Dorothy and Roger Arnold from Kangaroo Valley celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary on November 29. 

They marked the occasion with a lunch for 40 of their immediate family members, including their six children and their partners, 14 grandchildren and their six with partners, and seven great grandchildren.

The continued the celebrations with another 70 friends and family members later on. 

Family travelled from across the country, with one grandson even flying in from Canada to celebrate. 

The couple’s best man and bridesmaid from their 1958 wedding were also there, while the knife used to cut the original wedding cake made an appearance. 

In a testament to good quality footwear, Roger even wore the shoes he sported on his wedding day. 

The young couple was married in the Church of the Good Shepherd in Kangaroo Valley in 1958. 

They started their married life in Meroo Meadow, before moving to 200 acres in Kangaroo Valley where they still live today. 

Roger worked at the paper mill for more than 35 years, while Dorothy was busy at home with the couple’s six children. 

The eldest children went to Upper River Primary School before it closed, and later attended Kangaroo Valley Public School. They all attended Bomaderry High School. 

While Dorothy turns 80 next year and Roger turns 86, that hasn’t slowed the couple down. 

Roger is a member of the Shoalhaven Poultry Club and loves his garden. Dorothy’s daughter Helen said her mum would “be lost without her knitting needles” and is heavily involved with Werninck Craft Cottage and the Anglican Church in Kangaroo Valley – which is also where almost all her adult children were married. 

Helen said the love and laughter in her parent’s marriage is the key to their longevity – and laughed that her dad’s deafness doesn’t go astray either.