OPERATION Rosemary co- ordinator Darren Scott needs Wimmera residents' help.
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Mr Scott co-ordinates a supply of rosemary sprigs for Anzac Day, but this year he has two special customers - the Australian and New Zealand embassies in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Mr Scott said he needed to make 500 sprigs by next Thursday - 250 with the Australian flag and 250 with the New Zealand flag.
He said he was amazed when he received a call from an Australian embassy official asking for his help.
"The official had attended the Anzac Day celebrations in Melbourne last year and taken a sprig of rosemary from me," he said.
"The guy had kept the sprig and he called the rosemary farm who put him onto me.
"It is an incredible honour."
Mr Scott will host a special rosemary sprig-making session at Horsham RSL on Thursday between 10am and 4pm.
He said he needed all the volunteers he could get to come along.
"It is a bit fiddly," he said.
"But it is a special service to make these for our diggers and I don't think people realise how much it means to them to get that sprig of rosemary on Anzac Day."
Mr Scott said the rosemary sprigs would be used for Anzac Day celebrations in Jakarta.
"I wasn't sure how well the rosemary would survive on a trip to Jakarta," he said.
"The official told me just to have them ready and they would take care of the rest."
Mr Scott has the even greater task of co-ordinating the creation of 500,000 sprigs before Anzac Day.
"The orders have gone ballistic this year," he said.
"Last year we had orders for 200,000 and we ended up making about 180,000.
"But this year we really need a lot more help."
He said he would host a four- day session at Horsham RSL from 9am until late on April 19 to April 24.
Assistance
He said he had secured assistance from Corrections Victoria and Country Fire Authority and State Emergency Services people in the Wimmera to help make the rosemary sprigs.
"Even if you think you can't make the sprigs we also need people to label boxes and do other tasks," he said. "So I encourage anyone who can give us a few hours to come out here and help us."
Mr Scott has worked on Operation Rosemary for more than 20 years and was nominated for the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance Community Service Medal last year.
He made the final four and said it was a great honour to be nominated.
Mr Scott said people could call him on 0431 214 440 for more information.