Cobram resident Hazel Campbell reached a special milestone last week, with Wednesday, July 10, being her 100th birthday.
The centenarian’s big day was celebrated by over 100 people, including her two children, Gwen and Donald, three grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, on Sunday, July 7, at Cobram Bowling Club.
“It was lovely,” Mrs Campbell said of the party, which saw people come from far and wide, with some even travelling from Queensland.
“It was a great party, there was flowers everywhere.”
Originally from Kyabram, Mrs Campbell was born on July 10, 1924, to parents George and Mary Gemmill, and was the eldest of three children, with younger brothers George and Reginald.
Mrs Campbell attended primary school in Mount Scobie, making the four-mile trip to and from school on foot each day.
At 15 she left school to begin her first job at the Kyabram cannery, where she was a ‘cutter’, cutting all fruit by hand, and still remembers her very first pay cheque, where she received 15 shillings.
Her first purchase with money saved from the job was a bicycle from Jimmy Watts Bicycle Shop in Kyabram, which she still has to this day.
Mrs Campbell moved first to Yarroweyah and then to Cobram after marrying Arthur Richard Campbell on June 25, 1949, in Kyabram.
The two had initially met at a dance in Kyabram but would not meet again for some years, until Dick returned from being a prisoner of war in Changi. The couple were reunited again at a Kyabram dance, from which point their relationship began.
Mrs Campbell retains a strong link to Kyabram, with her childhood home, ‘Hazelman’s Cottage’, now situated at Kyabram Fauna Park.
Upon turning 100 last Wednesday, Mrs Campbell received official birthday correspondence from King Charles, as well as many Australian dignitaries, while her day was spent celebrating with family over lunch.
Never a smoker or a drinker — apart from “a little sip on Christmas day” — Mrs Campbell said one of her secrets to living a long, healthy and happy life was homegrown fruit and vegetables — “no sprays” — and a love for chocolate.
Speaking to her grandchildren Melissa, Paula and Bradon ahead of a speech they delivered at her party, Mrs Campbell said there was nothing she would change from her life.
“I am happy, I have lived a wonderful life with good, loving family and friends,” she said.
“I had a wonderful husband, loving kids, grandkids and great-grandkids — there isn’t anything else I could wish for or change.
“Life has been good, I am lucky, I know.”