A rare vintage of friendship

And with the amount of laughs, jokes and playful banter exchanged between the two, it’s easy to see why they have dedicated a lifetime to their friendship.

The pals grew up a few doors down from each other on Hare St in the 1930s, at a time when Hare St was just a dirt road.

Now almost 90 years later, not much has changed.

Except for the dirt roads, of course.

The pair still live in Hare St and are still neighbours, albeit in different houses to the ones they grew up in.

Keith had settled down for a number of years in Echuca Village, when Max’s daughter, who owned a unit across the street from Max, had offered to rent it out to Keith.

“It’s Max’s fault that I live here, now you see,” Keith said with a mischievous smile across his face.

Now after nearly three years of living across the street from each other, they have developed their own system to make sure the other is still alive and kicking.

Every morning without fail, they raise their blinds to flag to the other that they are still doing okay.

The story of Keith and Max began not long after they were both born in the same hospital in 1932, Keith on November 4 and Max just five weeks later, on December 13.

The friends both attended Echuca 208 Primary School and then Echuca Technical College in later years.

Max said he would wait for Keith to come by his house and pick him up on the way to school.

“We used to walk by the butter factory on the way to school every day, that’s where Echuca Coles is now,” he said.

When he reached the age of 14, Keith said he made the decision to leave school and start earning a living.

His first job was at Carter’s Men Wear, also located on Hare St.

“One pound a week I was paid at that job — that’s about two dollars today,” Keith said.

Max decided to follow suit by taking on work at his father’s produce store in Echuca — a business that he would end up taking over after his father passed.

“I thought well if it’s good enough for Keith to leave school then it’s good enough for me to leave too,” he said.

Max established himself as a prominent businessman in the community, but still took on the odd job every now and then and even completed a stint as a maintenance worker at the Riverine Herald offices, under general manager Geoff Kelly.

Just like Max, Keith worked plenty of jobs over the years.

One of his most notable career moves was when he and his brother, Robby Merlo Sr, opened a service station on Ogilvie Ave and called it the Merlo Bros. Servicentre.

“That was when the attendant would put the fuel in the cars, wash the windscreens, check the tyres and the oil in the cars. It was a driveway service,” Keith said.

Going into business together was a natural fit for the brother’s who had grown up around their father’s business, Roy Merlo Real Estate.

The siblings ran the station for many years before taking over the Nissan Dealership in High St, now the Beechworth Bakery.

While their contribution to the community has left an unmistakable mark on the history of Echuca, they have also left a legacy of a different kind.

Max has three children, six grandchildren and eight great grandchildren and Keith is a father of three, a grandfather to eight and a great grandfather to 15.

It was when the two mates were focused on growing their families that they lost touch with each other for a period of time.

But even that wasn’t enough to keep them apart for too long.

The two mates now make a point to visit each other and chew the fat on a daily basis.

They recently celebrated Keith’s 90th birthday party together with their loved ones. And no doubt in December, they will celebrate Max’s together too.

As to how the two friends have remained so healthy over the years, Max answered that it all really comes down to luck, but I have the sneaking suspicion that their frequent socialising with one another may also play a part.

Keith smiled his infectious smile from across the table and said one thing that he knows for sure is that his health is definitely not related to his sporting abilities, or lack thereof.

He recalled a time in Grade 3 when he had marked the ball in footy and kicked it the wrong way.

“That was the end of my football career, I never got a game after that,” Keith said.

In their younger years, Keith and Max enjoyed cycling and later on in life Keith developed an affinity for piecing together model cars and planes.

Nowadays the duo prefer sharing a glass of red together.

When I asked them what kind of red they like to drink, Keith quite naturally answered “Merlot,” with a smirk on his face.

I’d expect nothing less from someone with the last name Merlo.