A-team: Former Katies employees at their 35-year reunion.
The old saying goes: choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
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Diane Bilney made quite an argument for it when she came into the News to talk about the 35-year reunion of her beloved “Katies Crew”.
The Aussie Hotel hallways reverberated with laughter from the beer garden on Saturday, February 4, as 13 former Katies Shepparton employees caught up on the past 20 years of life.
It was a particularly emotional day for the original five Katies workers — the self-proclaimed “Katies Crew” of Ms Bilney, Jo Zampagleoni, Maree Dugan, Julie Pastucci and Rhonda Mayfield.
In December, 1987 Ms Bilney was hired as manager of the recently opened Katies Shepparton store, unaware of the effect she would have on the four ladies inside.
“I went in as the new manager and said to the girls, ‘I treat you how you expect to be treated,’” she said.
“And the women at the reunion said those words have stuck with them.
“They told me, ‘We won’t ever forget what you said and you don’t realise the impact you had.’”
That was then: The Katies women in 1992.
This is now: The Katies Crew at their 35-year reunion — Jo Zampagleoni, Diane Bilney, Maree Dugan, Julie Pastucci and Rhonda Mayfield.
Of course, back then it wasn’t all nose to the grindstone, day in and day out — some of it was fun and games.
“We used to dress the girls up the same and have them pose as mannequins in the front window,” Ms Bilney said.
“People would come all the way from Kmart to see the life-like mannequins, and if you twitched they’d exclaim, ‘That girl moved!’”
That same spark of cheekiness is still well and truly alive in the women today, evident in the grin on Ms Bilney’s face when she reminisces on the ladies’ time together at the reunion.
“It was just the best day,” Ms Bilney said.
“Next year, we’ll definitely get together again.”
Piece of cake: Diane Bilney and Rhonda Jones do the honour of cutting the cake.
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