Benalla’s Anne and Kelvin Manning celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss on Friday, January 6 with friends and family at the Benalla Golf Club.
The couple was married at St Joseph’s church, Benalla, on the same date in 1973 on what Anne described as a very, very hot day.
“We got married at 5pm to avoid the heat of the day,” Anne said.
Anne said there was not a traditional proposal but one day the two just said to each other “How about we get married?”
“We met at a social dance at Benalla Town Hall,” she said.
“We’d been dating about 18 months before the wedding. I knew him before that but he was just one of the guys in our group.
“It doesn’t seem like it was 50 years ago. But I can remember my Dad was very nervous.
“I was the first of four daughters to get married. Then he had to deal with three weddings in the space of a year and a half.”
Anne and Kelvin moved away from Benalla a couple of times, but always found themselves back in the Rose City.
“We moved to Melbourne after two of our three children were born, Grant and Brook,” she said.
“Our third, Steven, was born in Melbourne. Then we moved back in 1987.”
Later they would then move to Queensland for eight years before returning in 2002.
They now have 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren — Lucas and Issabelle.
Anne said they enjoyed a lovely celebration at Benalla Golf Club and family and friends from across the state came along.
She said the key to 50 years of happy marriage was communication.
“That, and compromise,” she said.
Congratulations from everyone at the Ensign.