It started with a kiss, on the St Leonards pier, one hot and stormy night . . . more than forty years ago. Ann and Neil were destined to return to St Leonards.
It was December 1977 and Ann and Neil were both camping with mutual friends in Indented Head. They didn’t know each other then, but the universe would conspire to make sure they soon would. It was a Saturday night, and as you do when you are young and on holidays, everyone headed to the St Leonards Pub. “The pub looked pretty much like it does now” recalled Ann, only then it was just modern – not retro modern. There was a band playing early Beatles covers, which impressed Neil who was a budding musician himself. It was a hot night and the place pretty crowded so when Ann headed off for a walk to cool down, Neil offered to go with her. And wouldn’t you know it, an almighty thunderstorm erupted so they headed for shelter under the eve of the pier shed. And there, with the rain pelting down, they kissed – “And that was it” said Neil, ‘We’ve been together ever since”.
They spent the week doing things together, before Neil had to return for summer holiday work. By then they’d realised that they lived only a few streets away from each other in Glenroy but had gone to different schools – Neil to Oak Park High and Ann to Sancta Sophia then Geoghegan College in Broadmeadows for forms five and six. Geoghegan was a ‘progressive co-ed school’ which (at the time) even had designated smoking areas for students. Ann phoned Neil from a public phone box to say hello before she headed home the following day. Neil surprised Ann by meeting her at Spencer Street (Southern Cross) Station, riding the train together back to Glenroy and walking her home. That night Neil returned to meet Ann’s parents, seven siblings and grandma.
The romance blossomed and after five years together Neil and Ann married, and for a short time moved to Brunswick but soon returned to the Glenroy / Oak Park area which is where they remained until moving to St Leonards permanently in 2015. Neil and Ann have two daughters who have grown up with extended family and parents who worked nearby. They have followed similar career paths to their parents. And now there are also two granddaughters to spend time with.
Neil studied medicine at Melbourne Uni. Finding himself one of only a handful of state high school graduates among hundreds of private school graduates; he said he was “really proud to be from the northern suburbs of town and of its working identity”. Though Neil did well in medicine, after three years he transferred to physiotherapy which he saw as a field offering greater life balance. After 30 years of running his own business and specialising in sports physiotherapy, it is a field he continues to work in to this day, offering physiotherapy services from home three days a week.
Meanwhile Ann pursued a career in early childhood learning, becoming a teacher and coordinator of several kindergartens in the Northern suburbs area and then across to Mernda, before their move to St Leonards. She then picked up part time kindergarten teaching in Corio, Newcomb and Drysdale. It is a field Ann continues to be passionate about, advocating for a better resourced and supported sector with the capacity to meet basic standards, its commitments to preschoolers and recognises the importance of its teachers. Ann’s early interest in toy libraries led to her approaching the Springdale Centre in Drysdale and getting the Portarlington Toy Library up and running again. Ann is now the coordinator of the library which has 27 members, five volunteers and continues to grow.
Neil and Ann seem to have always been actively engaged in their local community and are the classic standard bearers for life balance. Ann was actively involved in Calisthenics in her earlier years and since moving to St Leonards has started up a regular team for the trivia night at the pub and ‘ladies who lunch’. These are all about creating and building on friendship networks. Neil, through his physiotherapy service, sponsors the St Leonards golf, cricket and bowling clubs as well as St Leonards Neighbourhood Watch and Springdale Community Centre.
Curiously, since moving to St Leonards, Ann and Neil have discovered many more people who have moved here from Glenroy and the surrounding area. It seems all roads lead to St Leonards, and “there is a lot in common with the two places” they believe. They describe St Leonards as a bit more like ‘a country community’ as the Glenroy area once seemed, but is now getting built out. “The biggest difference is the quiet” Ann and Neil agreed. They also like being able to walk to the pub and the serendipitous encounters people have with each other.
Neil began a career in music after learning the recorder in primary school, moving on to clarinet and flute, then guitars (inc. bass guitar), forming several bands, starting with the Fried Rice Band (FRB); and later in life going on to travel the world playing in folk clubs, supporting big name Australian artists including the Angels and Colin Hay. He has written and recorded two CDs of original songs (one in America) and has also found musical friends locally. Over the fence actually. Neil tells how one day he was playing guitar in the backyard and was heard by a neighbour, who invited him to join the Springdale Bush Band. The band played locally, with line-up variations to include violin, box bass didgeridoo, and different singers. Some of Neil’s songs were included in the set list. Neil is still playing at local venues with a Cajon drummer percussionist under the stage name Curly Joe.
Ann and Neil not only returned to St Leonards, they have brought a whole lot of community spirit with them.
Humans in St Leonards 