Our One Day of the Year may be changing its focus from remembering fallen comrades to a wider, almost mystical vision and restating of what it means to be Australian.

A reaffirmation of values that perhaps aren’t lived up to as they should be for the rest of the year.

Given the weather’s sudden dive into the worst of winter, this year’s turn out of marchers and spectators along Auburn Street was remarkable.

In fact, there seemed to be more of both than there were for last year’s sunny event.

The Belmore Park dawn service, and post-march civic ceremony later in the morning, also saw bigger turn-outs than last year. Rather than dying with the dwindling ranks of war veterans and their contemporaries, Anzac Day has taken on new life.

The number of participants – marchers and spectators – defies time and actually continues to grow. And it’s young people – schoolkids, mostly – and their proud parents and teachers, who are the renewing force of a day that once largely belonged to old warriors and their mates.

Kids from Goulburn and district schools, as well as Scouts and other youth organisations, far out-numbered other marchers.

They were also there in surprising numbers at the dawn service, when the wind-chill might have been enough to keep them tucked up in bed. Once, the participation of children in anything to do with Anzac Day ceremonies and their Digger traditions of two-up, boozing, and swapped anecdotes was discouraged.

Now, it’s kids who’ll be keeping Anzac Day alive into the foreseeable future. Hopefully, though, none of those young people proudly wearing their Grandad’s or Uncle Bill’s or Aunty Betty’s war medals down Auburn Street behind the rain-coated pipe band will never one day have to earn their own campaign decorations in Australia or overseas.

And who were most appreciative of the way those kids brought a special sort of respectful awareness of Anzac Day’s importance in shaping and maintaining our Australian character?

Of course, it was those old Diggers shivering beside them in the dawn chill.

When those men and women from old wars have all gone, who will be standing beside another generation of kids solemnly observing Anzac Day in a chill dawn, or marching behind a band down Auburn Street?

Yes, it will be many of those teenagers and younger marchers who turned out on Wednesday – grown up and with family of their own.

That’s why Anzac Day will never die.