By Goya Dmytryshchak
Altona North couple Mary and William Robinson will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on Tuesday.
The two, both 90, met while ice skating at the former Glaciarium in South Melbourne.
“Actually, I was at rollerskating and it rained … and they abandoned it so we had to go ice skating,” Mr Robinson said.
“When it was finished, we were all coming out and she had a hamburger.
“She was just going to take a bite and I walked past her and said, ‘Give us a bite’, and she said, ‘Here you are then’.”
The two married at Sacred Heart in Newport.
Mr Robinson was a senior inspector for the former Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, working at the Spotswood Pumping Station.
One of his colleagues was Eddie McGuire’s dad, who read out his cadet son’s first newspaper article to the other men.
“I have been back to Scienceworks,” Mr Robinson said.
“It’s a real eye opener to see what they’ve done with it,” he said. “Most places, they just close them up and forget about them.”
The couple share many similar interests and are both keen Richmond supporters.
“The first game I saw was in 1934,” Mr Robinson said.
“I can remember that because it was a centenary year and Richmond won the flag.”
The two also attribute their long marriage to “luck” and commitment.
The couple has one son and daughter, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
