Reagan Rotors Drown Out ‘I Do’

--What’s the proper etiquette when you drop in uninvited on somebody’s wedding? And in a noisy helicopter, no less? If you’re President and Nancy Reagan, you send a letter of apology. The Reagans landed in Las Positas Park in Santa Barbara on their way to a private press party in nearby Hope Ranch, just as Brett and Debbie Brumfield were tying the knot last month. The Reagans apparently were unaware of the disruption they caused, but when they learned of it later, the President sent the newlyweds a message: “Nancy and I were so sorry to learn that our helicopter trip and all the arrangements that went with it interfered with a most special occasion in your life, your wedding ceremony in Las Positas Park. We both want you to know how much we regret that--and how very much we wish you a happy, blessed and loving married life together. May we add our heartfelt congratulations and good wishes to all those you’ve already received, and may God bless you and keep you.”

--When 9-month-old Jamie Fiske underwent a life-saving liver transplant operation in Minneapolis in November, 1982, her parents, Marilyn and Charles Fiske of Bridgewater, Mass., lived for the better part of a week in a hospital lounge because of a lack of available lodging nearby. Jamie, now a healthy 4-year-old, started nursery school last week. Her parents, mindful of their own experience, have announced plans for what is believed will be the country’s first inn for the families of transplant patients. The inn, to open in January, will be in Brookline, Mass., not far from Boston’s major transplant surgery centers. Jamie made headlines when her father’s emotional plea for a liver for his daughter before the American Academy of Pediatrics helped find a donor.

--In Auckland, New Zealand, a convicted robber and his wife take the bonds of matrimony seriously. During a jail visit, Mitchell and Netnapha King used “super glue” to seal their love--and their hands. It took 90 minutes of scrubbing at a local hospital to separate them.

--A mathematics professor from Waco, Tex., will attempt to fly across the Atlantic this week in a plane powered by alcohol. Max Shauck plans to take off in a twin-engine Piper Aztec from St. Johns, Canada, stop for refueling in the Azores, and land in Bordeaux, France, three to four days later. The plane runs on a mixture of ethanol and methanol. Shauck is due to arrive in France shortly before an international symposium on alcohol fuel convenes.