{"id":627053,"date":"2026-04-24T03:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/627053\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T03:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:30:10","slug":"100-year-old-bugler-prepares-for-anzac-day-ceremonies-in-regional-victoria-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/627053\/","title":{"rendered":"100-year-old bugler prepares for Anzac Day ceremonies in regional Victoria town"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the decades, Alan Streader has heard the sound of brass bands fade from country streets \u2014 but he’s still blowing his bugle.<\/p>\n

The centenarian started in a brass band alongside his brothers in the small north Victorian town of Boort when he was eight.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been playing for the community ever since,” Mr Streader said.<\/p>\n

Music ran through the Streader family home.<\/p>\n

His mother played the piano and his father sang. His siblings took up instruments, too.<\/p>\n

“We all had our instruments and we played in quartets in the town,” Mr Streader said.<\/p>\n

“We used to enjoy it, really.”<\/p>\n

Mr Streader still gets his brass out for every big local event — including Anzac Day.<\/p>\n

\"Elderly<\/p>\n

Alan Streader plays brass instruments and the harmonica. (ABC News: Tamara Clark)<\/p>\n

Anzac reflection<\/p>\n

Mr Streader never went to war.<\/p>\n

A serious workplace accident at 17 rendered him unfit for service.<\/p>\n

“Something happened at work and the scaffold came down on top of me and my arm got hit with a log of timber,” Mr Streader said.<\/p>\n

Doctors told him he would never be able to use it again.<\/p>\n

“They told me I was no good for the army, it was all locked up and you couldn’t move it,” Mr Streader said.<\/p>\n

On Anzac Day, his injured arm holds up his treasured trumpet and plays the Last Post and the national anthem.<\/p>\n

Mr Streader said performing at dawn services made him reflect on his mates who served.<\/p>\n

“Oh yes, I helped them a lot and did a lot of jobs for them,” Mr Streader said.<\/p>\n

“I helped them with their houses and that sort of thing.”<\/p>\n

\"Set<\/p>\n

Alan Streader is a well-practised harmonica player. (ABC News: Tamara Clark)<\/p>\n

Mr Streader still plays at schools, ceremonies and services in Boort \u2014 as he has done since he was a boy.<\/p>\n

“I just like the music,” Mr Streader said.<\/p>\n

“That’s all.<\/p>\n

“I just play anywhere it’s needed at all. They just yell out and I go.”<\/p>\n

Top of the range<\/p>\n

Even his instrument has a story.<\/p>\n

Mr Streader said the sovereign cornet once belonged to the bandmaster of the Bendigo Municipal Band.<\/p>\n

“They played for some big royal tour when the queen came out,” Mr Streader said.<\/p>\n

The band received new instruments from the government as part of the tour and the old ones were destined for the tip.<\/p>\n

The bandmaster told Mr Streader that if he brought home any new bugles his wife would throw them out.<\/p>\n

“So I got it as a free gift. It’s a sovereign cornet, top of the range,” Mr Streader said.<\/p>\n

‘Better as he gets older’<\/p>\n

For his son, Bryan Streader, the sound of dad’s trumpet is one of pride.<\/p>\n

“It’s pretty amazing,” Bryan said.<\/p>\n

\"Middle<\/p>\n

Bryan Streader is proud of his dad for continuing to perform. (ABC News: Tamara Clark)<\/p>\n

“Everyone comments and thinks it’s good for the town, which it is.<\/p>\n

“A lot of them think he’s getting better as he gets older, actually.”<\/p>\n

Bryan watches his father get ready for the Anzac Day dawn service at the RSL every year.<\/p>\n

“He’s been doing it for as long as I can remember,” Bryan said.<\/p>\n

“This Friday he plays at the school up here at 10 o’clock, then Anzac Day at 10 o’clock Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

“He likes blowing his trumpet, so that’s good.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the decades, Alan Streader has heard the sound of brass bands fade from country streets \u2014 but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[45878,85102,64,63,303849,303847,134,303848,136724,246312],"class_list":["post-627053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-anzac","tag-anzac-day","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boort","tag-bugle","tag-entertainment","tag-harmonica","tag-soldier","tag-trumpet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}