by Emma Ballingall
A Longwarry couple who met as schoolchildren, paired for their debutante ball and spent many years dancing their way across the district has celebrated 70 years of marriage.

Ronald and Bernardine O'Connor, who married on April 16, 1955, recently marked their platinum wedding anniversary with their large family clan.
Heading their separate ways after school, it was a train accident and a love of ballroom dancing which played roles in bringing them back together.
"We always knew each other and I believe we were always meant for each other," Bernardine said.
Ron said he jumped to action after Bernardine was involved in a train accident at Tynong whilst travelling to her grandmother's house at Iona.
"I heard about it and went around to see how she was holding up, and it went from there," he said.
Having spent their married life living in Garfield, Bunyip, Drouin and now Longwarry, Ron and Bernardine are familiar faces to many in the district.
However, the anniversary milestone didn't hit home until they read cards from their grandchildren.
"They're amazed," Bernardine said. "We were overwhelmed by the messages that we got."
Asked the secret to a long and happy marriage, the couple agreed a sense of humour and a lot of give and take were vital.
"Be prepared to talk things out," Ron added. "No good arguing."
Ron said time had flown by with their big and happy family. He acknowledged his wife was "pretty good at everything."
Bernadine described Ron as her "rock."
"Ron was so capable and I could always lean on him," she said. "He's been my rock and he still is. I can't do without him."
Bernardine said a house fire in 2015 and a recent health scare had only strengthened their marriage.
"I asked the Lord to keep me to look after him as long as I could possibly do it," she said. "He's been very easy to look after."
"We've had funny times and very heart breaking times. But you come through it all."
Ron and Bernardine, aged 92 and 91, met as schoolchildren at Iona.
Ron was born at Sale but, after his father's death, moved to the district as a two or three-year-old; while, Bernardine spent a lot of time with her grandmother at Iona.
The couple even did their debutante ball together as 18 and 16-year-olds.
Moving to the city as a 14-year-old to live with relatives and look for work, Bernardine was unofficially engaged to a footballer. However, not fitting into the football scene, she ended it.
Bernardine hinted she was drawn to Ron's good looks and great dancing.
"We did love dancing, ballroom dancing," she said. "We'd travel to three to four dances per week. We had a wonderful time."
The pair also enjoyed attending movies at the Garfield Theatre.
"Our courting was done on the back of a motorbike with me wearing high heels and a scarf," Bernadine added with a laugh. "He'd pick me up in the milk tanker too."
The couple wanted an Easter wedding - very popular in the 1950s. However, with St Patrick's Catholic Church at Mentone already booked, they settled for April 16.
The church has formed a big part of their life, firstly at Iona and later at Drouin.
Ron found odd jobs after leaving school before taking over his stepfather's milk truck. He drove for a factory at Bayles for 18 years.
When bulk milk came in, he had stints as a dairy farmer, delivering groceries and, later, driving school buses.
Bernardine said her early life was "a bit disintegrated" with separated parents. But, marriage "was absolutely, well, one out of the box."
"It gave me security and stability, a lot of happiness, especially when we started having a family," she said.
Between raising a family of eight children, Bernardine ran a small club for mothers for 20 years, sang in church choirs and even got involved in musical productions at the age of 42.
"Having a family doesn't mean that you can't be involved in lots of things," she said. "You can dedicate yourself to whatever you want to do."
In his spare time, Ron enjoyed restoring ski boats, racing cars, hot rods and caravans, which resulted in the couple enjoying many caravan trips.
In retirement, he repaired machinery and bikes from his shed into his 80s.
That concluded when a generator he was repairing caught fire in their shed, just eight months after moving into their Longwarry unit. Water damage resulted in a complete rebuild.
Trying to put out the fire with a hose, Bernardine was out the front holding grave concerns. However, a firefighter made him see sense and he left.
The couple raised eight children - Christopher, Timothy (dec), Moira, Therese, Josephine, Kathleen, Matthew and Bernadette - and have 25 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.