New Lease on Love : 18 Couples Renew Marriage Vows at Fairgrounds

Gazing into her husband’s eyes, Florence Duggie’s hands moved gracefully in sign language as she pledged her love to him in a renewal of their wedding vows during a ceremony Tuesday at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

The Duggies, with Florence Duggie’s hearing dog Sam Two at their side, were among 18 couples married 40 years or longer who said their vows again in the Ventura County Fair’s eighth annual Blessing of Marriage ceremony.

Standing before the Rev. Martin Kelly of Ventura Missionary Church, the couples--who among them have weathered 870 years of married life--turned to each other and held hands as they repeated the traditional marriage vows.

With the rush of the fair only a few feet away, the brief wedding ceremony in the garden of the Professional Arts Building was punctuated occasionally by the blaring of loudspeaker announcements of fair events, or the rumble and whistle of a passing train.

But the interruptions did not mar the romance, many of the couples said.

“I think this is wonderful,” said Myrtis Rose, who wore a white lace dress to celebrate 43 years of marriage to her husband, Jack.

For the Duggies, love began in 1944 in Salina, Kan., where Charles Duggie was serving in the Air Force. Two years later, Charles proposed to Florence in a 1940 Packard, then drove her around and around a circular fountain near the town’s center while she thought it over.

“I started getting sick, so I said yes,” Florence Duggie said.

Since their marriage, the Duggies have moved from Salina to Oak View. As with other couples at the ceremony--some married 60 years ago or more--the Duggies said the years have strengthened their marriage.

The couple--who have a tendency to finish each other’s sentences--first renewed their vows at the fair in 1986, and plan to do it again on their 50th anniversary in 1996 and then on their 65th anniversary, they said.

“I think it’s so romantic,” Florence Duggie said. “It puts a little . . . “

“Pizzazz in things,” Charles finished, laughing.

Tuesday was also the fair’s Senior and Handicapped Day. So after the short ceremony the Duggies rushed off to perform a hearing dog demonstration with Sam Two, a Shetland sheep dog, showing a crowd of about 250 the duties that the canine performs, such as waking his mistress when the alarm sounds.

And in the afternoon, Florence Duggie, chosen as the fair’s first Senior Queen three years ago, helped judge this year’s pageant and then crowned the 1991 Senior Queen, Kay Hollingsworth of Ojai.

But before the crowning, the Duggies and other couples posed for pictures, received Blessing of Marriage certificates and were served wedding cake. They also offered advice on making marriage last.

“Marriage is something you work at, especially in difficult times,” said Rose, who added that he and his wife look forward to their October anniversary. “But without the romance, marriage won’t work.”

Bill and Marilyn Driskill, who met on a blind date and married in Las Vegas in 1949, said that discussing problems has helped sustain their marriage.

“We’re the type of people who let things out, and five minutes later, it’s forgotten,” Bill Driskill said.

Since their marriage 60 years ago during the Depression, John and Kathryn Mihld of Ventura said they have sustained each other by daily proclamations of their love.

“John tells me he loves me every morning, so that helps,” Kathryn Mihld said.

Wilda and Florencio Egurrola of Ventura, who have attended the ceremony annually for six years, were celebrating one of the longest marriages--61 years.

“We fell in love right away,” said Wilda Egurrola, who said the couple married after a six-month courtship. “We never, ever thought of divorce--never.”

But Charles Duggie summed up even more succinctly what he called the biggest secret to a long-lived marriage: “Love, baby!”

SCHEDULE OF FAIR EVENTS: B3