THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503100312
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
On Valentine's Day, the mayor's son decided to ask the boss of the Pasquotank County's Board of Elections if she would marry him on April 22.
Catherine Perry voted in favor of the idea.
So did Mayor H.R. ``Rick'' Gardner, father of the bridegroom-to-be.
So Richard Wayne Gardner, 48, and Perry, 49, will be married April 22 in a waterfront gazebo at the mayor's home across the Pasquotank River from downtown Elizabeth City.
``I have directed that on that date no rain will fall in Camelot,'' Mayor Gardner said Thursday.
Perry, popular supervisor of the Pasquotank election board since 1982, submitted her resignation to the board this week.
Word that she was leaving spread quickly, because she is widely known for steering the politically sensitive body through some of Pasquotank County's most difficult elections, including the 1986 redistricting.
Although three politically appointed members of the Board of Election carry technical responsibility for the actions of the board, Perry often has handled most of the headaches.
``I don't know of any public official in our area who is more respected,'' said Mayor Gardner of his future daughter-in-law.
Perry and Richard Gardner, a steel company executive in Orlando, Fla., met in Elizabeth City when he came to congratulate his father after Mayor Gardner was elected in 1993.
``After the honeymoon, we'll be settling in Orlando,'' Perry said. by CNB