Cupid over Covid

Covid was substituted by Cupid at The Coral House last Friday as senior citizen couples, including two from Oceanside, renewed their wedding vows ahead of Valentine’s Day. Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin and Town Clerk Kate Murray presided over the ceremonies of more than a dozen couples on Friday as they celebrated decades of devotion to each other.

Oceanside residents Andrew and Mary Antolvi and Victor and Sandra Rodman celebrated their 59th and 62nd anniversaries, respectively, with a full-course lunch, dancing, a champagne toast, and wedding cake. Murray then presided over both of their vow renewals in front of a white gazebo and pink and red balloons.

The Antolvis met as 14-year-olds in Coney Island in the shadow of the famous Cyclone roller coaster. Andrew approached Mary while she was having a picnic with a friend when he asked if he could join.

The two have been together ever since, being wed in May 1963 at St. Patrick Church on Kent Ave. in Brooklyn. They moved to Oceanside in 2006 to be closer to their grandchildren.

Victor and Sandra Rodman will officially hit their 62nd anniversary in April. They met as teenagers at a dance at a Jewish community center in Brooklyn. There, Sandra asked Victor on a date, and they have been together ever since.

Just prior to the onset of the pandemic two years ago, the Rodmans contacted Murray about renewing their vows at the Merrick Senior Center, where they have been members for more than a decade. They were not able to do it there or at The Coral House last year but returned this year with Covid numbers dropping.

“We couldn’t go anywhere, but we took it one day at a time,” Sandra Rodman said. “We got the vaccine and the booster and now we’re here.”

The event was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. “This year is a little more special in that people are ready to move on from Covid, gather with friends and family to celebrate their love and life together,” Mike Deery, the communications director at the Coral House, said.

Coral House owner Butch Yamali donated use of the facilities, food beverages, decorations, and more, as he has most years before the pandemic after he took over the Baldwin landmark in 2012.

“The senior citizens who are here today have built our communities, and we need to acknowledge them on this special occasion,” Yamali said. “There is no better way to celebrate life than to celebrate love.”

Murray has plenty of experience presiding over vows as the town clerk, as during the pandemic she opened an outdoor facility to have ceremonies and licensing in a safe manner. “It might not have been the wedding that they envisioned during Covid, but the bottom line is we understanding the most important part of a wedding: the joining of two people who love each other,” Murray said.

“This is the most romantic time of the year,” Clavin said. “We wanted to do something extra special for our senior citizens in Hempstead Town as they renewed their wedding vows. I want to salute our senior citizens who are an emblem of enduring love.”