Shirley Watson and Barry Holland were married on August 21, 1964
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Bendigo couple Shirley and Barry Holland had a 60s theme when they renewed their wedding vows recently. “One son performed the ceremony dressed as Elvis Presley,” Shirley says. “We had nieces, nephews, children and grandchildren. Our youngest son, recovering from an accident, was there in spirit. A grandson flew down from the Gold coast and walked me down to Barry.”
The couple met at the Carlos Rosita Ballroom in Hargreaves Street. “He asked me if he could take me home and I said I thought he was too young to have a driver’s licence. He pulled out his licence… and took me home. That was the start of it all.
“We were parked under a street light in Holdsworth Road when my father called from the front door ‘Shirley! Get in here!’ When I went inside he said ‘I thought I told you to get the bus home’ and I replied that I was home before the bus. He didn’t have an answer for that.
Two years almost to the day after meeting, Shirley and Barry were married by Canon Anthony at St Pauls church in Myers Street. Shirley wore a mauve and purple jersey-knit suit with a lace hat. Her next-door neighbor had sewn purple bows onto the hat.
Someone in the family needed a car collected from Rainbow so they decided that would be their honeymoon: to drive up and get the car.
Barry worked at the Railway Workshop. “He’s not a sporty person but he did play volleyball. I played softball in a team from the egg board. We didn’t do too bad,” Shirley says.
When their first baby was expected Shirley gave up her job at the Crystal Egg Company. The arrival of three more children eventually completed the family of four. They also have 12 grandchildren.
“We used to go camping up the Murray every Christmas/New Year with the kids and we went on lots of picnics to Castlemaine and Eppalock,” Shirley says.
Nowadays Shirley combines quilting with travel. “The quilting group meets every Monday. We put money aside each week and pick out where we’ll go to the next year.”