Jolene and I were married in Clive on Sept. 30, 1995. And, yes, this will be our 30-year anniversary.
Jolene’s parents, Dean and Lois Porath, lived at Lake Panorama at the time, but we never even considered a lake wedding. I am not sure why. Maybe late September was pushing it for an outdoor wedding, but, more than likely, the decision had to do with our focus on being truly independent from our parents. Looking back, a Lake Panorama wedding might have been the better option.
Our wedding ceremony was beautiful, and the church looked spectacular. From there, though, things got a little rocky.
Rather than renting a limousine for the two of us, we thought it would be more fun to take the entire wedding party on a well-stocked cruise from the church to the reception hall. When a friend offered his RV for us to use, we thought we had the perfect plan. It was great fun for a while — until the RV broke down on a rural road. We eventually found a friendly farmer who gave us a ride to the reception hall in his farm truck — complete in our wedding dress and tuxedo. He then gave the rest of the wedding party rides as well. Needless to say, the reception was delayed. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, the members of the wedding party were well-hydrated.
We had our wedding reception at the Jester Park Lodge, and not the new fancy one that is in the park today. We rented the two-level building with the giant moose head on the wall, which made for some entertaining photos. Not too many years later, that lodge burned to the ground, and that was probably a good thing.
Through it all, we sang, we danced, we toasted, and we had one of the best nights of our lives. It certainly wasn’t a storybook wedding, and after reading about two beautiful ceremonies at Lake Panorama featured in this month’s issue, it makes me wonder if we should have leaned on Dean and Lois to use their place instead. The scents of an approaching autumn. The sounds of nature. The love of my life. And a beautiful lake view.
Just no moose head or a broken-down RV.
Aaaahhh, the memories. Happy 30th anniversary, Jolene
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Lake Panorama Times
641-332-2707
shane@gctimesnews.com