Alaska News

Community donates wedding to engaged couple who lost home in Alaska wildfire

The community of Sterling is throwing a wedding for a couple whose home was destroyed in the Card Street wildfire that tore through the area this month.

The couple lost almost everything -- including the wedding dress -- in the fire. But the potluck wedding ceremony at the Sterling Community Center will want for nothing.

That's because residents and businesses in the area have donated all the frills, said Melissa Daugherty, the volunteer wedding planner and a board member at the center.

"All the little details are being taken care of," said Daugherty.

Even the wedding dress, which fit perfectly, was donated. When bride-to-be Helen Hope Hunt tried it on, she looked in the mirror and cried.

"No alterations whatsoever," Hunt said. "It was just amazing."

Hunt and her fiance, Robert Hensler, have been together 18 years. They've been engaged 14 years but life kept getting in the way of wedding plans. Hunt planned to surprise him with a small wedding this summer.

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But the fire that began June 15 approached their house with little warning. Her husband-to-be saved two dogs but they lost their cat.

"It's hard to look at," Hunt said of their property. "The basement is a hole in the ground full of ashes and debris."

Theirs is one of a few homes lost in the 7,300-acre fire that began east of Card Street in Sterling before sweeping into the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge near the Skilak Lake recreation area.

The couple was fortunate enough to have family in Sterling to stay with. But word soon spread about their losses. When the community center heard about their wedding plans, officials there quickly offered to organize and host it, and the couple accepted.

"We're really excited about it," Hunt said. "We are starting a new chapter and things from here are going to go up."

The wedding could be huge. More than 400 firefighters, including many from the Lower 48, have been involved in the response -- and they're all invited to the wedding, along with the public. The event begins 3 p.m. Sunday at the center along the Sterling Highway.

Daugherty said she's hoping some of the fire response crews can attend if they're not fighting the fire.

"It would be a great thing if it's raining," she said. "It'd probably be the first wedding where that'd be a great thing."

Daugherty, who runs the Sterling Head Start program and has always wanted to be a wedding planner, said the donations include a decorative punchbowl, the wedding cake and a tuxedo. Hairdressing and makeup services are included, and a hotel in Homer is providing a room for the honeymoon. Community members have also provided such things as a garter, an aisle runner and wedding utensils.

The event will be fire-themed and titled "Ashes to Hope." But Daugherty would divulge only one decorative detail, saying she wants wedding-goers to be surprised.

A partially fire-charred garden trellis -- donated by a neighbor -- will be part of the ceremony, she said.

Daugherty said the community center has been flooded with donations for victims of the fire, with people from Sterling to Homer and Anchorage and beyond giving. One memorable moment came when an elderly man gave five $100 bills in a small box, something he'd apparently been saving.

"That is the moment when I totally broke down," Daugherty said.

She said she's organizing the wedding separately and not using those donated resources, which are saved for true needs.

"The wedding is not a direct life-or-death thing but it's kind of the cherry on the top," she said. "In my opinion, there's no greater joy than being at a wedding and seeing the unity that comes from it."

As for Hunt, she's grateful for the community response.

"I cannot emphasize enough how great the center staff and volunteers and the entire community have been," she said, her voice breaking.

"I also want to say I'm so sorry for everyone else that suffered losses. I want people to know my heart is with them."

Alex DeMarban

Alex DeMarban is a longtime Alaska journalist who covers business, the oil and gas industries and general assignments. Reach him at 907-257-4317 or alex@adn.com.

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