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‘I do’: Whitmer High School holds mass wedding vow renewal for 75 couples

All of the couples are married to either their high school sweetheart or someone who graduated from Whitmer High School.

TOLEDO, Ohio — One-hundred and fifty-five people made their way down the Whitmer High School football field Friday at the Panthers' homecoming game.

Each yard line at the Whitmer Memorial Stadium stood for the number of years the 75 couples have been together.

On the 30-yard line were high school sweethearts Paul and Amy Ridener, who have been together since 1984.

"I walked in and saw her and said that was the girl I was going to marry,” Paul said of the couple's love at first sight.

Under the Friday Night Lights at the game stood a reminder: a renewal of the promise the 75 couples made to each other at the altar.

“I do,” the couples said, together.

All were married to either their high school sweetheart or someone who graduated from Whitmer.

But 92-year-old Nancy Rae Striggow didn't have a date this year.

"I miss him so much, I wanted him to be here," Striggow said of her late husband, Elvin.

She brought pictures of him with her to the game, though, reminisced on their decades of marriage together and ensured nothing would stop her from attending the ceremony.

"I'm having trouble with my heart, that's why I'm in the wheelchair and I said I don't care what it takes," Striggow said. "I didn't want to miss it."

She was crowned the homecoming queen in 1949 but no longer has the paper crown. Even without the crown, or her husband, she's surrounded by family.

"My kids don't live so close by, so I only have a few of them here," Striggow said. "But I got grandkids and great-grandkids here with me."

No matter what yard line each couple stood at, the goal on the field had a whole new meaning as it was the first-ever Whitmer mass wedding.

Couples didn't leave empty-handed, either. The district gave each a t-shirt, professional photo and wedding cake before they renewed their vows on the field before the superintendent.

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