We are pleased to announce the union between Ms. Claire Virginia Bow and & Todd Robert Roeth. This happy and spirited ceremony took place in the state of Ohio, USA on July 3rd 2011. It was followed by a big picnic barbecue and foot-stomping dance with the kith & kin the little cabin could handle!
Starring:
Claire
Todd’s grandpa Roscoe was always known as “rough and ready”, especially after a few cups of whisky. That conviction was imparted on and always stuck with Todd; with his friends, his dog, and his general approach to things. When he met Claire he had found that spirit in a woman too. Claire’s level head, sturdy frame, and even sturdier demeanor did not go unnoticed as Todd always tries to give her his best run for her money. You can really get to know a girl’s composure when her car blows up in smoke and you have to push it through a military check point in the middle of the desert, and she sits on the hood of the car and still enjoys the sunset. You really get to know a girl’s wherewithal when you watch her get sewed up in a hospital – and she smiles and asks you to take a picture. That Claire was sharper than Todd’s pocket knife, well read, insightful, quick witted, and a brilliant and successful photographer left no room for doubt; this girl was the catch he couldn’t release. Who knew rough and ready could also be smart and beautiful? Roscoe would have certainly raised his glass in approval.
Todd
That the first date Todd proposed was a dog-walk did not go unnoticed or unappreciated, and that Todd spent the last few years of his life the same way Claire had: living alone with his dog, was no small unifier. But that Todd was also creatively engaging, intellectually inspiring and good fun to boot was unexpected. When Claire and Todd met, Todd was in the process of selling a business, and even though he was tired of being an entrepreneur his entrepeneurial experience was nevertheless something Claire understood and admired. He learned how to two-step when she invited him to the Raton Rodeo, printed out every conceivable map for their road trips, and stood, bleary eyed and covered in crusty white sand to graciously take a list of “Laceration Instructions” from the night nurse at the Raton Medical Center after Claire sliced her foot almost clear in half. Not only was his taste in music impeccable, he could handle blood. Claire isn’t one to let a good thing pass her up, and it wasn’t long before she knew she wanted to marry Todd, populate a household with dogs and babies and spend evenings whittling slingshots and telling tall tales
In Supporting Roles:
Michael Woodworth, here to forward known as “Woody”, and Todd were assigned to be freshman roommates at Ohio University, and Woody took it upon himself to call the Roeth farm that summer. Todd was not home to take the call (he was spray painting his friend’s demolition car for the Miami Co. fair), but when they finally did meet, they were fast friends. Woody became – and has remained – through thick and thin, one of Todd’s closest confidantes and co-conspirators, a real right hand man. A fellow couldn’t ask for a better Dutch uncle. Woody presides over Abercrombie & Fitch’s women’s tops (and their bottom lines) in Columbus, OH where he lives with his lovely wife, Andrea, and their son, Lleyton.
Claire’s little sister, Elise, has always been sweet when Claire was stubborn. When they were ten and seven respectively, Claire had to get her hand stitched back together after some accident or other. The whole while Claire was being stitched up she remained cooly composed, while Elise sat in the emergency room lobby and cried for her. Claire often thinks about how wildly lucky she is to have Lisie as her little sister. Elise now lives [with her Australian Shepherd mix puppy, Otter] and works on a 500,000 acre ranch in Northern New Mexico which gives her ample time and space to practice her slingshotting. We dare you to beat her on the course.
Brian Stephey is a stand-up man among weak-kneed men. The two attended rival high schools in adjacent counties. Brian and Todd seldom crossed paths in high school, but eventually through mutual friends (and enemies) they soon became thick as thieves. (A pig will find the mud.) Brian’s wife Cara, had known Todd well before Brian did, and while chasing his future wife, Brian spent many weekends at Ohio University where Todd and Cara went to school. Brian is the assistant principal at Troy High School in Troy, Ohio, and his is the last face any young troublemaker would want to meet. Brian, his wife, and their two sons, Brogan and Beckham, live just a few miles down the road from Todd’s parents and are some of Keith’s good fishing buddies.
Lauren and Claire became best friends (officially, with lockets and a ceremony) at the age of eight. Joined by a borderline obsessive affinity for horses, they took riding lessons together, maniacally collected model horses, and spent countless summer afternoons calling phone numbers they found in the Horses & Livestock section of the Rocky Mountain News Classifieds. Claire’s family moved to South America when she was nine years old, and for the next five years Lauren and Claire religiously wrote handwritten letters that were sent across oceans. To this day, in the face of email and Facebook, they still write weekly handwritten letters. Lauren lives in Moscow, Idaho with her two main men: her boyfriend, David, and her dog, Waldo. She practices art and the art of nursing plants.
Mike and Todd were teammates on the Ohio University Men’s club soccer team, but Todd’s true affection for Mike came a few years later when he returned to Athens for graduate school and found Mike gainfully employed as the manager of one of Athens’ favorite bars. Todd rang up bar tabs that nobody could, or would want to count, Mike zeroed them out, as the two cemented their friendship while tom-catting around the little college town. It was during these escapades that Mike met his now-wife, Molly. Todd has always valued Mike’s big heart, good nature, and guidance. Mike will always lend a good ear to whatever is on Todd’s mind. Mike and Molly live in Pittsburgh, Penn., with their daughter Sylvia and another on the way.
Halfway through high school Claire, Lauren, Sam and Logan had become an unbreakable foursome. Sam and Claire became friends first by having mutual best friends, and later by finding their own bonds in the curves life would throw them. It was Sam with whom Claire lived with when she was roadtripping every other week with Todd, and so it was Sam to whom Claire gushed about the latest developments on that front. Sam, Claire, and their dogs (who are also best friends) spent several months on the road last fall, driving from Denver to Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway, down to L.A., and then back again, all the while singing out loud to the Judds. Sam lives in Aspen, Colorado, with Roux’s BFF, Grady, and her BF, Ross.
David Heimbach and Todd both returned together from their first careers in Denver to embark on their respective graduate programs at Ohio University and, with only one conversation between them, became roommates for what proved to be a few of the most outlandish years their memories could handle. A bookshelf full of tales could be written between the two. Each have come a long way since those halcyon days, but Todd has never ceased to sincerely appreciate Dave’s clarity, humor, and perspective on the matters at hand. David lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife and high school sweetheart, Maya, and their darling daughters Lily and Nora another on the way.
Logan’s parents have a VHS video of Logan and Claire in leotards and sashes tap dancing at age five. Brought together by a deep-rooted fear of their witchy dance teacher Miss Vicki, Logan and Claire can hardly remember a time when they didn’t know each other. A lot of things have changed in the decades they’ve been friends, but they have always been on each other’s short list. Logan once hilariously fed her fish ramen seasoning (it does look like fish food), has a shrewd ability to get 50% off anything, anywhere and commands any stage she enters. Logan lives with her dirt-biking husband, Chase, in Aspen, Colorado.
First, Sam Girton was Todd’s college professor. Then, his graduate advisor. Eventually and most lasting, Sam has become one of Todd’s closest friends, mentors and inspirations. Sam and Todd have shared many experiences together over the years and Sam’s ability to always see to the heart of the matter has greatly sharpened Todd’s ideas on work, art, and play. Sam leads by his deeds, and Todd has always looked to Sam as an example of a thoughtful and meaningful life. Sam continues to inspire young ruffians as a tenured professor in the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University. He lives there in Athens, Ohio, with his son Emmett.
Even before Claire met Annie she knew from the way Todd talked about his little sister that she was tough, and in the way the imagination over embellishes, Claire was sure that not only could Annie beat anyone whose hand she grasped at arm wrestling, she could probably also crawl into bear dens undetected and outdrink even the most determined of whiskey drinkers. Two of those three things turned out to be true (to the author’s current knowledge, anyway), and yet Annie’s warmth and down-to-earth sense of humor are just as evident. It was quickly clear that between their shared appreciation of whiskey drinks, dogs, good music, and wide open spaces Annie and Claire would get along just fine. Annie lives in Ohio where she diligently works as facilities director at the Roeth Cabin.
All estimates indicate Brogan Stephey, son of groomsman Brian and his wife, Cara, is pretty near five years old. Brogan is an old hand at fishing on the Roeth family farm in Ohio and often fishes there with his dad and Todd’s dad, Keith. Todd promised Brogan plenty of fishing at the cabin, too, so long as he gets the rings from one end of the aisle to the other. We figure the safest way to do that is in his tackle box.
The youngest of the Pillmore family, Alina at age 12 does a darn good job of keeping her older sisters and older cousins in line. She lives on a farm in Northern New Mexico where she presides over all sorts of critters from cats to ponies to chickens to dogs. She is especially good at dog training and regularly teaches Claire’s dog, Roux, a thing or two when she visits. It is because of Alina’s dog training expertise that in addition to fulfilling the role of flower girl at the wedding she will also be the Dog Handler, in charge of escorting Roux and Todd’s dog, Prada, down the aisle.
After a few years of sowing her wild oats Roux is finally becoming the good dog Claire always believed she could be. She is especially talented at balancing objects on her head, the most impressive of which, to date, was a half-full bottle of Jack Daniels. Her greatest vices are squirrel-chasing and very quickly eating anything she can find, but she is learning to wean herself from these dependencies. Her future looks bright.
Prada was born on the Roeth family farm eleven years ago and was given to Todd as a college christmas gift. She has gone everywhere with Todd; she’s lived in every time zone in the U.S. and swam in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and every major river in America. In short, she’s done a hell of a job keeping up with Todd on his rambles. She is happy to have found a girl who will let her snooze on the bed from time to time.
