Show on Anzac day, I knew that was the one I had to do,” she smiled.
Mel, self-taught during Covid when “things went pear-shaped”, started crocheting every spare chance she could muster, and delivered the quilt with literally minutes to spare.
“The quilt still wasn’t fully completed by the deadline, but I put it in anyway,” she smiled.
Mel’s not-quite-finished masterpiece earned a blue ribbon, and now hangs proudly in the Moree RSL Regional Military Museum.
“Making the quilt was more about the sentiment, rather than sort of acknowledgement at the show,” Mel said.
“My goal from the get-go was to donate it to the museum when it was done.
“After I collected it, I didn’t touch it for a few weeks, and it actually took me longer to finish the last 10 or so rows and borders than it did for the bulk of the blanket,” she laughed.
Crocheting granny Mel Gilkison, Moree RSL Sub-Branch president John Williams, with (at back) sub-branch executive members Darryl Brady and John Tramby and the Anzac-themed quilt she crocheted for the museum.
Moree RSL Sub-Branch president John Williams and executive members John Tramby and Darryl Brady proudly displayed Mel’s work on the western wall of the museum. The piece measures about two metres across and two metres deep, and took more than four months to complete.
“Many people really don’t realise the amount of work that’s gone into this – it’s incredible – and means so much to our veterans,” Mr Williams said.
“And to then donate it to the museum in memory of what the veterans have done for Australia is a wonderful gesture.”
Mel’s trilogy tells the story of three young men, from their childhood days playing, enlistment in the Great War, to their final resting place after being killed in action.
“Mel’s work tells its own story,” Mr Williams said.
“It sends a powerful message, and really touches the heart.”
Next Friday, August 15, marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2, and Moree RSL Regional Military Museum will conduct a special commemorative service in the foyer area of the museum.
“We invite veterans and their families, and the families who have lost loved ones in times of war, to come along and attend the service,” Mr Williams said.
“On the following Monday, August 18, we’ll have a Vietnam veterans’ service in memory of the Battle of Long Tan.
“We’ll hold that in Anzac Park, which is the only memorial in Australia that has all the names of the servicemen in the order of the dates they died . . . all those who died together, are listed together,” Mr Williams said.
