Since the weekend storm, many people have gone to emergency shelters seeking power, but those in a shelter in Simsbury on Tuesday witnessed a love story.
Two hundred people at Simsbury High School became witnesses to Douglas Arnold and Kathleen Dal Santo’s wedding.
The couple was supposed to have a quiet ceremony, but they, like hundreds of thousands of other people in the state, have had no electricity since the weekend storm.
Because it was cold in the house, they headed over to the shelter at Simsbury High School to warm up, and received so much when they were thrown a surprising wedding ceremony.
To prepare for his big day, Arnold filled a pot with snow. When it melted, he used it for a cold shave.
The high school cafeteria became a bakery for the wedding cake.
State Rep. Linda Schofield conducted the ceremony. She recently became a justice of the peace and this was the first wedding ceremony she presided over.
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“It's wonderful. This is quite a surprise. We certainly didn't expect anything like this, but it's great. We saw a few folks we know in the audience,” Arnold said.
The bride was thrilled about the ceremony.
“I think it's wonderful. I am so moved. I am so moved that people came together and wished us all the best,” Dal Santo said.
The happy occasion was just what the crowd needed after a trying few days.
“The wedding was awesome. It was an absolutely perfect thing for this kind of weather,” Barb Hirsch, of Simsbury, said.
“I think it is something they will remember for ever and ever, not because of the event, but because of how much joy there was in that room for them,” Gerry Hirsch, of Simsbury, said.
The day before the wedding, people at the shelter were treated to a gourmet meal of lobster ravioli, beef brisket and trout, made by Metro Bis' Chris Properi, the Hartford Courant reports, and massages were offered.
