Henderson couple spends anniversary in hot air balloon

At sunrise on their 20th wedding anniversary Oct. 9, Tom and Gerrie Stanford renewed their vows in a hot air balloon near Pahrump with an Elvis impersonator officiating.

It might sound like a grand gesture, but elaborate vow renewal ceremonies are the norm for the Henderson couple.

Every five years, the now-73-year-olds — who live at Sun City Anthem — do something out of the ordinary. They’ve marked past anniversaries at Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, on a 14-day Princess Cruises trip in Europe and at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Given that they were 53 years old when they got married, Gerrie said, “I assumed we would never hit 50 years of being married,” which is a milestone year when some couples decide to renew their vows. She came up with the idea to renew their vows every five years.

For their anniversary this month, the Stanfords took a day trip through Vegas Hot Air Sin City Balloon Rides. Dean and Donna Fransen, local Elvis and Priscilla Presley impersonators, came along.

The Stanfords read poems they wrote for each other. When they met, Tom often wrote poems for Gerrie — “one of the things I loved about him and still do,” Gerrie said in late September.

A photographer was on hand to document the trip.

How they met

The Stanfords met in 1994 in California. Tom lived in Thousand Oaks and was membership chairman for Westlake Village-based Conejo Ski & Sports Club, a social club that one of his roommates formed in 1982.

One of Tom’s duties was giving orientations to new members. One day, there were two newcomers — one of whom was Gerrie.

Gerrie and the other woman at orientation had just met and wouldn’t stop talking to each other, Tom said in late September.

“They would just be chattering back and forth and back and forth,” he said. “I had to tell them to hush.”

“And I still never shut up,” Gerrie chimed in.

They got married in 1999. It was Tom’s first marriage; Gerrie had been married previously.

For their five-year anniversary, the couple — who lived in the Orlando, Florida, area at the time — celebrated at Coral Reef Restaurant at Epcot.

During dinner, a scuba diver in the restaurant’s giant aquarium displayed a note from Tom to Gerrie — “Happy Anniversary!! All My Love Always!!! Tom” — and fellow diners applauded.

To mark their 10th anniversary, the captain on their Princess Cruises trip — which included stops in countries such as Portugal, England, France, Norway and Denmark — officiated the Stanfords’ vow-renewal ceremony.

For their 15-year anniversary, the couple had their vows renewed by a Greek Orthodox priest at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The Stanfords have been on countless cruises. And they’re planning a trip next year to Antarctica — the last continent they have left to see. They’ll fly into Buenos Aires, Argentina, in February to take a cruise that will take them through the Antarctic.

They don’t have any children, Gerrie said, so money that would have gone into a college fund goes toward traveling.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.