Couple celebrates 50th anniversary

Jerry and Jo Lynn Yenne are celebrating big-time on Friday — 11/11/11 — and not just because it’s their 50th wedding anniversary.

The Kalispell couple also will be celebrating National Corduroy Appreciation Day. They’re huge corduroy aficionados.

“We’ve always loved corduroy,” Jo Lynn said. “We’ve had a lot of fun with this [appreciation day]. We’ll be wearing corduroy slacks and jackets.”

Getting married on Veterans Day in 1961 has had its perks through the years. Both Jerry and Jo Lynn were teachers in Washington state, where schools were closed on the holiday.

“So we always had the day off and the flags were always flying,” Jo Lynn said.

The couple retired and moved back to the Flathead Valley in 1996.

They met at Flathead High School — he was a senior; she was a junior. Their first date was an FFA hayride.

“He was a country boy. He was from the east side, I was from the west side [of the valley],” Jo Lynn said. “Our parents knew each other and we were from similar backgrounds.”

Jerry agreed that it was their “farm kid” background and similar values that made them compatible.

His secret for 50 years of wedded bliss?

“I just jumped every time she told me to,” he said with a laugh.

Their love of the outdoors and bicycling in particular probably has had a lot to do with the longevity of the Yennes’ marriage. A bicycling excursion on trails at Harrison, Idaho, with other family members was part of their golden wedding celebration.

But Jo Lynn said they actually have been celebrating “all year long.” Among the other outings was a snow-coach tour of Yellowstone National Park in February. Over the July 4 holiday, their son Wayne and daughter Kay Lynn Yenne-Waddell, plus extended family members, came for a visit.

The Yennes will celebrate on Friday by going out to dinner with the best man from their wedding, who is coming from Hood River, Ore., and Jo Lynn’s maid of honor and sister, Pat Sanders, of Kalispell.

Several relatives are coming for a holiday gathering between Christmas and New Year’s.

Gifts for a 50th wedding anniversary traditionally include gold, but it’s a pretty good hunch the Yennes are choosing corduroy instead.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.