someone rattling our doorknob. “Harold? Harold, it’s me — open the door!” Then she began banging on the door. My new husband hollered out, “Harold is not here.” Finally, after a long silence, she left. So thankful for a strong lock on that door, because if she gotten in there and saw two in that bed, who knows what she would have done? We have had many laughs over that experience through the years. — Pat and Angie Nuxoll, of Lewiston, married in 1970
But instead we heard a wolf whistle. Johnny Pyle, now 5, had stepped out into the center aisle in his red blazer, looked at us and whistled. The crowd laughed. Johnny’s big smile melted my heart. And now I can say I experienced the fragrance of love. — Dan and Helen Ross were married in 1965. They have lived in Lewiston since 1972.
Ladd Arnoti
Pat and Angie Nuxoll stand for a photo with Angie’s grandma, Calista Uhlorn, on their wedding day, Oct. 10, 1970, in Cottonwood. “Our photographer was Ladd Arnoti, a close friend of our family, and he had a great sense of humor,” Angie wrote. “We didn’t notice until later that (Uhlorn) was crossing her fingers. What was she conveying? We never did ask her but conjectured it might have been something she arranged between her and Ladd as in: ‘Here’s hoping this marriage will last.’ ... So far so good; we’re going on 51 years now.”
Speaking of vows, thank goodness for the Holiday Inn promise Here’s Pat and I coming down the aisle in the old St. Mary’s Church at Cottonwood on our wedding day, Oct. 10, 1970. Our wedding reception followed with dinner, toasting and singing. We finally left, heading to Spokane for our honeymoon. On the way up the Lewiston Hill, a policeman flashed his lights and pulled us over. We hadn’t noticed our license tabs had expired. He was kind enough to give us a warning if we promised to take care of it after our honeymoon. Whew. We weren’t concerned about having a reservation ahead of time in Spokane, so on arrival, we pulled into a Holiday Inn. The lady at the front desk said they had no vacancies and there were probably no rooms at most hotels there because of the horse races. She explained that racing was very popular and drew people from all over, even Canada, for the weekend races. What to do? Luckily for us, the Holiday Inn had a promise for potential customers: “If we don’t have a room for you, we will find someone who does.” The clerk finally found one place that had a room for us ... because of a cancellation. It was a little, out-of-the-way place near the airport, called the Cedar Village. It wasn’t fancy, but we were happy to find it, even though you could almost open the front door while seated on the bed. We settled in for the night. The first time you check into a hotel as husband and wife, you feel a little awkward — remember things were a lot different 50 years ago. In the middle of the night, we were sound asleep when we heard T U E S D A Y, J U N E 1 , 2 0 2 1
Helen Ross gets a portrait with the Pyle children, including Johnny, in the red jacket. Helen and Dan Ross
The wedding crasher
The wedding was a perfect setting like most are. The July weather was lovely for a gatherMy fiancé had just graduated from college, ing of about 100 people in the couple’s backand we wanted to get married. My family lived yard. There was a beautiful lake with a palm in Arkansas, and I attended college in Southtree behind the fancy altar. A hush came over ern California, cleaning beautiful homes to the crowd as the bride and groom stood bepay for my education. Dan worked in maintefore the preacher. We had previously tied our nance on campus. There was no money for a two large malamute huskies in the front yard, church wedding. but one of them was a Houdini escape artist. The first job was ironing for Mrs. Pyle. She Down the red-carpeted aisle with his head held had four young children and needed help proudly high and tail wagging came our exupressing her husband’s dental uniforms. berant, bouncy 83-pound furry friend (shown These special people had made me part of below). He was so happy to be a part of the their family. Six-month-old Johnny and I beceremony. I felt like crawling under my seat came buddies. as I saw the astonished looks of the bride and Dan and I asked to have a ceremony in their groom. Our daughter, Missy, and I quickly got beautiful backyard, overlooking the back bay. up and retrieved our dog and re-tied him. The Their response was, “Of course.” However, ceremony went on smoothly, but we missed a they changed their minds and insisted that, beautiful song by some of the family members. with help, we could have a church wedding. — Cosette and Jerry Moore, of Pomeroy, were The word spread on campus and in our guests at a niece’s wedding in the summer of church. A friend took care of arranging flowers 2010 or ’11 at acreage east of Cheney. from a grocery store, a beautiful tiered wedding cake was given as a gift, and I purchased my wedding dress through the Money Saver for $25. My family would’t be coming — who would walk me down the aisle? “Dr. Pyle will,” his wife said. This special family blessed me in many different ways during my four college years and are still a part of my life’s blessings. I took Dr. Pyle’s arm. I couldn’t believe my dream of a church wedding would soon become history. We walked to the center aisle. I felt breathless when I saw the pews full of friends. We stood in silence waiting for the wedding march to begin.
Longtime admirer creates a scene at wedding
GOLDEN TIMES
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