I write this in July 2021 after just retiring on June 30 2021.
The time has come for my wife and I to start enjoying our 15 grandchildren and our lovely Caravan a lot more.
As my father was a piano tuner I have virtually grown up in the business.
My father was also a pilot and we would fly from Kerang in Victoria and Moorabbin.
We eventually came to live in Melbourne in 1967. Dads aviation war stories gave me a very strong affiliation with World War 2 Aircraft.
When I was 16 there was no course for tuners so I was apprenticed to my Dad for four years. The guy that taught my Dad (Bill Beet) luckily was still alive when I finished and he did the final checks and signed me off.
When I married my beautiful princess in 1976 we moved up to Cohuna where I was born in 1955.
I worked the area until the Dairy went bad in May of that year then moved to Wangaratta where we stayed until 1983, then to Mooroopna until mid 1985.
During those years I worked most of north eastern and north western Victoria.
Unfortunately the Goulburn Valley region at the time was very bad for allergy sufferers so we moved down to Melbourne in May and started the business again.
The rest as they say is history.
This year marks 50 years since I first tuned a piano on the road and it has passed so quickly.
Not that long ago it seems we were wondering where the next lot of young tuners would come from and it has been very rewarding watching the growth from the initial meeting in 1970, through all the tuning courses to the current day.
I have enjoyed the work very much and over the years have made some very great friendships.
I feel very privileged to have been a part of the Piano Tuners and Technicians guild of Victoria.
I wish the Guild every success and I hope to be able to attend more meetings in the future.
Cheers to all
Ted Wolsley