Every Anzac Day for the past 20 years, the Morton and Hyland family have been the friendly faces behind a Bowral barbecue breakfast after the dawn service.
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The barbecue has grown from serving three people in the first year, to hundreds of people in the years that followed.
“It’s just what we do for Anzac Day, and it’s something that we do together,” Scott Morton said.
It all started when Scott Morton’s family owned the old Cheesecake Shop and a customer asked if the shop could open its doors after the dawn service.
“At the time the customer asked if we could open and serve coffee, and we did,” Mr Morton said. “When the Cheesecake Shop closed [after 12 years in business], we wanted to keep it going. “Now we have bacon and egg rolls and sausage sandwiches.” Every Anzac Day, the family will start their day at 4am and stay for several hours, serving about 300 sausage sandwiches and bacon and egg rolls to dawn service attendees.
The barbecue is run by the Hyland family made up of Michael, Helen, Daniel and Paula, and the Morton family made up of Scott and Amie Morton and their children Ryan, James and Sarah, as well as aunty Edwina Landsberry and friend of the family Ian Ford. Mr Morton said running the barbecue on Anzac Day had become a family tradition.
“It’s just what we do for Anzac Day, and it’s something that we do together,” Mr Morton said. “The fun part is feeding hundreds of people in about 35 minutes. My 16-year-old twin boys and my 14-year-old girl were in prams [in the beginning], now they have the tongs.”
Businesses have rallied behind the community barbecue breakfast over the years. This includes Bakers Delight, that have been donating bread for many years.
Angus-Campbell Jones real estate has also supported the community barbecue breakfast, and has allowed the families to use their premises to host the barbecue and use their power.
The families will host the barbecue once again on Wednesday.
