50th Anniversary - Jim Hardy

50^th Wedding Anniversary Jim Hardy

Enid and John were Bridesmaid and Best Man at my wedding over fifty years ago. Unfortunately my love, Eileen, passed on about six years ago.

I come from a family half the size of the O’Rourke family. I had five sisters and one brother. My brother died very young and my sister May died in her late twenties. The other four are all here tonight, Agnes, Monica, Enid and Claire, helping to celebrate this occasion. I think they take after our mother who lived to the ripe old age of 90. Our father died in his early fifties and I am the only male member of the Hardy clan to live beyond their fifties. So I am very glad to be here tonight.

My four sisters between them had twenty-four children of which Enid contributed more than half with 13. I must congratulate Enid and John on their large family, the way they have educated them. They all have good jobs and lovely families. Enid and John, you did a great job. Congratulations on your family and your long life together.

50th Wedding Anniversary - Tom Kelly

50^th Wedding Anniversary, Tom Kelly

Thank you for having Edna and myself at this Wedding Anniversary celebration. We have known Enid and John as a couple for a long time. Our friendship goes back well over fifty years. We have had the pleasure of sharing many family occasions. We saw all the kids grow up and were able to spend some time looking after some of the little ones.  In the earlier years we were able to have good times together with our own young family.

Our lives have often run on parallel lines. We first met in Mackay in our courting days. During the war, John joined the Air Force and for a time we were in Townsville together. Eventually we all ended up in Brisbane together.

I recall some of the problems Enid had with her young family.  One of the kids got a toothpaste cap caught in his throat.  A bit of a panic ensued then Enid gave him a hit on the back and a quick flip, and the cap flew out. Another time a couple of the boys were having an argument outside under the kitchen window. Enid tossed an empty tin at them and managed to catch one of them on the head. He ran up to his mother with blood streaming down his face. The ambulance arrived and when the blood was cleaned away, a small insignificant cut was all there was to see. Another time Enid got her arm caught in the rollers of the washing machine.  I remember that there was so much pressure on the roller that she couldn’t release it. I could go on and on but I think these few stories give an idea of the things that can happen in a household with a young family.

Enid and John must have done everything right in bringing up their children. They can be justly proud of their children and their accomplishments. They should also be very proud of themselves and their role in their children’s lives. If these children use their parents as an example and follow their ways, they will all do well in life.

I’ve been asked to tell a story from our courting days when we first met. Going back a long way, Edna and I and Enid and John sometimes went out together in my little car, a small Austin. We often drove along with Enid and John in the back and Edna in the front with me. Occasionally John and Enid would give each other a kiss. It didn’t seem right to me because I had the steering wheel you see and didn’t have the chance to give Edna a hug and a kiss. So one day I thought it would be a good idea to set up a little device and connect it to a switch on the dashboard so when we were driving alone, I could hit the button and give them a little shock. So every now and then, I’d give them a bit of a shock. It was all right, not too much. I got a bit of a laugh but they still got a kiss and cuddle.

The same thing happened with my brother and sister-in-law when they had a ride with me. The first time it happened my brother said, ’Bloody hell! I just got a shock.’ I replied that it couldn’t happen because there is no electricity in the back. He said, ‘Put your finger here’ and I did and of course nothing happened. Then he touched it and I hit the switch again. With him and with Enid and John, I had the whole thing down to a fine art and got a great deal of amusement from it.

Anyhow we had a good time then and many years of friendship since then. We are proud to have been part of their lives for such a long time. Edna and I congratulate them on fifty years together and wish them continued happiness.

50th anniversary - Clarrie MacDuff

50^th wedding anniversary Clarrie MacDuff

I welcome the opportunity to come up here and clear up a long-held perception. Jack and I were supposed to have done a dastardly deed and robbed the community by rigging the chocolate wheel. Don’t laugh. It was a very serious thing at the time. It happened like this at the convent school fete. Jack and I were deputised to run the chocolate wheel. There were only two major prizes and they were gentlemen’s dressing gowns. And who do you think won the two dressing gowns? Even to this day I think my wife, Mollie, wonders if the wheel was perfectly round or whether somehow things weren’t quite right. I would like to put all that suspicion to rest. It was on the up and up. We won those two dressing gowns fair and square.

Having cleared that up, I would like to congratulate John and Enid on having such a marvellous family. It must be wonderful to grow up in a family like that, with all the understanding and concessions that would be necessary to get along, even when you’d feel like throttling each other at times. You’ve come through it all very well and should be proud of yourselves. And I’d also like to congratulate the family on having such wonderful parents and all being here together to celebrate this occasion. Happy anniversary Jack and Enid.

50th Wedding Anniversary - Denis

50^th Wedding Anniversary

I’d like to welcome you all here tonight on this, the occasion of Mum and Dad’s 50^th Wedding Anniversary. I am honoured to speak on behalf of my brothers and sisters.

As many of you know, Dad grew up at Traveston, up Gympie way and was educated at the small school there and then went on to board at Nudge College. He left school, he often told us, at a very bad time for the economy. There was no money on the farm and very few jobs anywhere. I know he worked for a time in Cunnamulla and vowed he’d never again eat mutton after being out there. Through his brother Flo, he obtained work up in the Mackay area on cane surveys. He worked on the harbour for Hornibrook for quite some time. He also worked on farm surveys at Eungella. Any job in those days was a good job. He got work when and where he could.

A lot of people went for entertainment to the dances and things of that nature. I believe that sometime late in 1938 it was at a dance that he first met Mum and that was where the romance began to blossom. I think he was in the army at the time – the first regular job he had had for ten years. On October 21^st 1941, they were married in St Patrick’s church and I understand they walked to the reception at the family home, which was about 100 yards up the road.

Mum and Dad have always been a great partnership. As far back as I can remember, their love and their support for each other was the thing that stood out. It stood out then and it stands out today. This flowed on to all the kids. The home was always a happy home where hurts could be fixed up and ambitions could be polished up and problems solved. In all ways it was a very happy home.

I believe that most of us were fortunate to have a very good education and Mum and Dad worked very hard to do that. When you look back today, it is hard to imagine how they managed to do it. I don’t think things have got any cheaper today than they were then. Mum and Dad were a great partnership in all ways. I do recall that to round out the budget and no doubt to educate the family, that Dad had a number of pineapple and banana plantations at Cobble Creek, Narangba and Elimbah. I remember Mum rolling up her sleeves and whaling into it with the rest of us. She didn’t spare herself at all.

You don’t often get the opportunity to thank your parents for all they have done for you. Preparing this speech was a very reflective experience for me. I’m sure I speak for all my brothers and sisters when I say we think our parents are fantastic. We believe they did a tremendous job. They supported us all the way. We love them very much and appreciate them very much for it.

So today, Mum and Dad, as you celebrate your 50^th Wedding Anniversary, may you enjoy it to the full in the company of all your friends here. I hope you have very happy memories of the day and I hope you can recall them often and for a long time. I now propose the toast to Mum and Dad on the occasion of their 50^th Wedding Anniversary.