With the assistance of local school children, Mr Elliott and Mrs Pavey took a soil sample from the sub-branch.

The sample will become part of an artwork at the Anzac Memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park to honour soldiers from across the Mid North Coast area who fought in the Great War.

Soil samples from more than 1,600 sites across NSW where young soldiers enlisted to fight are being collected as part of the Anzac Memorial Centenary Soil Collection project.

All soil samples will be placed in the renovated Hall of Service with the name of the town next to them.

Mrs Pavey said men and women from across the Mid North Coast region have served their country.

Mr Elliott said collecting soil from a broad range of sites across the state is a reminder of the sacrifices made by men and women across all of our communities in the Great War.

“A century on, we honour these Australians by taking a sample of soil and placing it in the Hall of Service at the refurbished Anzac Memorial so that it can be appreciated and commemorated by generations to come,” he said.

The Anzac Memorial Centenary Project Soil Collection is part of the NSW Government’s upgrade of the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park during the Centenary of Anzac. The refurbished Anzac Memorial will be complete in late 2018.

Representatives from East Kempsey Public School, South Kempsey Public School, Kempsey Adventist School and Kempsey High School watched on as Mr Elliott presented a ministerial commendation to Allan Goulder for the invaluable work he has done with veterans in the area.

Mr Elliott also gave the RSL sub-branch a copy of a book entitled New South Wales and the Great War, which provides details of our state’s contribution to the conflict.