family & friends
Beth and Dave both have very strong ties to family and friends all over the country - and halfway around the world! They just wanted to take this opportunity to recognize some of those people who have made them who they are today, and those who may have inadvertantly caused this whole wedding thing to happen...
the Gillilands...
Even though the name is technically of Scottish descent, the Gillilands originally came from strong Germanic roots (with a little twist of Prussian royalty to spice things up a bit - too bad Prussia is no longer a country!). On this side of the family, Dave has both two aunts and uncles who have managed to scatter themselves across the country (and world) including such exotic locations as Washington D.C., Phoenix, AZ, Harrington, WA, and Perth, Australia. Dave's parents now live in Goshen, Indiana, not far from his father's hometown of Lafayette and alma mater, Purdue University (where his grandfather was also a professor of chemistry - go Boilermakers!).
Dave is not the first Gilliland to be married in the new millennium. His little
sister, Karen was married in 2000 to Randy Gabrielse (now happily living in
exotic Boone, Iowa). Dave and Beth have taken a few tips from them on how "not" to
decorate the church, as well as many other suggestions from the other 9 weddings
they have attended in just the past year (although the juggling
at Dave's cousin's wedding a couple years ago will definitely be hard to top!)
the Schindels...
Beth's father's family, the Schindels, are mostly rooted in Indiana, with a couple in Wisconsin and the snowbirds traveling to Florida for the winter. This side of the family has a strong German and English influence, and is full of musicians, artists and actors, as well as a many entreprenuers (The Schindel Glass Company). Beth's grandfather, Jerry Schindel, has been doing a lot of research lately into the family geneology, which she finds really fascinating! (Yes, she already looked up to make sure Dave wasn't already in it!) Some of Beth's favorite family memories are from the old farmhouse her grandparents used to own. She remembers large Thanksgiving feasts, opening the living room doors on Christmas morning, and playing "School" with her cousin Craig on the stairs. There is, of course, the legend of the day Beth was awakened by the cows one Easter morning, and saw the Easter Bunny hopping around the side of the house to hide the eggs. (How come no one else remembers that?)
One of Beth's favorite heirloom items (currently in her mother's possesion)
is a beautiful golden cameo necklace that has been in her grandmother's
family (the Fisher's) for 5 generations now. This is a picture of Beth,
her mother, and her great and great-great grandmothers wearing the necklace.
Her mother wore it on her wedding day - don't be surprised if it surfaces
at Beth's!
the Lotz's...
Dave's mother grew up on a farm in Lanark, Illinois with her two older
brothers. In contrast to the Gillilands, most of the Lotz's stayed centered
in the Midwest, which made the family reunions much easier to coordinate. Dave fondly remembers Thanksgivings filled with a seemingly endless
supply of his grandmother's sweet rolls, as well as fiercely competitive
sports such as ping-pong, volleyball, and highly spirited euchre games.
While cards still remain a family favorite, pasttimes have
shifted more recently to the golf course, when not rooting for Big Ten
football and basketball (mostly
Indiana University, to the chagrin of Dave's dad - go Hoosiers!).
Beth has already been accquainted with both the famous rolls and the infamous gaming streak in the Lotz family. Euchre tends to be the competition of choice, and little did Dave and his family know that she had already been highly trained by the McDonald side of her family (see below). She held her ground pretty well at a recent cousin's wedding, and was (unofficially) accepted into the rest of the family ever since.
the McDonalds...
Ah, where to begin? Beth's mom's side of the family are truly a clan, in the best sense of the word! They hail from Rochester, New York, with roots going further back to Scotland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany, but are now spread across the East Coast of the US, except for her cousin Laurie who now lives in Chicago (and is also getting married this year - yeah!) This family is much bigger, on account of the matriarch (Ollie McDonald) and her five children, and the eight grandchildren, and, oh yeah, the two great grandchildren. As an only child, Beth feels blessed to have such a large and tight knit family circle, with her cousins like sisters and everyone being everyone else's godparent.
There are two big McDonald events a year, both of which Dave has endured enjoyed - Christmas and Labor Day. Christmas is essentially a 4-day feast in which they cover everything from midnight mass to caroling to eating, unwrapping, shopping, eating, shopping, euchre playing, and a little bit of relaxing, too. Labor Day has become a more recent event where they convene at a cabin that her Uncle Tom built (for real!) up in the "north country" of New York State. There are now more people than rooms, so there's lots of bunks and tents and whatnot, but it's an absolute BLAST, and a gorgeous way to end the summer. Here's a picture of Dave - confident in his tubing abilities (though my cousins may question the driver's abilities!) Although they may not be able to make it up there this year with all the wedding plans and all, maybe they should put in a reservation for the honeymoon?!?!?...
the Tigers...
As mentioned before, Dave and Beth first met while attending DePauw University
(go Tigers!) - but what they didn't detail was *who* helped them become
the happy couple they are today. A rather infamous group of DePauw students
(mostly music types) have been getting together every year since their
graduation. It began as a summer trip to the Taste of Chicago for their
annual (rained-out!) 4th of July fireworks - but quickly morphed into
an annual New Year's Eve celebration.
While Dave has attended most of these festivities, Beth celebrated her first
in 2002 in Atlanta, at the apartment of John Harr (the happy couple
considers this their first date as
it's where they first kissed!). Dave and Beth have since partied at the
residence of Diana Pray in San Francisco, Donna Miller in New Orleans,
and have also returned to John's in Atlanta this past New Year's. Sara
Jo and her new hubby Klaus have traveled from Germany to join us on a few
occasions, as well as Joe Brent from New York (or wherever his Broadway
touring schedule takes him). Along the way, they have picked up many new
friends, including Jeffrey and Missy. Suffice to say, credit may have to
be given to DePauw on this one, as this crazy bunch couldn't have met without
it!
the Hubbard Clan...
Dave first got mixed up with this dangerous sect when he moved to Goshen in 1990. Their members have been known to play countless games of Deathball™ (patent pending) and FIFA soccer, eat cheese fries late nights at Steak-N-Shake, or soak for long hours discussing all sorts of matters ranging from philosophy to pop culture in a (very hot!!) hot tub. Currently, the Hubbard family, consisting of Addison, Cindy, Brian and Brad, live seemingly normal lives until they play host to this band of "outsiders." They are often joined on their escapades by Dave's Austro-Canadian cosmic twin, Niko, and best man, the very-close-to-being-Dr. Jeremy Brunk.
But that's not all - there are other members who have left their own indelible marks on this infamous group: Grand Inquistor/Ringleader Chris Lehman has eloquently toasted (on several memorable New Year's), žber-Chicago-sports fan Travis Miner has ruefully boasted (of his superior video gaming skills), and Erin Hartzler has irreparably roasted my towel (in a horribly scarring camping incident - not to lay on the guilt). Each of them has played a very important role in turning Dave into the twisted human being that he is today - in other words, blame them and not Beth!
the Corps...
Ah, Beth's second (third and fourth?) family! She got involved with drum corps at the ripe old age of 17 and practically hasn't stopped since. Aside from three years of actually marching (okay, standing in the pit!) with the GLASSMEN, she's about to start her ninth year behind the scenes, now as the marketing director for the corps. She has met oodles of people here, and they have all helped Dave and Beth somewhere along the way in there relationship - whether giving them a little time away, or helping with their engagement by throwing them in the back of the box truck for a long trip to Iowa.
Beth's maid of honor, Jen Dunlap,
also marched with the corps, and can most recently been seen working with
Beth in the souvie trailer in the summer. The two have shared the best
of times, and the worst of times (and frankly, neither would know what
else to do with their summer!). And who can forget their faithful driver,
Viv and his wacky British family - who have been so gracious as to include
Beth and Jen as daughters of their own. Of course, much thanks to Brian and
Janet in the office, who let Beth go home and visit Dave every once in awhile!
There will be lots of drum corps types at the wedding, and it's best not to
spoil the fun by spilling all their good secrets. Beth's been to a lot of
drum corps weddings in the past few years, and all she can say is, be careful
of the table next to the bar. She's received a lot of advice from the people
in drum corps, too - but the best advice so far as been from Frank Williams.
And, no, it can't be posted here, but I'm sure he'll give you some advice
of your own - if you can handle it.
Check out the chapel...