Well hello to all,

What an action packed weekend in Katherine we have had. Firstly thank you goes to Steve Ruebenson who instructed the division on Thursday night with Medical Terminology. We are all now a little better off with an understanding of suffixes, prefixes and core words. Friday night Adults who were interested attended a workshop on Child Protection; a big thank you goes to Kelly Raven who came down from Darwin to instruct this for us. Thanks also to Natalie and Jason Clarke for volunteering at junior rugby allowing most of the adults able to attend the workshop.

Saturday Steve and I attended a Polocrosse carnival, the first of many to be held of which only two will be held in Katherine.

This two day event, for the people not in the know, is an equestrian team sport that is played all over the world. It is a combination of polo and lacrosse. It is played outside, on a field (the pitch), on horseback. Each rider uses a cane stick to which is attached a racquet head with a loose, thread net, in which the ball is carried. The ball is made of sponge rubber and is approximately four inches across. The objective is to score goals by throwing the ball between your team’s goal posts. One of the riders said to us that it was like netball, by the end of the day Steve and I were pretty kosher with how the game was played. Wikipedia has more info for those who thirst more knowledge.

No injuries to be recorded but there was one guy who got a polo racket to the face; lucky for him he had his helmet on or he may have been worse off than he was.

On Saturday whilst Polocrosse was going on the Katherine Cadets had their Junior First aid course in which Kelly instructed. All cadets were on their best behaviour on the day and Natalie was there in the background to overlook that all were fed and the cadets had a good day.

Sunday as we all know was ANZAC Day in which I attended the dawn service with a few Adult Volunteers and numerous Paramedics. Steve and I represented St John Ambulance with the laying of the wreath at this service, each in our respectful uniforms as Ambulance service and volunteers alike.

The day service was represented by the Cadets as they marched down the main street of Katherine to finish off at the war memorial on parade and the laying of the wreath.

I was also part of the march along with Lenaire and David who has been practicing drill with the cadets from the beginning of the year. As we marched we were followed by two Ambulances driven by LA and Amy along with adult volunteers as passengers. Thank you to all Paramedics, Adult and Cadet volunteers for making this a memorable day and giving your time to those who made our country what it is today.

Lest we forget

Article by Tanea Rudder Katherine Division