Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on Omaha.com
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ELSIE, Neb. — Nothing warms the heart quite like a small-town love story. The community of Elsie has been abuzz with chatter this week after a fun twist was put on a popular Christmas display about four miles southwest of town.
“Will You Marry Me” was spelled out in lights over the farm of Terry and Cori Sis on Dec. 8. It was a surprise their son, Cameron Sis, had put a lot of time and effort into preparing for his girlfriend Katie Winget, of Lingle, Wyo.
“A friend gave me the idea that I should propose with Christmas lights,” Cameron said. “So, I took the suggestion to my dad. My parents always put up a big Christmas display that you can see from the highway. Everybody knows we do it, and they come out to look at it. It’s become an annual tradition around here.”
Terry helped Cameron devise a plan. Cameron traced the words on a sheet of plywood, and then drilled holes in the letters. He placed white Christmas lights in each of the holes.
“We put the sign about 65-feet in the air on a big man lift,” Cameron said. “I had it hooked up to a remote control, so I could turn it on when Katie walked by. But she didn’t notice, and I ended up having to point it out to her anyway.”
Winget said that’s because the sign caught her completely off-guard – just as it was intended to.
“I was very surprised,” Winget said. “I wasn’t expecting anything. I thought we were just going to go see the Christmas lights. I was looking down as we walked through the driveway, so didn’t pay any attention to the sign at the end of the yard. Cameron said he had to fix a light and pointed up in the air.”
She said it took a moment for Cameron’s question to sink in.
“I looked back at him, and he was getting down on one knee,” Winget said. “I couldn’t believe it. I was shaking and crying, but I must have gotten a ‘Yes’ in there somewhere.”
Cameron said he didn’t know what he would have done if Winget would have turned him down.
“I guess I never thought that part through,” Cameron said. “I was pretty confident she would say, “Yes.”
The couple has not set a date for the wedding, but Winget said it would likely be next summer. She plans to move to Elsie the last week of December.
Contact Heather at hjohnson@nptelegraph.com
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