Jimboomba’s Doug and Maureen Chalmers will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this week.
The couple were married on October 28, 1967, at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Mrs Chalmers said the wedding was a family affair but was well attended by their small group of collective friends.
“Doug has a large family so it was weighted more heavily his way,” she said.
Mr Chalmers said it was most likely fate that brought him together with Maureen.
“We were born in the same hospital only four weeks apart, then we lived with a few kilometres of each other for years but never met,” he said.
“We met at 22 and were married by 23.”
Mr Chalmers said they had met at a club after a snow storm had stopped him getting to a singing gig.
“Maureen was out with her father and I got my mate to go up and have a chat to her for me,” he said.
“We’d passed each other a few times because Maureen used to ride horses past my place, but I thought it was time to ask her out.”
Mrs Chalmers said the pair went travelled around England for their honeymoon.
“We really just went to see more of our family who couldn’t make the wedding,” she said.
The Chalmers said they immigrated shortly after the wedding as ten-pound poms to Kangaroo Point.
Mr Chalmers said he knew Queensland would be the place for them.
“Who wouldn’t want to come for an extended summer holiday,” he said.
“We really had nothing to loose and really we only had to stay for two years.”
The pair said they settled in Slacks Creek for a few years before buying land in Jimboomba.
During that time they also had their son Blayne.
“He was the best thing that ever happened to us,” Mr Chalmers said.
“We thought a move out to the country with Blayne might improve his asthma.”
The Chalmers will celebrate their anniversary by heading on a cruise to the Whitsundays.
“Normally we just do a dinner,” Mrs Chalmers said.
“But we really like cruising and thought that was the way to go.”
Mr Chalmers said he thought 50 years had flown by.
“I wouldn’t change any of it though,” he said.
“It was always meant to be.
“Things happen for a reason and we have always been a strong unit.”
Mr and Mrs Chalmers said the key to a successful marriage was trusting each other.
“The you throw a bit of love in there and it all just works,” Mr Chalmers said.
