Recall Pearl Harbor? Easy, It Was Their (Canceled) Wedding Day : People: Artesia couple finally will get the large reception they missed out on 50 years ago.

Remember Pearl Harbor? How could Fred and Jeanette Wassenaar forget? When the Japanese attacked on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, the couple had to postpone their wedding, which had been scheduled for that evening.

“Boy, we got up that morning and what a surprise,” recalled Fred, a gray-haired man of 75 in a plaid shirt and cardigan sweater, as he sat with Jeanette, 68, this week in their Artesia home.

After the attack, Civil Defense authorities in the Los Angeles area immediately prohibited large gatherings. And so it quickly became evident that there would be no wedding that night at the First Bellflower Christian Reformed Church.

“Boy, everything was canceled,” Fred said. “They canceled our reception hall. We felt a little disappointed for that whole day. We were all set for an enjoyable wedding. One hundred families were to attend the reception. Everything was canceled, and it was phoning, phoning, phoning.”

In addition to the trauma caused by the wedding’s postponement, the young couple had to cope with the uncertainty of whether the California coast would be attacked.

“It was so close to us here, it came with such a bang,” Jeanette said. “You didn’t know if they’d stop at Pearl Harbor.”

The Wassenaars recalled the eeriness of that day. Street lights were out and cars were driven with blacked-out headlights, so that only a slit of light showed.

“And planes flew over,” Fred said. “It was announced, ‘Stay inside the house. Stay inside the house,’ but everybody was standing outside looking at the planes.”

If the war would go on indefinitely, so would their love affair, the young couple decided.

“After a couple of days,” Fred said, “I finally said to her, ‘You still want to marry me?’ and she said, ‘Yeah, I’m willing to head for Vegas.’ ”

And so on Sunday, Dec. 14, 1941, they were married at the Wee Kirk of the Heather in Las Vegas. “It happened to be right close to the hotel (where) we stayed,” Jeanette said with a laugh.

The Wassenaars, who have four children and nine grandchildren, agree that they have had a good life. “I can’t believe the 50 years have gone by so quickly,” Fred said.

Both worked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard during World War II, Fred as a barge builder and Jeanette as a welder. Later, he became a cross-country truck driver and she became a school bus driver.

Having tolerated the slight delay so well, the Wassenaars will experience the big moment of their lifetime on Dec. 14 when they celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at their daughter’s home in Long Beach.

Just thinking that his bride is finally going to get her big reception caused Fred’s eyes to light up brighter than any headlights back on that fateful day when everything was canceled.

Other people in the news:

* Erica Elkins and Matt Miller, seniors at Lakewood High School, have been named to the Disney All-American Band. The band will perform at the grand opening of Euro-Disneyland in Paris in April. Elkins plays flute; Miller plays the clarinet.

* Patrick Steinhauser, 40, has been named senior administrative director, general services, at Long Beach Community Hospital.

* Barry S. Arbuckle has been named vice president of operations at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center’s Memorial Miller Children’s Hospital and Memorial Women’s Hospital.

* Derrell Spann is the new security director for the Sheraton Long Beach Hotel. Spann previously was security director at the Burbank Hilton.

* David Kingrey, pastor of First Friends Church in Whittier, has been named interim chaplain of Whittier College. Jon Moody, who had been the college chaplain, moved to Hiram College in Ohio.

* Ross Young, who turned 100 on Oct. 27, was honored recently by the La Mirada City Council as part of a new Senior Recognition Program that pays tribute to residents on their 80th, 90th and 100th birthdays. Young is the father of artist Cy Young.

* Rick Bee has been named director of development for Biola University in La Mirada. A graduate of Biola, Bee has for the past two years been development director for Walk Through the Bible Ministries in Atlanta.

* Lynne Whaley has been named senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.