THE lonely role of bugler was even more isolated this year, for those sounding the Last Post at dawn.
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Buglers still greeted the first light with the familiar strains at cenotaphs around Bendigo, but few veterans were there to hear it.
At most just one or two people laid a wreath on behalf of veterans.
Read more: Day dawns on Anzac like none before
Bugler Hayley Weston played the Last Post at the Eaglehawk cenotaph as Anzac Day dawned.
Mrs Weston said it was a very different morning on Saturday, without veterans to play for.
"One of the really nice things about playing to people is you get people come up to you afterwards, and you can see how much it means to them that you have honoured them in that way," she said.
"That was missing this morning, so that was a bit sad, but there'll obviously be next year's."
There's a weight and significance to it, that you really feel. You really want to put emotion into it.
- Hayley Weston
Mrs Weston said play the Last Post was normally a nerve-wracking moment.
Even almost alone on Saturday, she was still nervous before sounding the notes.
It's not just that as a brass band member, Mrs Weston is used to playing in concert with other instruments.
Video: Bendigo bugler Kelly Hazell plays at dawn on Anzac Day.
"There's a weight and significance to it, that you really feel. You really want to put emotion into it," Mrs Weston said.
"You're playing it for the veterans, so you feel that significance.
"You're alone, you sound alone. You have to project your sound and get it perfect."
Like most "buglers" Mrs Weston actually plays the cornet, a simpler instrument. Where the cornet has valves, the bugle doesn't, requiring more expertise to play notes, pitch and tone correctly.
Mrs Weston has played for almost 30 years, with the Eaglehawk Citizens' Brass Band.
She joined age 11, following in the footsteps of an older sister. Mrs Weston and her sister both still play, along with her brother-in-law, nieces and nephews, and son.
"We lived at the Eaglehawk fire station, my dad was the station master there, and it was next door to the band hall," Mrs Weston said.
"We would hear them playing on Sunday mornings, and my sister went and gave it a go, and we all sort of gravitated into the band."
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Mrs Weston has been Eaglehawk's Anzac bugler for three years. She plays at the Dawn Service, the 8am service and on Remembrance Day.
It's a role that people tend to hold onto for a long time, before handing down.
Mrs Weston took over from a veteran, who held the role into his 80s. As principal cornet in the Eaglehawk brass band, the role fell to her.
"It's a really tall order to fill. Once you've got it you tend to hold it for a while, just because it's such a big thing to have, an important role to play," she said.
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