Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, here are the stories of a few Duck couples who met during their time at the UO. Do you have a love story and photo you'd like to share with other alumni and friends on uoalumni.com? Email kimevans@uoregon.edu.
Kimmy '05 and Nathan Gustafson '06
"My husband and I met while participating in the Oregon Marching Band. To this day we are die-hard Ducks who don't miss a single game and sit in the stands during halftime to cheer on our OMB. Here is our story.
Kimmy and Nathan met long before he can actually remember. Kimmy was in color guard at Willamette High School and was attending a competition at Nathan's high school, Sprague. She was but one girl in a crowd but he most certainly left an impression on her. That was fall of 2000. Fast forward to 2002.
Oregon Marching Band Camp. Nathan and Kimmy were in the same section in marching band: color guard! Most of the season they were on opposite ends of the field because Kimmy spun flags and Nathan was on the rifle line. They remained distant friends until the fateful trip to the Seattle Bowl at the end of the season. Much to Kimmy's delight, Nathan volunteered to sit by her on the bus. The trip to Seattle flew by as they talked and quickly became friends. The trip home was the interesting part.
The day had been long and they both fell asleep. Nathan, thinking Kimmy was awake, leaned over and kissed her (to this day neither party knows why). Kimmy was definitely very asleep and was surprised by this unusual awakening. Obviously this left things very awkward. Slowly Nathan worked up the courage and in early March of 2003 he began calling Kimmy on a regular basis and spending time with her.
The two dated off and on for nearly a year and half when Nathan finally proposed. In August of 2005, in true Duck fashion, they were married on the University of Oregon campus."Brooke Bridegum '03 and Scott Odle '06
"I met Scott Odle while attending UO. Scott and I were both members of the Oregon Marching band. He played trumpet and I was in the color guard. We actually met in the center of the field at Autzen when rehearsing the pregame show. We marched a formation facing the south side, then we were supposed to scatter like crazy and reset the formation facing the north side. That's when we ran smack into each other.
With a little nudging from our friend Ray, we began dating. Our first date was after a volleyball game where he was playing with the Green Garter Band; we went ballroom dancing at Gerlinger Hall. We became official just before we left for the 2000 Holiday Bowl. He recently proposed during the arctic blast of 2008 and we are planning a wedding for March 27, 2010. Ideally I want to have the ceremony at Beall Hall and the reception at the Autzen Stadium Club since these were both very important venues in our years together in the OMB."
