Love and marriage on the radio

By FRITZ MAYER

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — Angela Page and John Webber wanted to get married after nearly a 14-year relationship, but a wedding for Page would have presented some unusual problems. Because of her illness, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), she can’t be around people who wear perfumes or carry other artificial scents without becoming incapacitated.

Even when people try to prepare for visiting the couple, by forgoing such things as wearing clothes dried using perfumed fabric softening sheets, it’s not always successful. So, how could she have a wedding yet not be exposed to dangerous fragrances? The answer was to have the ceremony take place during her weekly radio folk music program on WJFF.

The radio station was already in the practice of maintaining a fragrance-free environment on Saturdays when Page spins out folk tunes, so that part was fairly easy. But getting a person to perform the ceremony was a little trickier. Webber and Page contacted Jeffersonville Mayor Ed Justus, who agreed to marry the couple, but more importantly agreed to use fragrance-free hygiene products that Page gave him for a couple of days prior to the big day. Page said he was perfect when the time came, a complete “blank” in terms of artificial fragrances.

The event itself, which took place on Valentine’s Day, drew friends and relatives of the couple from as far away as England and California, who tuned in via the Internet, and sent emails or called to be part of the event. After playing a program full of love songs and other tunes appropriate to the day, the couple was married.