With Valentine’s Day just around the corner we wanted to give a shout out to everyone out there who has romantic ties to the mountain. The Blue Ridge Marriage Roster is a book commemorating married couples who met at YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly. It originated as a gift from Billie Camp Younts in 1978, whose husband Charles R. Younts served at Blue Ridge Assembly for more than 40 years. To date, there are nearly 30 couples documented in the Roster.
YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly Marriage Roster
- Willis Duke Weatherford and Julia McRory met at a YWCA student conference at Blue Ridge in 1912. They were married in Rock Hill, South Carolina in 1914.
- Geneva Kirby and Herbert Warner met at Blue Ridge in 1924. He was a Y exec receiving certification and she was on staff in the dining room. They married in Birmingham, Alabama on July 19, 1927.
- Frieda Traweek (collegiate staff) and Finley Eversole (YMCA student delegate) met at Blue Ridge in 1931. They were married in Birmingham, Alabama on July 9, 1932.
- Mabel Orr from Birmingham, Alabama and Martin England from Mars Hill, North Carolina met working as dining room staff in the summer of 1929. They were married in 1933.They went on to honeymoon with the American Baptist Mission in Burma and have 4 children.
- Eileen Aull and Howard Covington met in the summer of 1935 as collegiate staff. Mr. Covington was a protege of Dr. Weatherford and went on to have a career as a YMCA Secretary. Their daughter, Flossie Covington Hickland, went on to work at Blue Ridge in 1960, their grandson James Hickland served in the mid- ’80s, and their great grandson will attend Leaders’ School this summer. “It is great to have such a family legacy”
- Edna Erle Waters and Sam Marshall met the summer of 1940 as guests with the YMCA/YWCA conference. They were married in Tupelo, Mississippi on December 25,1941.
- Mary Ann Henry and Hyman McCarty met as collegiate staff at Blue Ridge in the summer of 1942. They were married in Meadville, Pennsylvania on December 24, 1943. Mary Ann says, “Blue Ridge definitely has a tremendous place in our hearts!”
- Emily Cottingham (YWCA student conferee) and Robert C. Stuart (store staff) met at Blue Ridge in the summer of 1940. They were married in Douglas, Georgia on August 10, 1946.
- Marilyn Zibell and Olson Huff met summer of 1959 as collegiate staff. They were married in Decatur, Georgia in 1963. ”It was a great summer. Walked to Black Mountain under a full moon!”, Olson writes.
- Kay Clement and Frank Edmond Hogan met at Blue Ridge in the summer of 1962. They were married in Greenville, South Carolina on August 8, 1964. They have 2 daughters.
- Camilla Bolin (housekeeping ‘63-64, librarian ‘66) and J. Craig Weaver (collegiate staff ‘63-64, desk clerk ‘66). They were married on August 28, 1965.
- Pat Goldthwaite (collegiate staff ‘63-65, senior staff ‘68) and Robert Wilhem (collegiate staff ‘62-64, senior staff ‘65-68). They were married in 1968.
- Rosemary Tenney and Judge McFerrin Smith met at Blue Ridge in 1967. She was renting North Carolina cottage and he was staying in Florida cabin. They were married in 1968.
- Ann Hodge and Jerry Carl Hogan met at Blue Ridge in the summer of 1969. They were married at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee in 1970 and have one son.
- Barbara Delores Steiner and Joseph Kenneth Mustoe met at Blue Ridge as staff in 1970. They were married in Morganton, North Carolina on July 25, 1971.
- Carol Fassold and Larry Geiger met as Blue Ridge summer staff in 1972. They were married on June 15, 1974. The couple visited again on their honeymoon and again in 1977 when they served as dorm parents in Martha Washington Hall.
- Kitti Ann Ruebenstahl (staff ‘73-76) and Kenneth Ray Kelly (staff ’73-’76) met at Blue Ridge in the summer of 1973. They were married at Warren Wilson Chapel in Swannanoa, North Carolina followed by a reception at Blue Ridge Center on October 9, 1976.
- Cheryl Elrod (collegiate ’77, senior staff ’78-80) and Scott Washburn (collegiate ’68-75, senior staff ’77-79) met in the summer of 1979. They were married on August 22, 1982 at Blue Ridge Assembly.
- Deborah Meredith Dyer (collegiate ‘76-79, senior staff ‘80-83) and William Cameron Williams (collegiate ’80-81) met at Blue Ridge in the summer of 1980. They were married on May 26, 1984.
- Beth McGirt (collegiate staff member in ’84–85, senior staff ’86) and Tony Adams (collegiate ’84): “We met at Blue Ridge the summer of 1984. Tony and I were both fresh out of high school — he hailed from the town of Jefferson and I came from Irmo. . It was pretty much love at first sight for both of us. I especially loved Tony’s outgoing personality and no one could sing like him. He starred in our staff production of Carousel and throughout the years that followed I could still hear him sing “If I Loved You “. We went our separate ways after that summer, but we still kept in touch over the years. And even though we both went on to live separate lives, 15 years after we first met — after both of us had gone through divorces in our first marriages –we tracked each other down and got married! That Blue Ridge Magic has always stayed with us and we just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary (but we like to count 28 since that’s how long we’ve loved each other!).”
- Dan Matthews (collegiate staff ’80, senior staff ’81-83, and ’85-86) met Lynn Rabon (collegiate staff ’85 , senior staff ’86,’87) during the summer of 1985. They were married in 1989 in Camden, SC “after much convincing”, and settled there. They have two children, Roland and Meg.
- Mary Catherine Saidla & Trevor Krister Person met at Blue Ridge in the summer of 1988, while attending the YMCA Youth Conference on National Affairs. They were married in Auburn, Alabama, in the summer of 1999.
- Amy Cushnie and Brandon Vaughn met as conferees during Blue Ridge Leaders School in 1998! They were married in June of 2002 in Richmond, Virginia and have a 5 year old daughter, Emily Grace. They currently live in Midlothian, Virginia.
- Domenick Risola and Keena Meyer met and worked together at Blue Ridge in the summer of 1992, and have been together ever since. “Twenty years and two kids later still going strong, and we still reminisce about our summer of love; climbing Chimney Top together, pillow fights while on housekeeping detail at Weatherford Hall, and first kisses at the bonfire at the end of summer…Our kids are tired of hearing how romantic the Blue Ridge mountains can be when you’re 18 and fall in love for the first time, and then get married and stay together…it does still happen, folks!”
- Phillip and Helen Day met as Blue Ridge as staff in the summer of 1997. They were married December 30, 2004.
- Rebecca Beltrame and Rene Moncivaez met as staff at Blue Ridge and were married in 2006.
- Brent and Lillian Hadas met at Blue Ridge as staff in 2005. They were married in 2007 in Asheville, North Carolina. They have one daughter, Zoe, and are expecting another child this spring.
- Travis Silver (Grounds Manager ’00-Present) and Michelle Miller (Dining Room Supervisor, ’09-‘11) were married in October 2010 in Marion, North Carolina. They have one son, Sean
- Ryan Welsch (CONA ’97 – Alabama delegation) and Lucie Swain (CONA ’04- Kentucky delegation) met in 2008 while volunteering at the 2008 Conference on National Affairs. Ryan proposed on the mountain 3 years later, and on June 16, 2012 they were married in nearby Asheville, NC.
- Andrew McKinney (Program Coordinator ’08-Present) and Beth Snook (Event Planner, ’07-Present) married August 2012 in Asheville, North Carolina.
We want to know YOUR Blue Ridge love story! If you would like your names added to the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly Marriage Roster, please write Melissa Logan, Development Director, at mblogan@ymcabra.org with your information or simply reply as a comment in this blog post! Please share your maiden names, how you met on the mountain, as well as the date and location of your wedding. If you were visiting the Assembly as a guest, please specify which conference you were a part of, and if you were part of our staff, which department you served in. We’d also enjoy hearing any updates on how you and your family are doing today!
Again, best wishes and congratulations to all of the sweethearts we have united. We hope that YMCA Blue Ridge will continue to touch lives and bring people together in faith and fellowship in the years to come. Happy Valentine’s Day!
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