By KIM SMITH DEDAM
Staff Writer
SARANAC LAKE — The trip down the aisle doesn't usually involve a canoe challenge — unless, of course, you live in the Adirondacks.
With nuptials set for September, Jessie Lyon added a trophy wish to her wedding list.
And fiancé Tom Sharlow obliged — except he wants one, too.
This Saturday, the couple will fill two boats with wedding attendants for the Mayor's Cup River Walk Regatta, ladies versus gentlemen.
FACING OFF
"You know who's going to win," Tom said, tipping a tuxedo-style baseball cap. "The guys are. Although, you know, they (the women) probably have a trick up their sleeve. They're going to get us somehow."
Standing unfazed beside the burbling Saranac River, Jessie whipped out a baseball cap fixed with a plume of tulle and laughed.
The veil tossed in the wind.
"We're not worried," she said. "We just want to have fun."
Tom's best man, Charles Segard, will be among the guys' four-man team, while Jessie added Tom's sister, Jessica, one of her bridesmaids, to her canoe coterie, gaining an inside edge.
"I want to have a string of cans floating behind our boat," Jessie said, "maybe lashed together trailing under a sign that says 'getting married.'"
Or "done fishin'."
She's sure the festive addition won't slow the boat down much.
Despite spirited undercurrents, they both think the day will deliver boatloads of fun before their vows.
It's kind of in their nature.
Both bride-to-be and her groom grew up here.
"We figured this is something we would have a great time with," Jessie said. "Of course, we're (the women) in it to win."
The two have been engaged since Christmas, when Tom asked his high-school sweetheart to marry him.
"All of a sudden, he got down on one knee," Jessie said with a misty smile.
"I'm old school," Tom said, "I asked her dad."
The wedding is planned for Sept. 11 at St. Paul's Church in Bloomingdale.
ON TO SHOWER
Church decorations aren't up yet, but their boats are being readied this week for the Mayor's Cup Regatta.
The series of races field heats for kayaks, canoes and even a float for inner tubes down the Saranac River.
For the bride, this will be one race to remember.
Mayor's Cup is a pre-cursor to her bridal shower later in the afternoon.
All of the bridesmaids in the boat will have on veil-topped baseball hats; the groomsmen, bow-tied caps.
The wedding party is looking forward to a wedding row.
"We are, we're ready," Jessie said.
E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com
