Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 15, 1994 TAG: 9410170074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Emmerson, an English teacher at Salem High School, wanted to propose in a memorable way, incorporating the school he loves and basically forcing Rakow into the right answer.
"I figured if I did it in front of ... thousands of people,'' he said, ``she couldn't say no."
He took advantage of the 4,000 or so Salem fans attending Friday night's game against the Pulaski Cougars.
During half time, as the band marched away in unison, the varsity cheerleaders ran on the field carrying a rolled-up sign.
The words "Will You Marry Me," decorated with pink hearts, slowly appeared to fans sitting in the chilly Salem Stadium bleachers.
Then the word "Marie" was added to the end. Emmerson bounced onto the field, holding a giant diamond ring - painstakingly built out of wire and crepe paper and decorated with silver glitter.
Simultaneously, several students from Emmerson's classes surrounded Rakow in the bleachers, cheering "Just say yes" as they handed her two yellow signs.
With eyes wide and teary, Rakow held up the "YES" sign.
The crowd cheered, the cheerleaders leapt and a stunned Rakow hugged friends, family and just about everyone else watching from the stands.
"I think the whole school knew about this," said Judy Pitts, chairwoman of the English department and Emmerson's boss.
"I thought it was really a neat idea. Bryan's a wonderfully loving person," Pitts said.
Emmerson met Rakow at Radford University while he was a graduate assistant and she was an undergraduate. Three years and seven months later, Emmerson has a full-time job at Salem, and Rakow will finish student teaching at Blacksburg High School in December.
After the cameras stopped flashing and the second half of the game commenced, Rakow said she didn't know what hit her.
"I was floored,'' she said. ``And then everyone was looking at me - I was shaking. But I'm very happy."
The Salem Spartans, unfortunately, were not quite as pleased with the outcome of their Friday night. They lost to Pulaski, 21-18.
by CNB