Barbara and David Cook received a card from the English Queen, and a cake from the Sponge Queen for their Diamond Wedding Anniversary this year.
Barbara and David Cook received a card from the English Queen, and a cake from the Sponge Queen for their Diamond Wedding Anniversary this year.
A card from the Queen of England, and a sponge cake from the (famous in Taranaki) Sponge Queen were just two of the ways David and Barbara Cook's recent wedding anniversary was celebrated.
The couple, who live on Pembroke Rd in Stratford, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in June thisyear.
While their wedding itself, at St Mary's Anglican Church in Hāwera, might be many years ago now, the couple are just as happy now as they were then, if not more, says Barbara.
"We've got a lovely family, four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. They are all doing well, they are happy, and you can't ask for more than that really."
The couple first met through family, says Barbara.
"David was into motocross bikes, they weren't called that then though, they were called scrambles, and so was my brother-in-law, Bill, so that's how we met. We all used to go to the bikes together as a group of half a dozen or so."
David remembers calling Barbara at her work to ask her out on their first date.
"I rang her and asked her to go to the pictures with me, that's what you did then, went to the pictures."
Neither of them can remember what movie they went to see in Hāwera on that first date, but they both remember the fact that first date led to many more.
David and Barbara pictured on their wedding day, June 10, 1961.
David proposed, Barbara accepted, and the couple were then engaged for two years before they married, going to Auckland for their honeymoon.
"We went to the zoo while we were in Auckland," David says, before they returned back to Taranaki where David was working on the family farm.
The couple continued farming for many years, first on the family farm, then working elsewhere as sharemilkers before buying their own farm, says David.
"We actually were sharemilking ourselves on one farm, while we had sharemilkers on the farm we bought. We had to do it that way to pay for it."
Moving into town to their current house on Pembroke Rd about 20 years ago didn't mean slowing down for the couple.
Both are busy with various things in the community, especially volunteering at the Pioneer Village, something they are both passionate about.
"The village really is an asset for the town," says Barbara.
"We are lucky to have it, and need to look after it. It's living history and people come from all over to see it and to see what life was like back in the pioneer days of New Zealand's history."
David is also well known on the bird show circuit, having been a judge for 45 years.
For several years, December was a particularly busy time for the couple, with their Pembroke Rd house well known in Stratford for the impressive Christmas lights displays David put on.
"He's a big kid at heart," says Barbara.
While they stopped the lights display a couple of years ago due to a couple of health issues, David isn't ruling out turning the lights back on this year.
"I said I might do it again this year, and since I said that it has spread like wildfire, people are offering to come and help, so we'll see, I think they will be back on in December."
When asked what the secret of a long and happy marriage is, David and Barbara agree it's about give and take.
