This Centennial couple shares their special day with Canada
A Canada Day wedding. An Expo 67 honeymoon. An only-in-Canada love story.
Mariel Rollins grew up Spring Brook, Ont. Eight miles south, Paul Rollins was born and raised in Stirling, Ont. The two met in high school, became engaged after college and married on Canada Day in the Centennial year, 1967.
Throughout 2017, we're asking Canadians, "What's your story?" Mariel shares hers:
Our story for Canada's 150th begins with our engagement on Friday, May 13, 1966.
My husband still insists that 13 is his lucky number!
Soon after, we began looking for a summer wedding date in 1967 — one that would include a holiday, so we'd always have the day off on our anniversary.
July 1st happened to fall on a Saturday in 1967, and it coincided with Canada's 100th Birthday! It was an easy decision to plan our wedding for that date.
Our wedding day was a beautiful sunny day. Our home in Spring Brook, Ont., was close to the church so I walked to the ceremony, as did all of my bridal party.
We honeymooned in Cape Cod and came home to Belleville, Ont., by way of Expo '67 in Montreal.
The buildings constructed by the many countries were unique in style and beautifully displayed their cultures with lots of colour. We really enjoyed our ride in the hovercraft, which was very new at the time.
We lived in Belleville, Ont. for the first five years of our marriage and then moved "home" to Spring Brook in 1972 and bought my parents' home and business upon their retirement. We are both retired now and still live in that same home.
This year, we will proudly celebrate our 50th anniversary on July 1, 2017, as Canada celebrates its 150th!
What's your story?
What defines Canada for you? Is there a time that you were proud to be Canadian, or perhaps a time you felt disappointed? Is there a place, person, or event in your life that sums up what being Canadian is to you? Tell us at cbc.ca/whatsyourstory.