Bill and Lona

Bedard

NORWAY — Emile (Bill) and Lona Bedard celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on May 8. A card shower from friends and relatives was held for the couple.

The couple was married on May 8, 1942, in the rectory of St. Catherine Catholic Church in Norway. Witnesses for the couple were parents of the bridegroom, Nazaire and Celinaire Bedard.

The couple got to know each other when they both played in Mrs. Bedard’s father’s dance band known as the Harmony Haymakers. After their marriage they played that evening at a local dance. Mr. Bedard played the rhythm guitar and Mrs. Bedard played the accordion.

For the rest of their married life they entertained with their music in many different places in the Oxford Hills area and beyond. In recent years they played in the Felt Band at senior dances, at nursing homes and community gatherings as the Bedard Trio, along with Mr. Bedard’s brother, Eddie and also for family occasions, like weddings of their grandchildren.

They’ve had a very busy and rewarding life bringing up three daughters and helping to bring up grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They’ve been a wonderful example of a faithful and loving couple.

During World War II, Mr. Bedard served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific. Mrs. Bedard lived in South Paris, giving birth to a new baby and working in the shoe shop in Norway. After the war, they moved to the Noble family home on Crockett Ridge in Norway. Mr. Bedard worked at Wilner’s for several years and later as a barber for 50 years at Bill’s Barber Shop in South Paris and part-time at the barbershop of his grandson, Lee’s Barber Shop, also in South Paris. Mrs. Bedard worked at Ashton’s Drug Store in the late 1950s and early 1960s and later in the newer shoe shop’s cafeteria in Norway.

They will reside at their home at 430 Crockett Ridge Road in Norway.