ROGER Blair reckons there must have been a power blackout back in the winter of 1937, what with all the locals turning 70 at the moment.
Mr Blair, who celebrated his 70th birthday on Friday, was one of the last children born at the old Altona Bush Nursing Hospital.
“I think I finished the hospital off actually.”
Altona is in Mr Blair’s blood – his grandparents were one of the first couples to settle in the area and his maternal grandmother was caretaker at the Altona Homestead. He has never lived anywhere but the suburb in which he was born.
He just can’t see why you would want to live anywhere else.
“Why would anyone want to leave Altona? I’ll die with my boots on here.”
Mr Blair has seen many changes in Altona over the years, as the paddocks he played in as a kid became slowly consumed by housing and industry. But he says the heart of Altona – the community – has remained throughout the decades.
“The main street virtually hasn’t changed. It still feels very much like a village.”
Mr Blair has contributed to the Altona community in many ways over the years, and has become known among locals for his passion and dedication to the area.
A keen member of the Altona Tennis Club and the Altona RSL Bowls Club, Mr Blair has become well known in local sporting circles. His volunteer work, for the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Ozanam House and the local St Mary’s parish has kept him busy over the years and earned the respect of his peers.
Perhaps Mr Blair’s greatest sporting passion is his beloved Western Bulldogs, and he was involved in the “Fightback” effort to save the club from extinction in the late 1980s.
But far from a big birthday bash to celebrate the milestone, Mr Blair marked his 70th birthday with a small family party, a much more relaxing affair for the humble, community-minded man, according to his wife, Beryl.
“Our son wanted to have something big, with some of the community involved, but Roger went to water,” she said.
“But he is Altona through and through. He loves it still.”
