THERE was cause for double celebrations in the Rowe household recently when Joan and Harry celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at the Daylesford Bowling Club.
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Joan also celebrated her 80th birthday, which is nine days apart from their wedding anniversary.
They met when Harry moved to Melbourne from South Australia searching for work and started to attend the local dance at Sunshine with his new friends.
There at the dance, on opposite sides of the hall, Harry laid eyes on Joan, asked her to dance, and they have been together ever since.
‘‘We don’t know what the attraction was ... something just clicked, we just got on well with one another,’’ Harry and Joan said.
Afterwards Harry would often visit Joan and her family several times a week for dinner until after two years, Harry asked Joan’s father for her hand in marriage.
Joan and Harry were married in the Church of England at Footscray in 1954.
Both worked hard to buy their first home until their ‘‘boys came along’’.
The family often went on holidays to Portarlington and then Daylesford until one day after their family had left home, Joan and Harry decided after 25 years of travelling to Daylesford, they would make the town their home. Here the couple joined in many clubs and activities in the area.
Both love their sport, especially when it comes to following the Footscray Football Club.
‘‘I started barracking for Footscray when I moved to Melbourne,’’ Harry said.
‘‘A work mate used to take me to all the matches and when I met Joan, we both started going to a few matches together.’’
Harry said: ‘‘I will always remember when we got married, because it was the only year Footscray won a grand final.’’
However, Harry admits Joan may be the more vocal when it comes to watching sport. Joan loves her sport and loves to barrack for Australia – ‘‘especially the cricket’’, she said.
Both follow the local football and ‘‘love it when Daylesford are winning’’.
‘‘While we have had a few tiffs, we never fought over money. It didn’t matter if we had 10 bob left, we never fought over it. We paid the bills, looked after the kids’ needs and whatever they needed for school – we wouldn’t fight over who was going to have it.’’
Asked what advice they would give to young couples today, they say, ‘‘don’t live beyond your means’’.