Last summer I had the honor of being Reverend, DJ, and MC at Knife and Jackie’s wedding. The wedding took place at the Thyme Herb Garden in Alsea, almost halfway between their hometown of Corvallis and the Oregon coast. I had been in Ashland for the 4th Annual Ice Cream Social the weekend before, so Bessie and I shot up north to help get things setup.
Outside of deciding on the right words to say during the ceremony, the bachelor party was the first order at hand. Friends were arriving from all over the country and the plan was to head to Portland for the night. Since we knew we’d be putting down numerous pitchers of Pabst, we took the bus and walked all over town. We stopped by an old bike shop Knife used to work at and almost borrowed some bikes to tour the city with. By that time we might have already had too much to drink, so we decided to stay on foot.
I couldn’t have been happier for Knife and Jackie. I met Knife when I first arrived in Ashland on the Pacific Crest Trail. Right after hiking I moved back there and for the first six months I only knew him as Knife. When people would mention Dan, or Dan Rockwell, I’d shrug my shoulders because I didn’t know who they were talking about. While living in Ashland and going to school at Southern Oregon University he found out that Jackie, who was in the same math class as his, had a crush on him. After a couple dates, they were inseparable. When graduation time came around the following year I remember Knife telling me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
When I passed through Corvallis in 2006, they were engaged and living in a nice house near the center of town. They mentioned they wanted me to marry them but I wasn’t sure how serious they were. They were planning on an August wedding and I would be back on the West Coast after being out in the East all summer. It looked like everything was set, and now I needed to make things official. A few keystrokes and clicks at the Universal Life Church’s website, and I was ordained. Through their site I also found Gaspard and Sons, who make capes for all occasions. I stopped by their factory in Winnepeg, Manitoba while heading west and picked up a nice, classy cape for the occasion.
The wedding was outside in a large open field set up against a flower covered hill with stairs and a deck for the wedding party. Jackie had picked out the words for their vows and the ceremony was short and sweet. That didn’t keep the newly weds from getting teary eyed, though. Once I had pronounced them, Mr. and Mrs. Rockwelllllll, we headed back to the top of the hill and danced the night away.
Congratulations Dan and Jackie. May your years together be filled with happiness and love.
