G’day and welcome.
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This week I sat down with a gentleman to talk about his business and his life and ended up with a multi-generational story about our city and a family of immigrants.
I had a long and interesting chat with Robert Guseli, recently retired, or partly retired, from Mediterranean Pools, after almost 50 years.
The relationship with the Guseli family and Australia began in the mid-1950s when three brothers left Italy to work on the Snowy Mountains Scheme and settled in Cooma.
They were Don (Rob’s father), Antonio and Michelle (Michael).
On April 16, 1958, tragedy struck the family.
Four young Italian men were killed in a construction accident at Kenny’s Knob near Cabramurra; one was Antonio.
There was very little publicity about this sad loss of young lives; the focus was on keeping the project running – and it was a difficult time for Don and Michael.
With this tragic news, the rest of the family came to Australia, their siblings Pietro (Peter), Guido, Maria and Anna, and their parents, Alvaro and Emilia.
By the mid-60s the Snowy Scheme was starting to wind down; work in Cooma was becoming harder to find, and the winters were bitterly cold.
They decided to look for a place to call home.
When someone decides to settle in Shepp, I always ask why.
In this instance, they were seeking warmer weather and opportunity.
They soon found work; Don, a qualified shoemaker, was mending shoes at Riordan’s Shoe Store.
Shepp was considerably warmer than Cooma — and, sometimes, it was very warm indeed.
Their father, Alvaro, purchased land on Melbourne Rd and established Shepparton Terrazzo Works and ran the business with Peter and Guido.
In 1966 Don worked with his father on a project and, as a result, they were asked to construct a fountain for the front of the new city buildings.
The remnants of the fountain are now on the Marungi St side of the buildings.
It was designed by art teacher John Nicholls, and Shepp tech school students assisted with the construction.
It was presented to the city by the Shepparton Chamber of Commerce.
In the early ’70s, Don, Peter and Guido found part-time work constructing swimming pools.
In 1974, the terrazzo business was sold but the land and building were retained because an opportunity loomed.
As time progressed, the demand for pools increased and the Guseli boys became more than familiar with the pool business, so Mediterranean Pools was established in 1976.
And our warm and wonderful city was more than ready for well-designed and constructed concrete pools, fully tiled and self-cleaning.
Rob, who initially worked at Mediterranean Pools only during the school holidays, joined the business full-time in 1979.
He told me that people had been concerned about the amount of maintenance involved with having a pool in the back garden.
However, once it became known that the pools were self-cleaning, this objection was easily overcome.
Mediterranean Pools had a simple business philosophy — provide great products.
This, they knew, would create a profitable, long-lasting business.
And it did!
Fundamentally, they contained their work to within 100km of Shepp, with just a few pools constructed outside of the guidelines.
There was considerable demand from the Bendigo area and, initially, the cost was under $10,000.
Encouraged by Rob, Don retired in 2005 — and is still enjoying his retirement.
And Rob is now retired — although he gave a reluctant reply to this question.
After almost 50 years, he has decided to step back from pool construction but, I am told, he calls into the business frequently.
Robert Guseli is an interesting — and interested — man.
I’m sure he’ll find ways to fill in his days, and I wish him well.
Today’s Mediterranean Pools
A couple of conversations can be extremely informative — and, after chatting to two charming ladies, I came away with a number of reasons to visit Mediterranean Pools — if there is a pool in your life.
Kelli Howell and Clara Bellofiore have more than 40 years’ experience between them; 44 to be precise.
They have to be Shepparton’s most informed pool service team.
And they are telling me that each year is different from the last, and the differences affect the water in your pool.
Doing what you did last year is probably not going to be effective.
Clara told me that some pool owners were spending as much in a month as she was spending on looking after the display pool in a year.
They put an end to the over-spend very quickly.
It is not surprising that these ladies are experts in pool maintenance, water testing, chemicals and equipment.
I asked about customer service and didn’t need to.
They were talking about having a clear conscience — and sleeping well at night; about putting themselves in the customers’ shoes and telling them what they needed to know.
The customer service discussion ended with us talking about the joy of giving and the satisfaction of doing a job well.
That was sweet music to my ears because I think that some businesses in our city have lost sight of this vitally important objective — good honest service and, where necessary, good advice.
I have been disappointed several times in recent months.
However, Kelli and Clara were telling me — with total sincerity — that the customer has always come first at Mediterranean Pools.
Why not call in for a chat?
Mediterranean Pools is easy to find on Melbourne Rd — situated across the road from Riverside Plaza.
Just as a matter of interest
Rob’s uncle Guido wanted to live near the sea, and he relocated to Narooma, in NSW.
His son Ricky opened Mediterranean Pools in Canberra.
In a city that is not short of a quid, he has done very well indeed and there are some wonderful pools on the website and lots of awards too.
Check out medpools.com.au
Also of interest, Ricky’s son Valentino is one of Australia’s most gifted snowboarders.
It is expected that he will be part of the team for the winter Olympics next year.
And, once upon a time, Alvaro Guseli, the family patriarch, worked as a stonemason just outside Rome (but, for our regular readers, there are no guarantees the business was there in 44 BC!).
Though my imagination was in full play!
And I found myself walking the jam-packed main street of Subura, with Caesar!
Yeah, okay!
I’m off with the pixies again.
Roger will equate this to talking with my daffodils — and wearing rose-coloured glasses!
(How are you doing out there, Roger?)
Someone once wrote
‘In the end, it is not the years in your life that matter, it is the life in your years.’
It is my privilege to know so many of you who fill your years with life, love and service to our community — so this is for you.
By the way, in case anyone cares, this was originally written by a gentleman named Edward Stieglitz, and it was included in his book on ageing well.
You guys don’t need the book!
Take care and may it be easy, my friends
Marnie
Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au
Letter: Town Talk, The News, P.O. Box 204, Shepparton 3631.
Phone: Text or call 0409 317 187
Town Talk