A match made in mud

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The groom's grandparents were married 60 years ago on the same date.

By LAURE CIOFFI

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YANKEE LAKE — The bride wore white and the groom donned a tux, but that was it as far as wedding tradition.

Carrie Namie and Shawn Bilas, both 35 of Berlin Center, said their vows on a flatbed truck in front of thousands of mud-trucking enthusiasts and then took a spin in the mud themselves.

"We just always come here," Bilas said of why they decided to get hitched on the mud track at Truck Night at Yankee Lake off state Route 7.

Both are truck enthusiasts who each drive their own vehicles in the regular Friday night mudfest, and Namie said she had no problem getting married at truck night when Bilas proposed it.

"He's my best friend. I'm head over heels [in love]. If he wanted to get married in a box, I would do it," she said showing off her one-of-a-kind engagement ring made from a socket.

The ceremony

Namie's 7-year-old son, Austin, dressed in a tuxedo, gave her away at what Truck Night organizers were calling the "Git R Done Chapel" — a flatbed truck with an arbor adorned with flowers.

Lisa Dickson, one of the Truck Night coordinators, said the couple approached them a year ago about the wedding.

The second marriage for both, the couple just wanted to have their wedding somewhere fun, Dickson added.

The groom made his way to the ceremony in his own 1968 Kaiser, a World War II era jeep with orange and white barrels tied to the back.

The bride and her son were brought out in the souped-up Truck Night party shuttle school bus.

Dominic Verdell, associate pastor of Grace Chapel Community Church in Sharon, Pa., officiated.

Location was right

The groom's grandparents, John and Olga Bilas, saw the wedding date and location as a good omen. They were married 60 years ago on the same date.

"We were here the day we got engaged. We came to a dance here," Olga Bilas said of the Yankee Lake Ballroom.

Bilas' aunt, Sue Hovanec, said the Truck Night wedding came as no surprise to her.

"This is appropriate because Shawn always liked to play in the mud," she said.

The couple had 35 friends and family members seated on benches near the mud pit for the nuptials. After the kiss, they hopped into the groom's jeep and went for a ride in the mud.

The bride, still in her gown, even took her turn driving, waving a muddy arm out the jeep window.

Before the ceremony, she said she bought the traditional white gown at a consignment store.

"No reason to spend a lot of money when you are going to get muddy," she said.

The couple is planning their honeymoon at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in Chester, W.Va.

cioffi@vindy.com

Saturday, August 11, 2007