TOWN OF DEWITT – The day after Valentine’s Day, The Nottingham in Jamesville celebrated the longevity of its resident couples with a marriage vow renewal ceremony.

The pairs present ranged from self-described “newlyweds” who had been together almost two decades to husbands and wives closing in on their 70th anniversaries. In total, there were 558 years of marriage represented by the participants that Wednesday afternoon according to Becky Voss, the marketing and public relations manager for Loretto.

The ceremony commenced with a procession of the couples down the aisle to the sound of Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D as well as a speech on love and marriage from Shannon Loughlin, the director of life enrichment and recreation for the Nottingham Road retirement community.

“Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together, holding on and never letting go,” Loughlin said. “It’s a short word—easy to spell, difficult to define and impossible to live without.”
With rose petals scattered on the ground and a table of wedding pictures to his side, Monsignor J. Robert Yeazel conducted the blessing of the marriage vows for those gathered. Repeating after him, they reaffirmed their matrimonial promises to stay committed for better or for worse, for rich or for poor, and in sickness and in health.

“You made this world a better place because of the love you have for each other,” the pastor said to the attendees.

Yeazel, who resides at The Nottingham himself, also asked each person to recollect the moment they knew their significant other was the one.

“Think back to what happened when you first met and you knew this was a special person who forever was going to be a part of your life,” he said to the crowd. “And then you decided to get married. You had great dreams and hopes. Perhaps you brought some kids into the world and you helped raise your children.”

Married 61 years at this point, Nottingham residents Bill and Liz Older agreed that they’ve shared an “interesting life” together. The two met at a mutual friend’s birthday party when she was 12 and he was 14, but they weren’t married right away as Bill clarified.

Once they were, however, they ended up living with their two children in Connecticut, Virginia, Rhode Island, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas, all that traveling coming as a result of Bill’s job with the Federal Highway Administration.

“The moving around was great for us because we’d go to a new location and we didn’t know anybody but we had each other,” Bill said.

Now settled in upstate New York, the Olders advise younger couples to admit when they’re wrong and appreciate their spouse’s point of view in order to have a lasting, happy marriage.

Still in the honeymoon phase as they say, Oisin McGinty and Sue Stowell credit their 17 years and counting to continual understanding, patience and insistence on taking care of one another.

Both had previous marriages, but they first dated 50 years ago before either had ever tied a wedding knot. They became reacquainted after McGinty ran into Stowell’s sister at a symphony concert.

McGinty, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, said he considers himself lucky to have reconnected with his sweetheart, calling marriage a “good condition.”

The Feb. 15 ceremony was followed with a reception featuring cake, a champagne toast and hors d’oeuvres.