THE Kangaroo March re-enactment that began in Wagga on September 5 ends on Saturday with a closing ceremony at Campbelltown.
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Walking from Camden to Menangle Park on Friday, vice-president of the Kangaroo March Centenary Association, Rhondda Vanzella, described the 35-day 524km re-enactment of a WWI recruitment march as an epic experience.
“It was full of emotion as people shared not only their family stories, but also their own stories about how they felt about marching,” Mrs Vanzella said.
The re-enactment has traced the steps of young men who enlisted for service in World War I during a recruitment march that began in Wagga on December 1, 1915.
The march started with 88 men and arrived in Sydney on January 7, 1916, with a nominal strength of 222.
Several years of work went into planning the re-enactment, which was launched in Wagga on December 9, 2013.
Over the next 21 months, communities along the re-enactment route devised celebrations that came to life after the 2015 march began with a moving ceremony in Wagga.
Thousands of Riverina people attended welcomes and associated activities in places such as Junee, Illabo, Wallendbeen and Cootamundra.
Mrs Vanzella said there were mixed emotions about the re-enactment march coming to an end.
While marchers have endured oppressive heat over the past few days they have been buoyed the whole route by the hospitality and generosity of local communities.
She said some marchers had expected to lose weight on the long walk, but instead now believe they had been fattened up by the wonderful food provided by people along the way.