Thursday, October 1, 2026
Allison Lutz spent many summer days on the boat her grandfather, William Lutz, kept at the Alpha Sigma Boat Club in south Bellmore. Though he died 20 years ago, the family has continued to dock boats there, and it has always held a special place in Lutz’s heart. When her boyfriend of 12 years, Tom Ruggiero, 35, proposed on Valentine’s Day in 2010, the Beach Street club seemed like the obvious place to get married.
When they picked a wedding date –– Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011 –– they never imagined that a hurricane the likes of Irene might be bearing down on them.
But Lutz, 31, had no intention of cancelling the wedding. The couple grew up down the block from each other in Baldwin and now live in Merrick. They’ve been waiting for their wedding day for months, if not years, Lutz said. “It’s a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of effort put into it,” Lutz said.
The wedding was slated to take place under a tent overlooking Bellmore Creek at 5:30 p.m.; against all odds, the short, 15-minute ceremony went off without a hitch.
The couple said their vows under the protection of the tent overlooking Bellmore Creek as the early rains of Irene began to fall. As soon as the ceremony was over, the crowd of 80 headed into the boat club. Less than 20 minutes later, Irene’s wind gusts picked up to speeds that would have required the tent to be taken down. The couple was married “just in the nick of time,” Lutz said.
As the wedding party was announced to guests, the Scorpions’ “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” bellowed through the speakers – the newly married couple was ready to celebrate with their friends and family, safe from Irene’s fury.
Piccolo Ristorante owner Tommy Valenti, catered the event, and had promised the couple he would be there rain or shine. Valenti was able to get the food to the boat club without a problem and the guests devoured the meal, Lutz said. Valenti had even offered his restaurant on Sunrise Highway in the event that the boat club was unusable – he was just one of many people who helped ease the bride’s mind with the stress of Irene bearing down.
“Everybody had such good energy,” Lutz said, thankful for those who helped make the wedding a success.
Only a few guests didn’t make it to south Bellmore for the festivities. Those who didn’t had to travel a significant distance and were worried about the storm Lutz reported. Others made the trek from surrounding communities, Staten Island and New Jersey. The guest who traveled farthest was Lutz’s cousin who trekked in from school in West Virginia.
The newly married couple danced the night away surrounded by family and friends. “Everything ended up coming together perfectly,” Lutz said. “Once we were there nothing else mattered.”
Guests made their way home by 11:30 that evening, having avoided the worst of Irene. By early Sunday morning, the area surrounding the boat club was under three-feet of water and was completely impassable — Irene held off just long enough for the couple to enjoy their water’s edge festivities.
Before the wedding, Lutz said she was confident that her grandfather would be watching over the couple on Saturday, along with her grandmother Joan McCarty, whose wedding ring the bride wore. “There’s lots of good karma,” Lutz said — enough to keep even Irene at bay.
