California couple returns to Kelowna to celebrate their golden anniversary
Same veil, same shoes, same cake, same hotel room, same post-wedding destination.
A lot was familiar Sunday as a long-married couple marked their 50th wedding anniversary inside the Rutland church where they exchanged their vows.
Now residents of Loma Linda, Calif., Floyd and Eileen Petersen, both 73, came back to Kelowna specifically to celebrate their golden anniversary at the Seventh Day Adventist church where they were married June 11, 1967.
“We’re just going to reminisce a little bit about how this whole wonderful journey together started,” Floyd said. “We met and were married in this church, so Kelowna is hometown for us.”
For the occasion, the Petersens brought along several remarkably well-preserved items they’d used on their big day.
Floyd was wearing the same shoes he’d worn on his wedding day. They’d been re-soled several times but looked in great condition, and the casual observer would have had no idea Floyd had worn them nearly every day for seven years while teaching in Africa.
Eileen wore her lace-trimmed wedding veil, as she does every June 11 to mark the happy couple’s anniversary. They also shared a tiny piece of their original cake, which they insisted tasted as good as it did a half-century ago.
“It’s fruitcake, and you know how long those can last,” Floyd said. “Plus, it has a lot of rum in it.”
The couple recalled how they’d met at the church one Saturday afternoon. “I saw Floyd sitting there, and I said, ‘Wow, I gotta get my hooks into him,’” Eileen said with a laugh.
After their wedding, the Petersens stayed at the Highwayman Inn in Vernon, now called the Schell Motel Express. “Our room charge was $7.50,” said Eileen, who still has the receipt.
They booked the same room last night at the motel, and were then headed for a holiday in Victoria, where they’d honeymooned.
One new touch to the 50th anniversary of their wedding: Floyd played a guitar and sang a song he’d composed for his wife, called ‘My Beautiful Eileen.’
After getting married, the Petersens lived in Zambia, Oshawa, and, since 1986, in Loma Linda. Floyd has been a professor of biostatics, and is a former mayor of Loma Linda. Eileen worked as a critical care nurse.
The Petersen’s have two daughters, Sharlane and LuCyndi, who were at the anniversary with their husbands and families. Many of the original wedding party, as well as the guests, were also on hand.
People who’ve reached such a milestone in their marriage are often asked their advice for a long and happy union.
To the question, Floyd answered: “To make 50 years work, there are four, three-word sentences every man should remember. ‘I was wrong; I am sorry; Please forgive me; I love you.’” Eileen’s advice: “Be happy, be positive, and always love your husband.”