Dad’s 70th Birthday!!
April 17th, 2012 by TrentTo celebrate Dad’s 70th Birthday we went to Easts Leagues Club and had a Elvis show and dinner. I made a speech, dad sang on stage and we had a cake. It was a great night and wonderful celebration.
My Speech:
Good evening everyone for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Simone and I am Dennis’s Daughter.
Before I begin I would like to get you in the mood so dad I will need to wear this and this and this.
Great! Now I would like to say thank you all for coming tonight and celebrating with us. It is so nice to see you all here for my dad’s special milestone.
Dennis’s sister Hannah thought I should give dad a roasting tonight, but don’t worry dad, I decided not to listen to her and just want to say a few words, share some fun stories and great memories and really it is a good chance to tell you how much you mean to us.
Lets take a quick trip down memory lane and so where does it all begin over 70 years ago?
Well with Harry and Leah Havin, my grandparents, who were married for an amazing 72 years!!!
Dad, the oldest of three children, was born Daniel Hymie Havin on Friday 17th April 1942 in Carlton, Melbourne.
Yes dad was born Daniel but in his early adult life his parents and friends preferred to nickname him from the 1950s comic series and TV show – “Dennis the menace”. So since then, the name ‘Dennis’ stuck and he was no longer known as Daniel.
He has even managed to convince the RTA to have Dennis on his drivers licence!
Alright let’s fast forward to the 1950s and picture dad as a cool teenager who loved to rock n roll – yes believe it or not he had lots of jet-black hair! His talk, dark and handsome look was enhanced with a slick moustache, cool sideburns and velvet jackets.
Oh how he loved his trademark moustache, which he wore in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and unfortunately even the early 90s! Finally, one day about 40 years later, after numerous pleas from mum and I, he decided it was time to shave it off and luckily it hasn’t made a reappearance since!!!
Music and dancing was a big part of dad’s teenage life and he liked nothing more than a good dance party.
He was also known to organise lots of great rock n roll dances with his younger sister Hannah.
97 Alma Rd St Kilda was a regular haunt and it was there that he won lots of dance competitions!!!
Sadly, there are no trophies to show off to all of us tonight so I thought I would present you with one big trophy now
GIVE TROPHY
Well done dad!!! Let’s give him all a round of applause!
Some of dad’s favourite Rock n roll singers were Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the king himself – Elvis Presley. So what better way to celebrate your birthday than with an Elvis show tonight!
Dad also liked to get up on stage at these rock n roll dance parties and sing! I believe he even formed a boy band and was the lead singer for a short time!
One memorable pop hit of 1959 and a huge favourite of dad’s was a song called–actually dad I want to see if you can guess it first = lets have a listen– Play on phone
“You’ve got personality” by Llyod Price (KIDS microphones)
Since it was your favourite, I thought you might like to do a rendition of it now for all of us?? HAND MICROPHONE
And then when Dad turned 18, he was given a huge surprise birthday present and sitting in the garage waiting for him was an Austin A40 red convertible!
One funny story goes when dad was taking Hannah for a spin his new car he was chatting to her one minute as he was doing a u –turn and the next minute Hannah had fallen out of the car and was sitting unhurt on the road while dad kept on chatting oblivious to what had happened!!!
Ok It was now the year 1974, and dad flew up to Sydney for the weekend and was set up on a blind date with a girl who was on holidays from Holland.
That gorgeous girl turned out to be my mum Marion who cancelled her return trip back to Amsterdam and spontaneously decided to go back to Melbourne with my dad instead!!
After a year of courting they got married and then a few years later I came along!
Fast forward 30 years and dad became a proud grandfather or Zada as we call him, first to Liam and then to Demi who both love him to bits! And they are here to celebrate tonight————— in this photo!!
GIVE HIM PHOTO OF LIAM AND DEMI
Dad is easy going, good-natured. And unselfish. And boy what a punctual person, I used to have to ask him to pick me up from my friend’s houses an 1hr later than we arranged because he would be tooting outside ready to collect me an hour early!!
He is loyal, hard working, very reliable and a great listener and nothing much seems to stress him. He always has calmness about him too.
Over the years dad has had a love of bowling, fishing, playing cards, playing (and now watching!) tennis, watching his favourite footie team Carlton, Horse racing, and of course “exercising” his finger (as he tells me) playing the pokies and enjoying live entertainment with his friends.
His favourite holiday over the years has been relaxing on a cruise around the pacific or Hawaii. I know one day he looks forward to taking his grandkids, Liam and Demi on a cruise too.
His 2 beautiful “younger” sisters are here tonight to celebrate – and we want to especially thank Aunty Pauline and Uncle Peter coming from Melbourne.
And before I finish I am just going to say a few quick words on behalf of Dad’s wife, my mum Marion.
I thought it would be nice to reminisce and I asked mum about your first date and she recalls that she thought you were a good looking guy and great dancer, and she remembers you impressing her on the dance floor back at the Hakoah club in Bondi,
But one thing she said had to go was your very daggy home-made jumpers that were knitted by your mum!
On a serious note, Mum wants you to know that she is the luckiest person to have found such a caring and dedicated partner. You are a truly a remarkable husband, father and grandfather and mum loves you very much.
To sum up some great memories I have made you this special photo book which has photos since you were born.
Ok so let’s all raise our glasses to my father. To a good man. To the best man I know. Happy 70th Birthday Dad. We love you very much!!!!
Cheers!
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