ANDERSON, Ind. —
Five hours made a big difference in the lives of Rick Batie and Angie Graham.
Batie, who sells police supplies at his AWS company in Anderson, was at work about 1 p.m. Tuesday when he thought it was time to propose to Graham, known locally as the singing Miss Molly.
“When I woke up I had no idea I was going to ask her to marry me. That’s the really weird thing,” Batie said.
But Graham was at the Indiana State Fair with her daughter, her mom, a nephew and a friend of Batie’s.
“Angie loves the State Fair very much. She’s been going there through the years and it’s been a very strong tradition,” Batie said.
Batie and Graham, who have dated for five years, had visited the fair together last week.
“This year was my first to go to the actual fair. I’ve been to concerts, but I never walked the midway or looked at cows or anything like that.”
So the 42-year-old Batie called the Indiana State Fair, got in touch with media relations intern Darah Patton and asked how the fair would suggest a way to propose marriage.
Ideas were tossed around, including having the couple get on a Ferris wheel and ride to the top. But the best idea was for Batie to participate in the nightly 6:30 p.m. parade and surprise Graham, 41.
The trick? Keeping Graham at the fair when her daughter, Brianna, was due to start school the next day. So a story was concocted that a nephew, Logan, would be marching in the parade with his school football team. Graham was asked to be at a gazebo to watch the parade until others in the family could get there.
Batie rushed through traffic to meet with fair personnel, hop onto a golf cart and become part of the parade. In the meantime, Patton had printed up two signs for Batie to carry. One read, “Angie, will you marry me?” The other held a hopeful response.
As the parade went by the gazebo, Batie, with sign in hand, pulled up to Graham. A video depicts her shock. He hopped off the cart, dropped to one knee, proposed with a ring and they hugged and kissed.
Then he held up the second sign, “She said yes!”
As the video ends, the couple wheeled off toward the sunset.
“He is rather spontaneous and he likes to do crazy things like that. He’s creative,” Graham said.
She added, “Because of the spur-of-the-moment, he hadn’t got a ring. He made up a ring with twist ties. Now, he says we have to have another special evening to give me a ring.”
Local News
Related Photos
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Rick Batie rides in a golf cart after proposing to Angie Graham during the nightly parade at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis.
Discussion
A fair proposal
'Miss Molly' says 'yes' to surprise wedding proposal at State Fair
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