Wollongong and South Coast Legacy comm

Each item of food prepared for the lunch, by the Bega Hospital Auxiliary, was symbolic of World War I, with the mud cake representing service in the trenches.

"[Although] I don't think it's any bully beef and hard biscuits there," Mr Florance said with a laugh.

Mr Florance said the lunch was nice because the beneficiaries were able to catch up with friends they don't see very often, over a light meal, tea and a conversation.

"We have a luncheon for the Legacy beneficiaries once every three months, and this one had a cake to celebrate the centenary of Legacy's foundation, as Legacy was formed in 1923," Mr Florance said.

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Wollongong and South Coast Legacy, established in 1947, covers an area extending from Helensburgh in the north to Bega in the south, and is comprised of five groups located in Wollongong, Nowra, Batemans Bay, Narooma and the Bega Valley.

Mr Florance, who served in Vietnam, said his service was "natural progression, I suppose," since his father served in the World War II, and his grandfather served in World War I.

Having lost a lot of friends during his Vietnam service, Mr Florance said he joined Legacy after the foundation made an appeal to his unit in Sydney, as he believed it was a good way to support the wives and children of "our departed comrades."

"Legacy, to me, is one of those organisations that does a lot of good. We don't boast about our work," Mr Florance said.

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"When I first arrived in Bega we had over 270 widows in the Valley, mainly World War II widows, and we just go about our work quietly. We support widows financially if they need it, but most of all it's the personal service.

"We keep in touch with our widows [and children] to make sure they're going okay.

"It's one of those things where you get a lot of satisfaction out of helping people."

On October 27, the Wollongong and South Coast Legacy will be holding the Wollongong Legacy Centenary Dinner at Novotel Wollongong Northbeach, where the first serious Australian casualty of the war in Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Garth Callender, will be guest speaker.

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