‘Corona can’t stop love’ as Durham couple celebrates 50th anniversary at safe distance
Fifty years ago, Jack Snyder serenaded his bride-to-be with an Elvis Presley love song, then took Barbara’s hand in an Ohio church and pledged “I do” for all to hear.
Three children and a lifetime later, their golden anniversary fell in the middle of a global pandemic, and the happy couple planned to celebrate quietly in virtual quarantine.
That is, until their daughter Michelle led them out to lawn chairs on the driveway, where their son Kevin rolled past on a rickshaw, blasting “Can’t Help Falling in Love” from a radio, leading a parade of 42 cars and a motorboat.
“Oh my gosh,” gushed Barbara, wearing a novelty gold headband and veil.
“Hey there!” said Jack from under a top hat, shouting to a friend in a minivan. “Come back later and we’ll dance.”
For 30 minutes, cars honked horns as they passed the Snyders’ north Durham yard, displaying paper hearts on their dashboards, dangling wedding bells from their rear-view mirrors.
Dogs and pet rabbits poked their noses through rolled-down windows and kids waved signs through open sun roofs. “Corona can’t stop love,” one sign read.
Saturday’s parade marked the first time many had ventured outdoors in weeks. Carl and Carol Chelette came towing a motorboat, where Carol sat with a fishing line baited and waiting.
“Here we are,” said the Snyders’ son Brian. “We can continue to be who we are in difficult circumstances.”
Parades are trending in the Triangle as small consolation for parties ruined by coronavirus, giving safe distance for friends to gather. In recent days, Raleigh has seen birthday celebrations for a 3-year-old and a woman turning 89.
Reflecting on 50 years of marriage
The Snyders know legions of friends through Northern High, where Barbara taught math, and the United Methodist church, where Jack ministers to congregations in Durham and Roxboro. The streets filled with old algebra students and choir members, cars hung with streamers.
As they wave, the Snyders recalled their first date to a sorority formal at Miami University in Ohio, which they attended as a blind, last-minute couple.
They married while Jack had a short break from Navy training, moving their wedding up a week to meet the changes in military schedule — a matrimonial scheduling maneuver was still possible in 1970.
As the cars passed and they paused to remember, Jack reflected on his moment of Elvis-inspired romance.
“I was going to do that again,” he said. “This day is young.”
Friends blew bubbles through their windows as they drove by, and Jack called out, “When this is all over, we’re going to treat everybody to Arby’s!”
And as their friends honked farewell, the Snyders retreated inside to reflect on the anniversary the virus couldn’t spoil, and to dream of a healthy 51.