Alf’s boat comes in

Andrew Mathieson
THE name Alf Eden has reverberated around the shores of Portarlington for more than a century.
But Alf Eden, a popular figure around the town, is only 81.
Before him were his father, Alfred George Eden, and Alf’s grandfather, another Alfred George Eden.
“I was named after my two grandfathers on both sides,” Alf says.
The eldest Alf Eden was an 1800s teenage runaway from Yorkshire, England, who established the town’s first grain thresher.
His son perfected the steam-powered machine to harvest much of the grain on local farms.
The interest of the contemporary Alf lies in motor engines. He was the face of Eden’s Garage for more years than he cares to remember.
Alf opened Portarlington’s first mechanic garage around 1948 – he thinks.
“I never know dates,” Alf grins.
“I think I’d have been 21 when I started out, so work that out.”
Talking to Alf is like walking with an excited puppy on a leash – you don’t know which direction you’re heading next.
That’s because the 1999 Order of Australian Medal recipient seems to have a finger in every pie possible.
Although Alf hasn’t twisted a wrench at Eden’s Garage for nearly 20 years, it remains an institution in the town.
He serviced most of the boats moored at the nearby pier but, now in retirement, Alf prefers to build them for fun.
His skills took him to the South Pacific after the word got around that an Australian volunteer aid abroad program needed experienced mechanics to help fourth-world communities.
Alf was unaware of the opportunity until he returned from work one afternoon to smiling wife Aileen.
“We’re going to Fiji,” she exclaimed.
As a volunteer for the program, Alf taught Fijians welding skills on their only aluminium boat and how to fix diesel engines.
“Their boats were mainly just dug-out canoes with motors on,” Alf recalls.
Alf’s skills and training allowed the islands’ doctors to travel on the boats for appointments with sick patients.
Alf also built a travelling cabin so doctors in Papua New Guinea could perform life-changing surgery.
Alf’s sons – Rodney, Dennis and Neville – were also practical with motors and turned their hands to various degrees of mechanical engineering.
Like their fathers before them, they did everything together.
In particular, the family was the heartbeat at Portarlington Cricket Club.
“My three sons also played and sometimes we even played in the same team – only they were better than me by then,” Alf admits.
Alf was also the club’s first president nearly 50 years ago, its first life member and the driving force behind the ground’s first pavilion.
“I built that at home here in pieces and the whole club put it together,” he remembers.
“I even used to mow the ground down there with a tow-truck and lights on at night.”
An old schoolmate, Arnold Foster, introduced Alf and Aileen to ballroom dancing after their children left home.
While Arnold taught them all the moves, Alf provided the building expertise and converted a run down gymnasium at Bell Park into an elegant Geelong ballroom.
Alf helped raise more than $250,000 from charity balls that Geelong Ballroom Dance Club has hosted biennially since 1984.
Arnold has passed but Alf carries on his legacy.
“I teach in there and I know how to do the steps but I’d rather call myself a social dancer,” he smiles.