CAZENOVIA — Sixty-one years ago, former Cazenovia residents Ellie and Fred Weir went on their first date at the Brae Loch Inn.
Just over a year later, on July 13, 1963, the couple married. Nearly every summer since then, the Weirs have returned to the Brae Loch to commemorate their first date and celebrate their wedding anniversary.
“We always request the downstairs corner ‘lovers’ booth’ where we had our first date,” said Ellie. “In the early ‘lean’ years, we might only have had a dessert or appetizer.”
In more recent years, the couple has enjoyed trying a variety of different things on the menu, according to Ellie.
At the time of the Weirs’ first date, Ellie — who was known then as Ellie DeWitt — had just completed her senior year at Syracuse University and finished her student teaching placement in Fred’s classroom at Jamesville Elementary School in the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District.
“We waited for that first date until I graduated and was no longer Fred’s student teacher,” Ellie said. “. . . We were very careful about that.”
Although Fred and Ellie weren’t breaking any rules by going on a date, the couple opted to dine somewhere they were unlikely to be recognized.
“I asked people [for recommendations], and they said the Brae Loch was out of town and was a very nice restaurant,” said Fred. “Somehow I got the money together to go.”
Once they were married, the Weirs resided in Fayetteville before moving to Cazenovia, where they spent the next 35 years.
Ellie taught in the Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District for a couple of years before becoming a stay-at-home mom to a son and a daughter who both went through the Cazenovia school system.
Although they are now residents of Florida, the Weirs have only missed about four of their anniversary dinners at the Brae Loch, each time because they were out of the country.
“We’re romantic and sentimental, I guess,” Ellie said when describing the couple’s dedication to continuing their tradition.
In just a couple of weeks, the Weirs will be back at the Brae Loch celebrating their 60th anniversary.
The Brae Loch Inn is located at 5 Albany St., Cazenovia. For more information, visit braelochinn.com.
