IT was a love of music which brought two well-known Pakenham identities together over 50 years ago. Graham ‘Uncle’ Treloar (trumpet) and Ray Canobie (piano) met for the first time when by chance they began playing together at a Pakenham outdoor party.
It was a cold, frosty night – not ideal for making great music. But the pair clicked and went on to form the backbone of one of the most successful dance bands in West Gippsland.
‘The Twilighters’, as the band became known, played up to five nights a week at their peak, performing at venues ranging from the Royal Ballroom in Melbourne and before more than a thousand people at a New Year’s Eve celebration in Pakenham in 1968.
“The great thing about music is it unites people,” Ray says. “People don’t give a hoot where you come from, what your job is or what your personal circumstances are. We’re all one sharing a common love of music.”
Uncle added: “The original band was made up of blokes from all walks of life, and as time went on we became great mates”.
They recall how they had arranged to have a joint first date with their (later to become) wives – Dianne and Gail.
Naturally, it was to a dance (in the Moorabbin Town Hall), but the arrangements went awry and the scheduled meeting place wasn’t located.
Despite the hiccup, each made their own way to Moorabbin and the outing led to respective marriages which continue strongly to this day.
“It probably wasn’t much fun for the girls in those days having to hang around the band,” Uncle noted. “We were often tired from all the nights out and wouldn’t have been great company on occasions. But the girls always stood by us, and I’m sure we couldn’t have achieved what we have in life without their support.”
Great mates they may be, but each Anzac Day their friendship is put to the test.
Ray is an avid Collingwood supporter while Uncle is a dyed-in-the wool Essendon man.
The story goes that they have attended every Anzac Day game since the very first in 1993 – although Ray admits he missed one a few years back when overseas.
The score is pretty much 50/50 over all that time and with the Bombers performing much better than expected, a close contest is on the cards again this year.
The Gazette was intrigued – why do they feel so strongly about keeping this annual commitment?
“I guess at heart we are both traditionalists,” Ray explained. “The spirit of Anzac is very much about mateship. We may not live in each other’s pockets during the year, but by coming together on Anzac Day we just pick up on where we left off and in our way pay tribute to the Anzacs’ sacrifice.”
Ray had a stint as a National Serviceman in 1971-’72.
Uncle did his bit for the RSL by putting his trumpeting skills to good use by playing The Last Post at the Pakenham dawn service for more than 40 years.
“This idea amongst some of the younger generation to take everything and give little to the community, doesn’t sit well with me,” Uncle says.
“I’ve got so much out of being a part of this community, and I reckon it would be a far better place if people got up off their bums and did a bit for others.”
Ray says he doesn’t usually like going to the footy with someone supporting the opposition, but makes an exception for his long-standing mate.
“We’re both usually full-on supporters, but have to curtail our emotions a bit, so that we don’t upset the other,” he said.
When the final siren sounds, the loser routinely extends his hand in congratulations (sometimes through gritted teeth we suspect) to the victor.
“If the Pies manage to get up, I have to keep a lid on things, out of respect for ‘Unc’, when I’d really like to cut loose. If the Pies come up short, I’d like to think Unc would do the same – that’s what friendship’s about.”
Both Uncle and Ray played footy for Pakenham but admitted they struggled to get their names in lights.
Ray recalled often they wouldn’t get home from playing in the band on a Friday night before the sun was coming up, and playing football after those night outs wasn’t pretty.
“But again, that was about mateship, belonging to a team and sharing the highs and lows together,” he said. “There were always a barrel of laughs, and every Anzac Day we reminisce and convince ourselves we were absolute stars!”
However, they are full of praise of the other’s work in the Pakenham community over the years.
Ray says Uncle’s contribution exceeds just about anyone’s.
“He’s been involved in the footy club (president and secretary and brought about the construction of the social facilities. He’s been involved in the cricket club, concert band, Yakkerboo (secretary and chairman of the art show), historical society and many others like fund-raising for Windermere’s Kids in Crisis.
“He is a legend and is deserving of a national honour, but that probably wouldn’t sit too well with him.”
Uncle continues to ply his trade as a third generation hairdresser in Pakenham and revels in his yarns with regular customers.
Ray is remembered for his service to the Shire of Pakenham rising to Shire secretary and CEO before the municipality was restructured in 1994.
Uncle says of his mate: “That was a period in the shire’s administration when anyone could call into the council offices and ask to see him and he’d be available. They didn’t have fancy titles like they do today: borrowings were curtailed and were to be eliminated in 2000, and the council operated without infighting. Much of that was due to Ray’s approach – genuine and unpretentious.”
After leaving council, Ray continued contributing to the community as CEO of Windermere Child and Family Services for 11 years and is now involved as a director of several private companies.
In many respects, these two great mates have come from different walks of life.
But one thing is clear, they walk the talk and Anzac Day at the ‘G’ wouldn’t be the same without these two.
