By BRIDGET COOK
THE Chapman and Giles families have a lot in common – like their friendship, their affiliation with Cranbourne and their community-minded approach to life.
So it is uncanny that the Cranbourne couples – Barry and Ginny Chapman and Peter and Renice Giles – also share a wedding anniversary and celebrated 50 years of married bliss together on the weekend.
Saturday marked their golden anniversary and the two couples held a joint party on Sunday with their family and friends to celebrate the milestone occasion.
The now best of friends didn’t know each other when they got married, but since the discovery of their joint anniversary, have celebrated together every year since.
Peter and Renice Giles met at dances in the Clyde and Cranbourne area, where their love blossomed and they eventually got married.
The Chapmans met when Barry tagged along to his friend’s date with Ginny.
“I was going out with a fella one night and his mate Bazza came along,” Ms Chapman laughed.
“I was a professional golfer at the time, and I had an indoor teaching school in Melbourne,” Mr Chapman said.
“When I arrived there the next day, I got a phone call from Ginny as she wanted to see me again and invited me to her work dinner dance,” he said.
“I needed a handbag for the night,” Mrs Chapman joked.
It wasn’t long before the pair were married and moved to the Cranbourne area together.
It was through the couple’s children that they met, when they went to school together in Cranbourne and became friends.
That started a friendship between the two couples, which has lasted almost as long as their marriages.
Both families have a long association with the Cranbourne community and have been instrumental in helping to grow the once small country town.
Mr Giles was a councillor for nine years and the last Cranbourne Shire president before the amalgamation.
He also helped start the Cranbourne Soccer Club to give migrants a place to get involved in the community and was also a founding committee member of the Casey Grammar School.
Ms Giles was president of the Cranbourne Ambulance Auxiliary for 20 years, and played a huge role in bringing an ambulance station to Cranbourne, development of the old Cranbourne pool and a new church.
The couple was also the first in the country to turn a church into a restaurant, when they opened Vespers in Cranbourne, where Taco Bill’s currently stands.
The Chapmans have also had great involvement in the Cranbourne community, through supporting the Giles in all their fund-raising initiatives.
Mr Chapman has been heavily involved in the Rotary Club of Cranbourne, where he started the annual Rotary golf day and was made a Paul Harris Fellow.
Mr Chapman was also a pro golfer at Cranbourne – part of the reason the couple moved to the area in the first place.
The pair opened the first menswear shop in Cranbourne – Chappies Men’s Wear – and went on to open other shops across Casey over the years.
Both couples said it had been great to make such great friends who they shared such a special anniversary with.
“It’s been great to celebrate together, especially the big milestone anniversaries,” Mr Giles said.
Mr Chapman said their 25th anniversary was a big one, as was Sunday’s celebration.
“I fondly remember our 25th anniversary at our property in Devon Meadows,” he said.
“We arrived in a horse and carriage, the girls were in their wedding dresses and we were in our top hats, drinking champagne going down Craid Road with Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond playing.
“It’s going to be a bit hard to get to 60 years, but we will be trying.”
The four all agreed that there were a number of keys to a long and happy marriage.
“It’s all about tolerance, forgiveness and communication,” Mr Chapman said.
“All of that is the secret to marriage.”
“Our faith has also been key to ours, it has pulled us through a lot of times,” Mr Giles said.
“Oh and you should never argue about money.”
