A small crowd gathered at the Forbes Rugby Union clubhouse on Saturday for a special ceremony to officially unveil the Bali Memorial stone.
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The three players who tragically lost their lives in the 2002 Bali Bombings - Paul Cronin, Greg Sanderson and Brad Ridley - will now be forever remembered thanks to the prominent memorial stone now in place out the front of the clubhouse at Grinsted Oval.
Forbes mayor Phyllis Miller spoke at the ceremony and said that October 12, 2002 was an extremely sad day for the Forbes community.
“Sadly, we lost three beautiful boys that day,” she said.
“However, I see this as a joyous occasion; the greatest gift we can give to grieving families is a lifelong memorial so they can always be remembered.
“It’s a place where people can reflect and pray for those families that are still praying for their three beautiful boys, and also for the surviving boys who I know for a fact have done it very tough.”
Brad Ridley’s sister, Fiona Dooley also spoke and thanked the rugby club, Forbes Shire Council and everyone who contributed to the memorial.
“It’s nice that visitors, family friends and the boys that came home can come down and have a reflect as well,” she said.
Daphne Prior and David Mattiske, along with the help of a small committee, were instrumental in establishing the memorial.
Mrs Prior said she became passionate about getting a memorial in Forbes after seeing one everywhere she travelled.
“It didn’t matter where I went, there was a monument for the Bali Bombings, but we had nothing,” she said.
“So I started writing letters.”
Mrs Prior said she tried for years to get something with no luck, until David Mattiske stepped in to help her out.
In the end, everything was donated except the plaque.
Central West Granite donated the huge rock, while Forbes Shire Council waived the DA fees.
The memorial rock is very solid and won’t be going anywhere in a hurry if it floods, with one foot of it underground.
“I wanted something that wasn’t going to float away and didn’t want a brass plaque because it will flood again and it will rust,” Mrs Prior said.
“This’ll take a 10 tonne truck to move it.”
