Wollongong residents are invited to attend a rare Navy ceremony in Crown Street Mall on Sunday morning when HMAS Wollongong and her crew are granted Freedom of Entry to the city the Patrol Boat is named after.
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Stewart Street and Church Street will be closed for the once in a lifetime event for many.
The ceremony will take place in the city centre after starting in MacCabe Park at 10.45am.
Council representatives will present the crew of HMAS Wollongong with a scroll in MacCabe Park, granting them entry to the city.
The crew, along with the Royal Australian Navy Cadets, Navy band and members of the NSW Mounted Police Unit, will then march up Church Street at approximately 11:15am.
Once they reach Crown Street, Superintendent Stephen Hegarty will challenge the parade and they will show the scroll to gain entry into the City.
The march will then make its way through the mall, before stopping outside Wesley Church on the Mall where the council and Commander Mine Warfare, Clearance Diving, Hydrographic, Meteorological and Patrol Force Captain Warren Bairstow will take the salute from the parade.
More than 200 people gathered at Figgy Bowlo (Figtree RSL Bowling Club) on Saturday night for a Ceremonial Sunset for the crew of HMAS Wollongong where the Navy Band took centre stage.
Peter Poulton and the Wollongong RSL sub-branch were involved in organising that event along with the bowling club, Hydrographic Office and Wollongong City Council.
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SUNDAY 10.45am MacCabe Park & Crown St Mall
- HMAS Wollongong Freedom of Entry ceremony will start in MacCabe Park at 10.45am.
- Wollongong City Council will present HMAS Wollongong’s commanding officer and its crew with a scroll authorising the granting of Freedom of Entry.
- The ship’s company along with the Royal Australian Navy Band, will then march up Church Street.
- 11.15am they will show the scroll to gain entry to Wollongong.
- From Church Street the crew will then march into Crown Street Mall before turning east at the stage and marching down towards Kembla Street.
- Outside the Church on the Mall, council and Commander Mine Warfare, Clearance Diving, Hydrographic, Meteorological and Patrol Force, Captain Warren Bairstow, will take the salute from the parade.
MONDAY in Wollongong
Members of the crew speak at local schools and aged care facilities.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
