In celebration of these five decades of wedded bliss, we have put together four web pages that bring together some facts, figures, and, of course, a few fun pictures from those days long ago when Marty & Sandy were first building their relationship. Fortunately, Sandy & Marty kept a pretty good chronological list of their “firsts”, beginning in March 1974 and continuing right through to their July 12, 1975 wedding, and their 13-day mid-July honeymoon.
After dating “officially” since the fall of 1974, on Friday, February 21, 1975– in the wee hours of the morning – 12:20 A.M. – Marty finally popped ‘The Big Question’ to Sandy. You can read the details here.
The next day – Saturday, February 22, 1975 – Marty’s parents, George & Dixie Boller, drove up from Iowa City to Wheeling/Buffalo Grove for a short weekend visit. You can read the details on Volume I of this webpage series. With Sandy saying ‘YES’ to Marty’s big question, the wedding planning was underway. And that’s where we’ll begin on this second webpage – from February 22, 1975 to July 12, 1975 (the BIG DAY!)…
The first stop on this Boller/Unrue wedding planning tour is a Wednesday, March 5, 1975 chat with Marty & Sandy’s pastor – Larry Hurtado at North Shore Assembly of God in Skokie, Illinois.
Next up is Marty’s first trip to Sandy’s home in Elkhart, Indiana. A bit nervous on this one, Marty passes the “family” test (see pic below left), meeting all the Unrue’s, while Sandy and her mom, LaVonne Unrue, go wedding dress shopping.
Above left: Here’s Jack & LaVonne Unrue with Sandy’s youngest sister Kristin. Above right – in 2023 – Sandy & Marty revisited the old Unrue home on Marydale Drive in Elkhart.
In mid-March, Marty & Sandy booked three important aspects for their wedding: 1) a photographer for our special day (Monday, March 10, 1975), 2) a travel agent to book our flights and travel arrangements for our honeymoon to San Francisco, Portland, Victoria BC, and Seattle (Monday, March 17, 1975). You can read more about our 13-day honeymoon here – which we financed by selling Sandy’s brand-new 1974 Ford Maverick – red with a white vinyl top! A transaction, we’re not sure Sandy has forgiven Marty for to this very day…
…and 3) a photographer to take an engagement photo (Saturday, March 22, 1975).
The month ended with a second meeting with Pastor Hurtado (Monday, March 24, 1975) and a 10-day trip to Iowa (from Thursday, March 27 through Sunday, April 6, 1975). The original plans were for Marty & Sandy to drive to Iowa City and spend much of the following week at the Music Educator’s National Conference (MENC) in Omaha, but a huge blizzard wiped those plans off the calendar, so Marty & Sandy stayed put in Iowa City that week. That gave Marty a chance to show Sandy around eastern Iowa – visiting Amana and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch.
Monday, April 14, 1975 – Marty & Sandy commit to over $200 in wedding flowers at Busse’s Flowers in Mt. Prospect (above). A big expenditure, since a teacher’s salary, at the time, brought in about $7,000 per year!
April 1975 brought, of course, Sandy’s 25th birthday, and that weekend – Friday & Saturday, April 18 & 19, 1975 – brought the parents – George & Dixie Boller and Jack & LaVonne Unrue – together for the first time. The four of them hit it off really well and it began a long-time friendship between The Bollers and The Unrues. Besides doing some wedding planning (see contract above for The Holiday Inn in Wheeling wedding reception), the family enjoyed a great dinner at Young’s Chinese Restaurant – one of Marty & Sandy’s favorites!
Of course, at the same time all the wedding planning was going on in April and May, the local newspaper – The Wheeling Herald – and the newspapers back home in Iowa City and Elkhart were featuring the Boller/Unrue engagement story…
After the boring business of buying some life insurance – Wednesday May 14, 1975 – Marty & Sandy headed out to Indiana for the weekend with a great concert in South Bend on Sunday afternoon, May 18, 1975. Richard & Karen Carpenter – The Carpenters – were absolute stars in the 1970’s and the show was amazing. Some unknown comedian named Steve Martin opened the show. Not sure if he ever made it big, but, wow, was he ever funny!
The second half of May not only included finishing up the school year as music teachers, but Marty and Sandy also spent their free time 1) heading downtown for a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert, followed by a bite to eat at Groupers back in Palatine – Friday, May 23, 1975, 2) trying out our tennis rackets on the courts at Marty’s Oak Creek Apartments, and 3) buying swimsuits (which were not worn for tennis, BTW!) – Saturday, May 24, 1975, and then, 4) spending the long Memorial Day weekend in Iowa City – May 30 thru June 1, 1975.
With the calendar turning to June, there were two more full weeks of school, packed with concerts and lots of year-end activities. In the midst of that busy-ness, Marty & Sandy found time over the Weekend of June 7-8, 1975 to make a quick trip to Indiana. There, Sandy had her First Wedding Shower hosted by the Unrues’ long-time friend Marie Cripe…
Upon their return to Wheeling/Buffalo Grove, the final week of school kept Marty & Sandy plenty busy….
Marty’s dad – George Boller was a printer, working over the years for The Mt. Pleasant News, The Daily Iowan in Iowa City, and the University of Iowa Printing Service (read more here), so one of the real blessings and a true cost-saver for the up-coming wedding was George’s willingness to print the invitations (see pics below), and with Sandy’s very neat hand-writing, the invites (and maps) were in the mail by Thursday, June 12, 1975…
With the school year coming to a close on Friday, June 13, 1975, the staff at Field Elementary School gave Sandy a big wedding shower – her second this month. The $100 given to the bride-to-be went to buy new wallpaper for the new apartment – which opened up on July 1st.
Several days later – on Tuesday, June 17, 1975, Sandy has her third wedding shower, hosted by her church friend – Careen Taylor…
Here’s some more highlight pics from those three wedding showers held in June…
With most of the wedding details in place, George & Dixie Boller came up to Wheeling/Buffalo Grove one last time before the wedding in July.
Over the Weekend of June 20-22, 1975, the foursome hit a lot of fun places – 1) Randhurst Mall in Mt. Prospect, 2) Sears Tower and Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, and 3) Corrado’s Restaurant & Swedish Manor Restaurant, both in Arlington Heights – checking them out for rehearsal dinner options.
The weekend with the Bollers ended with a visit to North Shore Assembly of God in Skokie – with the bulletin from Sunday, June 22, 1975 announcing both Marty & Sandy’s acceptance into membership at the church and their upcoming July 12, 1975 wedding…
So, as June came to a close, Marty & Sandy spent the last couple of weeks packing up their individual apartments. Sandy lived in her small one-bedroom apartment on Wolf Road in Wheeling, moving there a year earlier – in August 1974, while Marty lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor unit of Oak Creek Apartments in Buffalo Grove (see pic above right). Once they decided to get married, the best apartment option was a July 1st availability on a two-bedroom unit located just down the hallway from Marty’s one-bedroom unit. So, on Monday, June 23, 1975, the packing begins – first at Sandy’s unit in Wheeling.
The following day – Tuesday, June 24, 1975 – it was over to Evanston for a Cook County blood test for the wedding license, followed by a quick trip to O’Hare Airport – on Wednesday, June 25, 1975 – to see Sandy’s sister, Janice, and her grandmother Mary Holm as they were returning from Seattle, and Sandy’s cousin’s wedding.
The rest of June was spent closing up our two apartments, and yes, on Saturday, June 28, 1975, Sandy’s family and Marty’s fellow band-director, Jack Majure (who introduced us to each other in March 1974), helped us move into our new apartment at Oak Creek Lane – Apt #3113 – Buffalo Grove, Illinois 60090. And yes, for those curious minds, Marty & Sandy did live together in the same apartment for 15 days prior to being married. As you can see, the next day – Sunday, June 29, 1975 – they attended church, talked to God about the issue, and made a promise to not have any hanky panky until July 12. Rumor has it that they also agreed to shake hands before retiring for the evening into separate bedrooms – but that fact simply cannot be substantiated all these 50 years later!
Tuesday, July 1, 1975 included a day trip to the County Clerk’s office in downtown Chicago in order to obtain a Cook County Marriage License (see below)…
Now, please Kkeep in mind that most men who are going to get married have a little stag party with their friends prior to their wedding date. Since Marty failed to arrange such a party, as it turned out, he held his own little celebration at his new apartment on Friday, July 4th, 1975. As it turned out, the only invited guest was his fiancee, Sandy, and as memory serves, by mid-afternoon, Marty & Sandy were enjoying a patriotic movie on TV while sipping a few glasses of Jack Unrue’s apple wine. Afternoon soon turned to evening, the chicken cooked up fine on the outside grill, and was delicious – especially when accompanied with yet another glass (or two?) of apple wine. Well, before the fireworks went off that evening, Marty was suffering from a bit over-abiding – meaning he was puking in the bathroom while Sandy sat on the couch celebrating the 4th on her own.
One wonders if Sandy had any second thoughts about the wedding, based on this July 4th experience, but after 50 years now, there hasn’t been a repeat of that evening, so we believe we might be in the clear. Thank goodness!
On Thursday, July 10, 1975 – Marty’s 24th birthday – things are starting to pop as Marty’s family is first to arrive for the weekend – George & Dixie Boller, of course, with Marty’s one surviving grandmother, Edith Boyer. His brother Eric Boller and his wife Marlene completed the small Boller delegation which enjoyed a birthday celebration dinner at Young’s Chinese Restaurant in Glenview.
The next day, Friday, July 11, 1975, Sandy’s family began arriving in town. Above are a few pics of the Unrues as they set up camp in the motel rooms in Wheeling. That evening, the small wedding party met at North Shore Assembly in Skokie for the wedding rehearsal…
Following the rehearsal (see pic above left with Marty setting up the recording equipment), the wedding party headed off to Arlington Heights for a magnificent Wedding Rehearsal Dinner held at Corrado’s Restaurant.
It was a wonderful celebration, with both the Unrue & Boller families present and, of course, many of the others in our wedding party as well. Gifts were shared, toasts were offered, followed by a tasty Italian dinner. It made for a late night, but, certainly, a great prelude for the day we’d all been waiting for…
Click here to go on to Volume III – July 12, 1975 – The Special Day…
Vol. I – March 2, 1974 to February 22, 1975 – The First Dates.
Vol II – February 22, 1975 to July 11, 1975 – Planning A Wedding.
Vol III – July 12, 1975 – The Special Day.
Vol IV – July 12 – July 24 – The Honeymoon.
Read more about the 50th Anniversary celebration here…