NEW Logan Village RSL sub-branch president Coll Evans says keeping the dream and traditions of the RSL alive is one of the biggest challenges facing the organisation today.
“One of my aims is to find a way to include younger people from the area in what we do here,” said Mr Evans, a former Logan Village RSL sub-branch vice president who elected president at an AGM on Sunday, May 6.
“What I’d like to see is students nominated from the local schools with one selected to hold the honour roll of our fallen soldiers – and there are a lot of them from the area – for a year. Obviously, this is something I will have to take to the committee, but this is how I’m thinking.
“The biggest challenge facing the RSL today is finding ways to get young people interested in learning what we are all about.
“Each Anzac Day, that honour roll could be passed on to its next keeper for 12 months.
“We’d ask kids to apply and there would be a selection process. A lot of ex-servicemen and women come from this area and we need to make contact and remind them what we are about.
Mr Evans is a former warrant officer whose postings took him all over Australia and overseas to locations including the west New Guinea.
“There are traditions we need to keep alive for the RSL, but we also need to keep with the times. A bit of exposure … I suppose that’s what we need,” he said.
“A lot of our members are getting older so we need to bring fresher, younger people to the organisation to keep the dream, what is fundamental to the RSL and what it stands for alive.”
And what is that?
“To remember all conflicts past and present, remember all service people who have served and who are serving and to remember all those who have put their lives on the line to keep Australia the tranquil place it is today with the values it has,” Mr Evans said.