A wedding, a funeral and a holiday
Fifty years ago, we had a most unusual and unexpected Thanksgiving. I was a recent graduate of Oneonta State College with my first job teaching third grade at Nokomis School in Holbrook. My fiancé, Bill Holzkamp, was in the Army at Fort Bragg, N.C. He was to be released from the service on Nov. 19, 1963, and we planned our wedding for a few days later, Saturday, Nov 23. I would be having a few days off from school for the Thanksgiving break, so we were going on a week's honeymoon to Williamsburg, Va. and Washington, D.C.
As Bill had not had leave for many months, I found us a small furnished cottage to rent in Lake Ronkonkoma, made arrangements for the wedding at St. Paul's Church in Glen Cove, and booked the reception at Dahlstrom's Restaurant in Huntington. When Bill arrived home a few days before the wedding, we got our blood tests and the marriage license.
On Friday afternoon, Nov. 22, I was walking down the hall in school and heard that President John F. Kennedy had been shot, and later that he had died. After some anxious discussion with Bill we decided to go ahead with the wedding rehearsal that night and the wedding the next day.
All went well, but a somber mood prevailed. When we left the reception and started driving south toward Williamsburg, the car radio was filled with news of the assassination, and later funeral plans. In between the news only classical music was played.
Along the way we stopped in Annapolis and arrived in Williamsburg on Monday. After touring the village restoration for several days, we headed to Washington, D.C., and our room at the Virginia Lodge in Alexandria. By then most store windows had pictures of Kennedy and/or black draping; newspapers were filled with articles about Dallas, and the television showed all sorts of tributes and pictures of young Caroline and John John Kennedy.
On Thanksgiving Day we attended church services at the Episcopal National Cathedral, which was filled with mournful people. The sermon was about the recent events.
Following is what I wrote in my diary about that day. "After we left the church we ate Thanksgiving dinner at Billy Martin's Carriage House (1238 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.). We were surrounded by famous people and senators discussing Kennedy's assassination."
It was a most memorable Thanksgiving; one that yearly brings back memories of that sorrowful day. As we approach our 50th wedding anniversary we remember that special Thanksgiving.
--Barbara Anderson Holzkamp, Glen Head
