Samford couple and community pioneers, Don and Daphne Greenhalgh, are celebrating 66 years of marriage, a union built on a shared love for serving their local community.
Integral to the Samford community, the pair helped create a lasting legacy in Samford Valley with the establishment of the Greenhalgh Fire Station in 1986.
Now enjoying retirement at Reside Communities’ popular Samford Grove retirement village, Don and Daphne each dedicated more than 50 years of their lives to volunteering with the Samford Rural Fire Brigade.
“I was the First Officer of the Brigade and we needed to build a shed so we enlisted everyone in the district and got the place built,” said Don.
Built in 1986, Don said he was thrilled to see the community come together to help. About 100 volunteers from across Samford gave their time and skills to contribute to what is still a very useful facility.
The initial part of the station was completed in six months by volunteer labour and subsequently named “Greenhalgh Station” to recognise Don’s organisation of the project.
Later, a much larger kitchen, storeroom and a large training room were added as an emergency control centre for the District.
Daphne was also on the frontline to help the community, in charge of answering calls and setting up a management system for communications.
“I was in charge of the telephones, I was the Chief radio operator and secretary,” said Daphne.
“It was smaller back then. The firefighters came in when they saw smoke, but as the community got bigger, we had a to build something to support it.” said Don.
After loving their life in Samford for more than 54 years together, the pair are now enjoying their retirement at Samford Grove.
“We’ve been living at the Samford Grove village for 18 years and we really enjoy the people and the community here,” said Don.
“We love being in a tight-knit community, close to where we’ve lived for so long and enjoy the nice surrounds with the mountains close-by.”
