Next it was off to the NDSU Alumni Center to get ready for the formal ceremony for our extended families. The forecast had been for rain and it wasn't looking good so we were worried that we'd have to bring everything inside, instead of having the outdoor wedding in the garden that we had been hoping for.

However, the rain held off and we made the decision to go for it outside. Indeed, we had a beautiful ceremony with all of our family. A full gallery of the event is available at:

http://www.shortyr19.com/gallery/Family/wedding/

Saturday was our reception in the Multiband building in Fargo for the rest of our friends. We had a wonderful slide show chronicling the lives of the two of us separately and then our time together leading up to the wedding. We weren't allowed to see it beforehand and there were sure a few embarrassing pictures in the show! We had a great time but had sore cheeks from all of the smiling.

The months of anticipation and preparation are finally over and now we have special memories from a beautiful day to cherish. Thanks so much to everyone for the warm wishes and all of your help.

Double ring ceremony, left; the wedding cake is finished, right.

My favorite thing was all the mail it generated! I do love the modern invention of e-cards ... such a variety of those arrived that we hardly got on with the other festivities. And the traditional type of Snail Mail pretty cards certainly were attractive, all lined up around our pretty bouquet that had arrived from some dear friends of ours.

We enjoyed breakfast and noon lunch out with friends and relatives. No pressure planning festivities, just enjoying telephone calls as they came in, along with all the other excitement of the day.

Thanks, everyone!

Don and Dorothy

That's my mom and dad, Don and Dorothy Anderson, on their wedding 57 years ago! Aren't they handsome ... and beautiful?

Marlene Anderson Johnson
Acton, CA

The shooting of Domingo's dogs, Oscar and Rosy, when they'd gotten into the sheep and pulled some wool (back in December), had thrown Domingo into such a protracted huff that he was a disruption to the lambing operation.

We began by brainstorming ideas. Sindy suggested a fashion show, which would allow her to put her fashion design degree to some good use. Or maybe a concert featuring some of her musician friends. Eventually, we decided that the "main event" of the benefit would consist of a dinner. "Dining for Research" became the working title of the event.

Once the general format of the benefit had been decided, Sindy began doing the legwork needed to get the event off the ground. With some helpful planning tips from the folks at TGen, who have actually done this sort of thing before, the pieces began to fall into place. Sindy found Haru, a restaurant serving an upscale Japanese buffet for a reasonable price (at least by New York standards). The restaurant's management would furnish our group with our own private area and provide free beverages to our guests. Guests would contribute $100, which would cover food costs and a donation to the ATAC Fund.

As an additional means of generating funds, we decided to hold a silent auction during the dinner. Soon, Sindy was procuring a wide variety of items: an autographed CD, artwork, tickets to a Yankee game, a signed photograph of former New York Giants' player Tiki Barber, several gift certificates and many other items. At one point, Sindy asked me if I thought we needed more goods for the auction. I told her that probably wasn't necessary, as I was starting to worry that we'd have more auction items than actual guests!

The benefit was set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 5th. Sindy invited several of her friends and co-workers, but we were still concerned that we wouldn't attract the turnout we were hoping for. I decided to post a message on the ACCompassion message board, an online community of ACC patients and caregivers who are seeking information on treatment options or just looking to correspond with others who share their experiences. I knew there were some New York area members in the group and hoped that some of them would be able to make it to the benefit.

The first member to reply was Howard, an ACC patient from New York City. He and his wife had already planned a vacation for the Fourth of July week, but he generously volunteered to contribute a gift to our silent auction from his wife's employer, Estée Lauder. As it turned out, they donated two large baskets of products, one featuring men's products, the other for women.

My next reply came from Caryn, another New York City ACC patient, who said that she would be attending the event and even bringing some family members. Little did I know that by "some family members" she meant her husband, parents, siblings, children, nieces, nephews and quite possibly even a second cousin or two.

As the 8 o'clock hour approached on the fifth, more and more of her family members filed into the restaurant to support their wife/ daughter/ sister/ mother/ aunt/ second cousin. Eventually, as Caryn's family and Sindy's friends continued to arrive, the group filled the four large, round tables the restaurant had reserved for us.

Everyone spent some time visiting and getting to know each other. Caryn's family was very large, friendly and talkative (reminiscent of a typical Anderson family get-together). It was also fun to meet many of Sindy's friends, including one who drove all the way up from Maryland after work that evening, and planned to drive right back after the dinner was over!

Once the guests had gotten a chance to mingle and place some starting bids on the silent auction merchandise, we decided it was time to eat. We all gorged ourselves on everything from steak to lobster to sushi, then went back and ate some more. Finally, our host from the restaurant presented us with a cake for dessert. At first I wasn't sure I could eat another bite, but in the end I proved my old adage: there's always room for cake!

After the meal, the guests' attention turned back to the silent auction items. At this point, I began to see another side of Caryn's family: the competitive side! It was brother against brother, mother against daughter, even grandpa against grandson as they tried to outbid each other for Yankees tickets, cosmetics baskets and all of the other items on the table. Sindy's friends got in on the action, too, and soon bids were being topped left and right.

Finally, when the battles began to wane, we called the auction and announced the winners. Fortunately, the bidding was all in fun, so there were no hard feelings, despite the hard fought battles that had ended just minutes before. Soon, everyone began to say their goodbyes and head back into the New York City evening, many with fabulous silent auction prizes, and all of us with full bellies, new friends and the satisfaction of knowing that all of the fun had benefited a great cause.

The next morning, Sindy and I tallied up the checks and cash from the previous night. All told, we had raised more than $2,200 for ACC research. Not bad for a couple of novices! I thought. I was glad everything had come together so well, and I was also glad that all of the planning leading up to the big night was behind us. But Sindy was already thinking ahead. As we stuffed last night's donations into an envelope for delivery to TGen, she said, "I'm already thinking of ideas for the NEXT fundraiser!"

If you would like to learn more about TGen's ATAC Fund, please visit http://www.atacfund.org or http://www.tgenfoundation.org/help/_cwaltzing.cfm

Mitzi and Sheldon Swenson
Dickinson, ND

Next, Jane is Cap'n Jack's and Ginn's daughter -- not Judy. Jane is mother of Chase and wife of Romaine.

Everyone must help to keep The Bulletin alive and well! Thanks to everyone for reviving the "olden days" -- along with the new!

Ruth Weiland Kitto
Apache Junction, AZ

Photo Editor's Note: Oops! ... a slip of the fingers when I named the photos immediately after placing Judy Riesenberg's guess. I'm sorry, Jane ... I corrected the archived copy on the web.

Of course, those impressive yellow roses stood out bold and beautiful for the first picture of our Bulletin #269. Reminding us of our Editor's anniversary on the 15th.