Canby residents Jerry Bassett and Brenda Hedge-Biden Bassett celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary (and 28th year together) this week. Congratulations!
The couple got hitched on Feb. 3, 1996, at the Clackamas Christian Center in Milwaukie, in the middle of an ice storm. Brenda says the roads were icy and in such bad shape the state closed down I-5. Of the 300 guests who RSVP’d, about 200 braved the weather anyway.
The next day, the newlyweds were on one of the only planes that managed to make it out of PDX for their honeymoon, and only after the pilot had to de-ice the plane three times. “I thought we were going to die!” Brenda recalled with a laugh.
From the warmth of Cabo San Lucas, the couple watched CNN news reports of the Willamette River flooding back home. Their home, which was in Milwaukie at the time, survived, but barely. “Our backyard was very, very soggy,” Brenda said.
Still, the couple looks back fondly on the memories, especially their wedding day, and all their friends and family who braved a blizzard to show their love and support.
“We thought to ourselves, if we can make it through this storm, we can make it through any storm!” Brenda says. “And we have definitely had some pretty serious storms!”
The flooding didn’t scare the Bassetts from living near water, though. They have resided in their Canby home just off the Molalla River for 22 of their 24 years together.
The couple has two children: Grant, who’s a junior at Oregon State University, and Allison, a junior at Canby High School.
This story was originally featured in our podcast on the Canby Now Community Board. To get your event or other bit of local news included, email the details to us at info@canbyfirst.com.
