{"id":166472,"date":"2016-12-17T00:20:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T14:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=166472"},"modified":"2020-09-29T14:12:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T04:12:18","slug":"vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/","title":{"rendered":"VP Day Memorial Enjoys A Facelift"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_166476\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-166476\" style=\"width: 740px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-166476\" title=\"20161215 Kokoda Track\" src=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"492\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda3.jpg 620w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda3-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-166476\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Kingaroy Apex Club president Brian Tessmann, Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff and Apex Life Member John Box<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>December 17, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A unique memorial marking the sacrifice of Australian troops during World War II has enjoyed a makeover, thanks to the long memory of a former Kingaroy Apex Club member.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 1995, Kingaroy &#8211; like the rest of Australia &#8211; commemorated the 50th anniversary of VP Day (&#8220;Victory In The Pacific&#8221;), the official end of World War II.<\/p>\n<p>Kingaroy Apex decided to mark the occasion by temporarily &#8220;adopting&#8221; an area of remnant vegetation between Moonya and Fisher streets which had been donated to Kingaroy Shire Council by the Carroll family.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, over the years the Carroll Nature Reserve had become a dumping ground for garden waste and weeds had taken over.<\/p>\n<p>The Apex Club decided to help revive the area.<\/p>\n<p>They were joined by volunteers from Landcare and other groups who helped to clear the worst of the weeds.<\/p>\n<p>The Apex members then constructed an entrance gateway to the reserve and a sign was added to honour the people who gave their lives defending Australia and the Pacific Islands during World War II.<\/p>\n<p>The pathway through the area was renamed the &#8220;Kokoda Track&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><strong>All this occurred 21 years ago &#8230; <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Apex life member and Kingaroy resident John Box couldn&#8217;t help but notice recently that the sign honouring the Aussie troops was looking the worse for wear.<\/p>\n<p>As the Kingaroy Apex Club has been closed for more than 10 years, he turned to the South Burnett Regional Council to help.<\/p>\n<p>John said Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff, who is the Parks portfolio holder, picked up the idea and &#8220;drove it&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Council came to the rescue and paid for a new sign to be placed on the gateway.<\/p>\n<p>Cr Duff joined John and former Apex member Brian Tessmann &#8211; who was club president in 1995 &#8211; on Thursday to inspect the result.<\/p>\n<p>The new sign bears the same wording as the original, and looks good enough to last at least another 21 years!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_166473\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-166473\" style=\"width: 740px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-166473\" title=\"20161215 Kokoda Track\" src=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda4.jpg 620w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda4-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-166473\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new sign which welcomes visitors to Carroll Nature Reserve<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_166474\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-166474\" style=\"width: 740px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-166474\" title=\"1995 Kokoda Track\" src=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda1-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-166474\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FLASHBACK: Kingaroy Apex Club members preparing the gateway in 1995 (Photo: John Box)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_166475\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-166475\" style=\"width: 740px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-166475\" title=\"1995 Kokoda Track\" src=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda2.jpg 620w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda2-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-166475\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FLASHBACK: Kingaroy Apex Club members building the gateway in 1995 (Photo: John Box)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A unique memorial marking the sacrifice of Australian troops during World War II has enjoyed a makeover, thanks to the long memory of a former Kingaroy Apex Club member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":166476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,16,3],"tags":[1131],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.11 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>VP Day Memorial Enjoys A Facelift - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A unique memorial marking the sacrifice of Australian troops during World War II has enjoyed a makeover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VP Day Memorial Enjoys A Facelift - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A unique memorial marking the sacrifice of Australian troops during World War II has enjoyed a makeover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-16T14:20:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-29T04:12:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"412\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/\",\"name\":\"VP Day Memorial Enjoys A Facelift - southburnett.com.au\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-16T14:20:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-29T04:12:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\"},\"description\":\"A unique memorial marking the sacrifice of Australian troops during World War II has enjoyed a makeover\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/\",\"name\":\"southburnett.com.au\",\"description\":\"Kingaroy and South Burnett News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\",\"name\":\"Anne Miller\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"VP Day Memorial Enjoys A Facelift - southburnett.com.au","description":"A unique memorial marking the sacrifice of Australian troops during World War II has enjoyed a makeover","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"VP Day Memorial Enjoys A Facelift - southburnett.com.au","og_description":"A unique memorial marking the sacrifice of Australian troops during World War II has enjoyed a makeover","og_url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/","og_site_name":"southburnett.com.au","article_published_time":"2016-12-16T14:20:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-29T04:12:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"620","height":"412","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161215kokoda3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anne Miller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne Miller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/","name":"VP Day Memorial Enjoys A Facelift - southburnett.com.au","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-12-16T14:20:30+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-29T04:12:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae"},"description":"A unique memorial marking the sacrifice of Australian troops during World War II has enjoyed a makeover","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/17\/vp-day-memorial-enjoys-a-facelift\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/","name":"southburnett.com.au","description":"Kingaroy and South Burnett News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae","name":"Anne Miller","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166472"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278813,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166472\/revisions\/278813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}