Adrian and Arabela Balan

Adrian and I met in the Republic of Moldova on a mission trip to help orphanages in the country. We are both originally from the same city, Oradea in Romania; however, we had never met prior to this mission trip. I was coming as a college student from the US and Adrian was in college in Oradea. We only saw each other for three days since we were stationed at different camps, but we kept in touch. We got married a year later! We laugh because only the hand of God could have done this!

Arabela Balan

John and Neely Birk

John and I met on a blind date in February 2001.  I was going to my sorority date party with girlfriends because we didn't want dates.  We didn't want to bother with boys and were just ready to have a great time.  As it turned out, a friend's boyfriend, Walker, wanted a few of his guy friends to go, so we were set up.  We had a great time together that evening.  John wanted to take me out again the next night, but I had to play a little hard to get, so I said no.  A few days later, he called and asked me out on a proper date.  We went with a group of couples to an Italian restaurant.

After a few weeks of dating, I went out of town for Spring Break.  Upon my return, he had a gift... Not for me, but for my dog.  I think that moment was one of the times that I could see his kindness, which helped me realize that I had a good one that I wasn't going to let go of!!  

We got married three and 1/2 years after meeting, and Walker was the best man!  

Neely Birk

Allen and Jackie Finley

Hickory Community Theatre is super-special to our “how we met” story. We met there in 1987 during the auditions for Peter Pan - nearly three years later, I married Peter Pan [Jackie Cauthen], so I can honestly say, “Once I was a Lost Boy, but now I’m married to Peter Pan. And she still has green legs!”

Since then, we’ve performed in dozens of musicals, comedies, and dramas. Some notable roles for Jackie would be Always Patsy, Music Man, and Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Some of my favorites were Annie, True West, Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and ART - which won the NC Theatre Conference Best Play, Director, Lead Actor and Supporting Actor; as well as all the same awards at the Southeastern Theatre Conference [covers 11 states].

Our daughter, Madeline, has also been involved in plays and musicals since she was five. She even played one of the “campers” in Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat when she was three.

We’ve both served on the HCT Board [a few times as President], Chaired the “Cruise Raffle” - now known as the Vacation Extravaganza, and helped with many fundraising efforts and membership drives. The Concessions Area is named in memory of my nephew, Cameron Finley.  Helping to plan and market the 50th Anniversary Party was especially memorable - we even got to perform Joseph again. Jackie also directed the Children’s Theatre at HCT for many years.

For 15 years, we’ve produced a Christmas Concert at HCT - the stage is full of musicians and vocalists who have performed there for decades. The show helps benefit the theatre through rentals and ticket and concession sales.

Most importantly though, we’ve both developed long-lasting friendships and kinships with fellow staff, directors, actors, musicians and lighting / sound /  stage crews.

Bravo to HCT for giving us all these great opportunities and memories!  Oh..and lifelong love!

Allen Finley

Mike and Sandy Sigmon

We first met on a sunny summer day at a kiddie wading pool in 1966 here in Hickory, NC when we were talking to the same lifeguard at the community center (now YMCA). We both knew the lifeguard on duty that day. 

Sandy has been saving my life ever since! Introduced that summer day, God had plans for us to be together forever, starting with two classes we shared at Hickory High. That fall in 1966, Sandy baked her famous lemon pound cake and brought it to school to share with me and the Leaves literary magazine class. After that first taste of her fantastic cooking, she had me hooked. I guess the way to a man’s heart is truly through his stomach. She is still a fantastic cook, and her lemon pound cake has sold for as much as $100 at a mission offering raffle. She got my love hook, line, sinker, stomach and all.

During heavy snow in January 1967, I walked over a mile through six inches of snow to see her. Upon my surprise arrival, Sandy hurried to cover up the wedding dress she was working on, so I couldn’t see it. She and her mom made a great supper and hot chocolate to welcome me there. The hike and trip through the snow were worth it when her welcoming kiss warmed me. We fell in love and dated through high school and college.

We have been happily married for 51 of 52 years now. It took me the first year to learn to say, 'Yes, Ma'am!' (LOL), but after I learned that valuable lesson, we had our 50 great ones! We were married here in Hickory at First Baptist Church on August 2, 1970. Sandy designed and personally handmade both her cake-cutting and wedding dresses. Her wedding dress was complete with a long train, many buttons, fancy lace, and a beautiful veil, which went well with her radiant smiling face. 

Mike Sigmon

Christine Gagnon and John Brophy

I met John online in July 2017 while I was in London for work. We exchanged a few messages and made brief introductions. We fell out of touch as I was knee-deep in projects and also waiting on a permanent transfer, which was pending. I thought when my transfer was complete, I would reach back out.

By October, three months later, I moved to London. I tried to message John, but he was no longer online.  Only knowing his first name, “John," his rank, and his work location, I resorted to Google. Luckily, he was in the news as a flag raiser in the 2012 Olympics, and his picture popped up.

I had an acquaintance at a well-respected Mayfair dating agency, Claire, so I called her for advice and help as I wasn’t sure how to re-engage. Together, we drafted a letter more formally introducing myself and asking him on a date. She sent the letter on my behalf to the base, and we crossed our fingers. After a long four weeks of waiting, John received and responded to the letter. We went on our first date and were inseparable ever since. So when people ask how we met, I typically say the short answer is that I sort of stalked him.  John framed the letter for my birthday a year later, and it hangs in our home today.

Christine Gagnon

Andrew and Susan Matthews

Andrew and I met at the Tap Room on April 15, 2006, the night before Easter. We both grew up in the area and are the same age. Andrew had graduated from Newton Conover High in 2001, and I graduated that same year from Hickory High.

We were both home visiting family for Easter weekend on the night we met. Andrew lived in Raleigh and worked at a construction company, having just graduated from NCSU Engineering that December. I was finishing my first year of law school at UNC Chapel Hill.

That night, a group of Hickory High graduates met at the Tap Room, and one of my best friends (Morgan von Drehle) invited me to go. Andrew Isenhour was one of Andrew’s best friends from NCSU Engineering and one of my friends from Hickory High. Andrew Isenhour asked “my” Andrew to meet with the Hickory High graduates at the Tap Room.

All of the 2001 HHS grads were sitting at the back corner table at the Tap Room – talking and catching up. I didn’t recognize “my” Andrew, but I didn’t want to be rude and admit that, so I kept asking him questions. “How have you been?” “What are you up to these days?” Etc. Finally, my friend Morgan, who had heard the whole exchange, started laughing and let me know he hadn’t graduated with us. Andrew thought it was funny, too, because he knew the whole time I was trying to place him.

Andrew and I hit it off that night – you could say it was “love at first sight.” The next day, I went back to Chapel Hill for exams, and he returned to Raleigh for work. We both told our parents that we had “met someone” the night before and later that week, he asked me on a date. The rest is history. We married in August 2008 and have 3 children. This past August, we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary!

Susan Matthews

Greg and Fran Paradine

Greg and I met at a lacrosse tournament in Vail, Co. I know, shocker!

I was living in Manhattan and thinking about moving to Denver, CO, because I had a friend from grad school who lived there. So, I booked a trip out there to check it out. I had some friends in Vail, so I also decided to visit them. And, as luck would have it, there was a lacrosse tournament going on at the same time. Now, I played lacrosse in college but had never been out to a big tournament like that, but I figured I would know some (female) players and might be able to jump in for a game or two. Well, that fantasy ended abruptly when I walked into the local bar and realized I was virtually the only female in the place. This was a guys’ lacrosse tournament! Feeling a little uncertain, I sat down at a table by myself and ordered a beer. From somewhere behind me, I hear someone say, “I have got to know what her story is,” and up walks Greg. He was pretty cute and had the craziest accent that was a mixture of Long Island and Southern which was kind of endearing. Long story short, we spent as much of the weekend together as possible, and four months later, I moved not to Denver, but to Chapel Hill!

Fran Paradine

David and Monica Harker

     We grew up in two small prairie towns in southern Alberta, Canada, that are not too far away from each other, but we didn't meet and fell in love at college in Utah in 2009. 

We became really good friends first.  He and his roommates would come to help with our apartment cleaning check and go on double dates, and then I realized he was the one I wanted to be on a date with! And the rest is history!  We loved getting to know each other so well as friends first. We tell our kids now that you want to marry someone who is your best friend! 

We had different majors but took a few classes together. We were both really busy with school, and a lot of our courtship was spent studying together in the library. David even proposed at the locker we shared there! We showed them that spot when we took the kids to BYU for a football game!

   Out of 35,000 undergrad students at BYU, we found another Canadian!  We like that when we travel back to Alberta to see family, we can easily see both sides!  We are celebrating our 14-year anniversary on Feb 12th!

Monica Harker