Friday, July 2, 2004

When 2 enthusiasts become 1

A wedding made in Oz

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By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

"We met in Crestone, Colorado, population 500," Craig Eastop said, and then quiped. "It’s a very spiritual place."

What year was this?

"We were partying like it was—" Craig sang. His (then) fiancé Rachel Anderson chimed in "1999."

"Right, honey?" he added.

Both 32, Rachel and Craig are tall, healthy, athletic and outgoing. They are also both teachers for the Blaine County School District. He teaches fifth grade at Hailey Elementary, and she teaches seventh at Wood River Middle School. In a long, round about story, they explained what occurred.

The newlyweds await a toast at their reception in Hailey. Express photos by Dana DuGan

"I was teaching in Oakland and my friends, Theo and Natalie, invited me to go skiing. I got off the plane—Bubba (Craig) was picking us up—my first thought when I saw him was ‘I have no cute clothes!’ I was going to ski for a week. I had not packed anything remotely girlish."

Craig picked up the story. "I was beginning my teaching career, at a charter school. The only person I knew in Crestone was my ex-girlfriend. I whispered to Theo ‘is she single?’"

"We started flirting immediately," Rachel said.

"She was very hot for me," Craig said. "The red union suit drew her in."

Rachel laughs.

Craig watches as she laughs. "That’s why I’m marrying her," he nodded.

"After two days, I said ‘Are you going to kiss me or what?’" Rachel continued. "Our friends were very excited. They knew we’d be perfect."

Months went by, lots of talking on the phone ensued and finally a car trip east was undertaken to see Craig’s family on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

"We were moving fast but feeling comfortable," Craig says. "All my friends thought I was crazy to go on a road trip with someone I barely knew. But that solidified the fact that I wanted to be with her."

The pair, who moved to the Wood River Valley in 2000 to take on the positions with the school district, was married Saturday, June 26, at a home in Hailey.

Typically the proposal was a surprise and quirky.

"It was all staged," Rachel recalled. When they were just moving into a new home in Bellevue, Rachel found him in the backyard holding a black puppy. "He says ‘I think someone in the neighborhood had puppies. This one is lost. Read the collar, see where he belongs.’"

"I grab the collar and the puppy is licking my face," Rachel continued. "The dog tag says ‘Marry me.’ I look at Bubba and he’s on his knees. I had no idea what he said I only heard—"

Craig interrupted. "It was a bunch of mush. I was crying."

"I was too," Rachel jumped back in. "I just remember hearing blah blah blah marry me."

•

Craig grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Rachel hails from Pacifica and Lake Tahoe Calif., where her parents, who were also teachers, host family holidays at their cabin. But these places were not about them. For this event, they wanted to have the ceremony here.

"We wanted to find a place, where it was our own," Craig said.

Connections around the valley helped them manage the specifics. The parent of a student, Kate Rosekrans, lent them her home for the ceremony. Another parent, Tara Ooms did the gorgeous blue hydrangea wedding flowers through her company Tara Bella in Hailey. Yet another parent, Barbara Amick supplied the party goods through her company Barbara’s Party Rentals in Ketchum. Patti Ahrens of Patticakes in Ketchum created the scrumptious cake. The catering was by Peg Phillips, with whom Rachel once worked.

A fellow seventh grade teacher, Rob Swanson, an ordained minister with the Universal Church of Life, performed the wedding ceremony, in a kilt and full Scottish regalia. Friends and family gathered to watch the pair exchange the vows they had composed. Their dog Leroy Brown was the best dog, and the best man, Theo Wilhelm, showed-off a hand with a ring on nearly every finger ensuring none had been left behind. The sun shone until mid-way through the reception when the heavens erupted.

Though it rained steadily and violently, Purdymouth, a band from Salt Lake City, played rockin’ music while the wedding party and others crowded the dance floor.

Asked whether they were leaving the next day for their Travel Club/honeymoon trip to Thailand Rachel said, "Are you kidding? We have people here from every state in the Union. They’re not leaving We have entertaining to do."

Fireworks and the wind blew as huddles of city slicker smokers gathered on the driveway. And intermingled with love, joy and humor were teachers, administrators and employees of the Blaine County School District, family and friends from Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Washington, D.C., and, of course, the Eastops’ hometown, the place that is their own: the Wood River Valley.

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.