If you’re a Graceville local and early morning riser, you’ve most likely seen a group of regulars at Honour Espresso.
They’re not the cyclists who frequent the joint, nor are they the mums and kids grabbing a quick bite before school.
This group is slightly older and a little more distinguished.
Meet the Disgraceville Greys - a group of retired, relaxed and at times, rowdy gentlemen.
The Disgraceville Greys in their matching shirts.
Every day, they walk their dogs to Honour Espresso to have a chat and watch the world go by.
“We used to see these guys walking around the neighbourhood a fair bit, so we said come and have a coffee,” Mike Skerrett, one of the founding members, said.
“From there, the group has grown to become the Disgraceville Greys.”
There are now over twenty regulars, all with very different backgrounds.
From journalists, to architects, to engineers, these guys may not have shared similar career paths but enjoy socialising in retirement.
“We created the group because we were a bit bored in retirement and wanted to socialise”.
“Men don’t really chat in the same way that women do,” Mike explained.
“It’s been a great help to a lot of the fellows who are a bit lost in retirement but they can spend an hour up here talking,” Mike said.
Their special reserved sign!
Regular Roger MacGregor joked that their wives have to stay four hundred metres away when the Greys meet-up, and that they have their own group which meets up regularly at a different coffee shop - exactly four hundred metres away!
These distinguished gentlemen are all well-known in the local community, and Honour Espresso places a sign on the same table outside, every day – Reserved for the Disgraceville Greys.
As for their other activities, Mike listed a few -
“We have our own shirts with coffee cups on them. We created an exercise group called Heidi’s Heroes because our trainer is called Heidi. We go on weekend trips to the races and even have our own wine with our dogs on the label!”
The group even have their own wine.
When asked why they decided to create their own wine label, complete with a description about the group, Roger MacGregor spoke for the group.
“It adds a bit of colour and makes us feel united,” Roger said.
From the beginning to now, this eclectic group of retirees became fast friends and even started the Chelmer Toastmasters together.
The group continues to grow, with more members finds each other through neighbours and friends of friends.
They said that while their combined age might be high, they agreed that their mental age is probably around twelve.
It doesn’t seem like this group of the young-at-heart plan on changing their tune any time soon!
