My mother, who turns 100 on April 28, attended the 10am service and was a war-time nurse.

There were so many women who served in a range of roles during the wars but it is all about the men.

I think this needs to be corrected.

Tarro Uniting Church will be celebrating its 150th anniversary over the weekend of May 6 and 7 with a series of special events to mark the occasion.

The church was opened for Good Friday services on April 19, 1867 as the Upper Hexham Wesleyan Church and was a part of the Morpeth Circuit. 

In 1902 it joined with four other Methodist and Wesleyan denominations to become the Methodist Church of Australasia. That church ceased to exist in 1977 when most of its congregations joined with the many congregations of the Congregational Union of Australia and the Presbyterian Church of Australia to form the Uniting Church in Australia.

The original church was built on land in Anderson Drive, Tarro, which is now the site of an electricity sub-station.

This building was demolished in 1954 when the present church was opened on the corner of Northern and Central Avenues, Tarro.

To mark the occasion there will be a booked lunch on Saturday, May 6, followed by a concert at 2pm and afternoon tea.

The Sunday worship service of celebration will be held at 9am, followed by morning tea then a shared basket lunch at 12 noon.

A Hymnfest will be conducted from 2pm on the Sunday to conclude the weekend of celebrations.

Past members of the church, families and friends are invited to join in the celebrations and renew friendships.

If anyone has any old photos or memorabilia of years gone by that they would be willing to loan us for the occasion and for further information please contact Dawn on 0407 281 363.

Researchers at the University of NSW are warning of the increasing danger of deadly influenza pandemics. The solution should be obvious: to stop raising and eating animals. Chicken and turkey factory farms are so crowded and filthy that they are perfect reservoirs for disease. Tens of thousands of birds are packed in sheds teeming with bacteria and ammonia fumes; many become ill from the unsanitary environment. Laying hens are crammed in battery cages stacked tier upon tier. Faeces from the birds on top fall on those below, providing ideal conditions for diseases like bird flu to spread.

According to the World Health Organization, people can become infected with bird flu by eating undercooked infected chicken or by eating food prepared on the same cutting board as contaminated chicken or eggs. Even touching the broken eggshells of infected eggs puts consumers at risk.

Even flu vaccination is no guarantee of safety, as 25 per cent of children who died of influenza from 2010 to 2014 had been immunized. The best way to prevent bird flu – and save billions of animals from pain and suffering – is by eating a vegan diet.

Anzac Day is a day of remembrance. Not a day off to get pissed.

Go to a service and show some respect.

Thank someone in uniform and someone out of uniform – it may be their family member that didn't come home.