Members of the Myrtleford RSL held a lunch at the Happy Valley Hotel last Thursday, 18 September to welcome surrounding local veterans, widows of veterans and family members to make new connections and raise awareness for those who are not aware how the local veteran support structure works.

Anyone who served in the Australian Defence Force is considered a veteran.

They, veteran widows and veterans’ dependent family members are openly invited to a series of monthly lunches up until December this year.

"We really provide these lunches for the camaraderie and wellbeing of veterans in our community," Myrtleford RSL president, Brian McDonald said.

"We wanted to get people together and it’s an opportunity for veterans to connect in a relaxed environment.

"This afternoon many Vietnam War era veterans and widows were present.

"We invited representatives from Kiewa, Bright, Mount Beauty and Beechworth RSLs to these lunches: they're the four we usually team up with to hold events and such.

“One of the good things about holding these lunches is we’re finding more veterans in our community who aren’t currently members of any RSL, so we’re able to welcome them into our midst and support them any way we can.

“The only downside to these gatherings is some of our contemporary veterans, because they’re younger, are at work.

"In the Myrtleford area there are veterans who are school teachers, police officers, people who work in hospitality or who have family obligations, so they just can’t always be here to join in the conversations.

“Some people do need assistance understanding their entitlements under the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) arrangements: these conversations can facilitate that process and we can refer them to specialists.

"We try to rotate between a number of venues in the area and mix it up."

The next RSL luncheon will be held in Milawa, on Thursday, 16 October.

For more information, contact John Twyford on 0408 755 591.