Soldier to see sister wed on Web
Capt. Denny Derringer will be serving in Iraq on the day of his younger sister's wedding.
But thanks to a clever idea and help from Armstrong Cable Internet Services, Denny won't miss a single tear shed, blush of the bride or "I do"— even though Danielle Derringer's wedding will be here, at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in Butler.
Armstrong has set up an Internet connection to broadcast Danielle's wedding Saturday on a special Internet site only Denny may access via a laptop computer and a secret password.
Not only will Denny see the wedding in real time, but he will be able to control where the Webcam points from his laptop computer in Iraq.
The plan is to situate the camera on the altar.
"It will pretty much be like watching TV," said Carmen Bianco, programming coordinator for Armstrong. "He'll have a better view than most people in the church."
Mary Ellen Derringer of Butler said her daughter Danielle, 24, has been planning her wedding since she got engaged to Frankie Krouse, 26, in June 2007.
The couple lives in Cincinnati, but grew up here and both are graduates of Butler High School.
A good portion of the wedding arrangements already had been made when, in February, Denny learned he'd be deployed on his sister's big day:Oct. 25.
Denny, a 27-year-old civil engineering officer with the Air Force Reserves, was assigned to a 6-month tour beginning in June to the Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron at a joint Army/Air Force base in Balad, Iraq.
Denny is an engineer and project manager responsible for the design and construction management of projects supporting both Army and Air Force missions.
Mary Ellen said initially there was some talk of postponing her daughter's wedding.
But Danielle had always dreamed of having an October wedding in keeping with a tradition initiated by her maternal grandmother and mother.
"It was really important to me,"said Danielle, whose wedding will be themed by traditional fall colors of brown and cream.
So the happy couple decided to continue on, purchasing a 6-foot high cardboard cutout of Denny to display at the reception site.
And Denny, who was to be among the 18-member bridal party still will be listed in the program.
Yet, Danielle said, "the closer the wedding got the more upsetting it became (that he won't be here.)"
Denny, from his base, came up with the idea of watching the wedding over the Internet after learning that other service men and women were able to make similar accommodations to watch family functions, mostly births, that happened stateside.Denny contacted Armstrong by e-mail because the company already broadcasts Mass from the church."What a great thing this is,"said the Rev. Harry Bielewicz, who will preside over the ceremony. "The brother may answer his call to duty and still attend his sister's wedding."Bielewicz said the process was not as difficult to accommodate because the church already has some of the needed equipment installed for its regular broadcasts on Channel 10."If I am able to watch the wedding ... it will be the next best thing to actually being there, and hopefully my family will feel like I was able to be a part of the wedding,"Denny said, in an e-mail written to the Eagle.Denny said the people at Armstrong were extremely responsive and willing to help even though the company had not done anything like this in the past."We appreciate everything all of our service men and women are doing,"Bianco said. "This is our way of saying, 'Thank you.'"Danielle said the accommodations help ease the lack of her brother's presence, but she'll still be glad when he returns home around Christmastime.Denny is currently assigned to the 911th Civil Engineering Squadron at the Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station. As a civilian, he is an engineer at the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority in Pittsburgh.Danielle is a magazine editor, and her fiance is an operational manager at Marmon Keystone. Krouse's parents are Frank and Yvonne Krouse of Butler."We're also very happy that Denny will be able to watch the wedding even though he cannot be here,"said Yvonne Krouse.'Mary Ellen and Dennis Derringer are parents of the bride and reservist."The older they get, the closer they become,"Mary Ellen said of her children.
