Penally couple, Dennis and Vera Mitchell, celebrated 50 years of marriage at Pembroke Haven Yacht Club last Friday.
Joining them for the evening were many of their friends in South Pembrokeshire and their three children and five grandchildren, who travelled from Cornwall, Oxfordshire and Bristol to be with them on this special occasion.
Their wedding took place in Canada 50 years ago on May 16, 1953, but they first met some years earlier at a school production of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Trial by Jury'. The blossoming romance was interrupted by University and emigration, but they finally caught up with each other in the wilds of the Province of Quebec, where love triumphed at last.
Dennis's work in the steel industry later took the family to South Yorkshire and the West Midlands, where he was managing director of Round Oak Steel Works, before moving 20 years ago to Penally.
A former captain of Tenby Golf Club and commodore of Pembroke Haven Yacht Club, Dennis was awarded the MBE in 1998 for services to training.
Vera's interest in choral singing has found expression wherever the family has lived. In the Midlands, she sang with the Clent Hills Choir, Bromsgrove Choral Society, the Birmingham Festival Choir and the City of Birmingham Choir. Currently she sings with the Griffon Choir and the Pembrokeshire Bach Choir.
She will be taking part later this month in a performance of Elgar's 'Dream of Gerontius' at St. David's Cathedral on the last night of the St. Davids Festival.
At the anniversary party, a superb buffet prepared by Margaret Beckett put everyone in a good humour for the entertainment to come. The cake was cut and champagne flowed, before memories of family life down the years were hilariously evoked in a surprise slide show presented by son, Keith.
Daughters Debbie and Philippa were joined by all five grandchildren, Rosie, Amy, Bethany, Nicole and Ben and son-in-law Mark in presenting an astonishing programme of musical versatility. Voice, keyboard, violin, viola and 'cello all made their contributions.
To cap it all, Vera and friend Dawn Homfray donned black bodices and fish net tights to produce an animated version of Rossini's 'Cat Song', which had everyone asking for more.
These stunning performances were well received in a happy evening which will be long remembered by all who were there.
The party mood continued well into the night after Vera and Dennis had danced the 'Anniversary Waltz' as a curtain-raiser to Keith Dixon's all-embracing disco.