By Patricia Breakey
Delhi News Bureau
WALTON _ A touch of luck, a
special friend and perfect timing
worked to provide a romantic
Delaware County
honeymoon for a
newly married Walton
couple.
Don and Diane
Rule Gray were
married Sept. 6 at
St. Luke’s Lutheran
Church in Sidney and spent
Friday and Saturday night at the
Andes Hotel, courtesy of Diane’s
friend Leeann Otto and the National
Bank of Delaware County.
Otto won the two-night romantic
getaway weekend in a drawing
held by NBDC at the Delaware
County Fair, but because
of time constraints, Otto couldn’t
use her prize.
Otto and Rule Gray work
together at Delaware
Valley Family
Health Center
in Walton, and the
wedding seemed
like a perfect way to
put a romantic getaway
to good use.
“I decided to give Diane and
Don the weekend getaway for a
wedding gift,” Otto said. “I asked
them if they were interested and
happily they were able to use it.
It was perfect timing.”
Andrea Paternoster, NBDC
spokeswoman, said that when
bank officials began planning
the giveaway at the fair, they
initially talked about the Caribbean,
but soon realized some of
the most romantic retreats are
located in Delaware County.
Paternoster said the weekend
package included two nights at
the Andes Hotel, dinner for two
at the hotel and dinner for two
at the Midtown Grill in Delhi.
It also included two tickets on
the Delaware & Ulster Railride
in Arkville and a prepaid debit
card to cover the cost of lunch.
Otto said that as she wandered
through the fair, she stopped and filled out the
ticket, never expecting to win.
Paternoster said that normally, trips are nontransferable,
but when the tickets and poster
about the trip were printed, the nontransferable
disclaimer was inadvertently left off.
“I am so glad we made the mistake on the poster
because this has worked out so wonderfully,” Paternoster
said.
Don Gray said that when Otto offered them the
trip, they were thrilled. Their 10-year-old son Hunter
has autism and can’t be left with baby sitters for
long periods of time.
Rule Gray said the trip is a special gift from
someone who understands about being the parent
of a child with autism because Otto’s daughter also
has the disorder.
“Leeann is so thoughtful. I really adore her, and
we have so much in common,” Rule Gray said. “We
really don’t have a chance to get time away, and for
her to give this to us was so thoughtful.”
Rule Gray’s mother, Evelyn Haskin of Bainbridge,
cared for Hunter during the honeymoon.
Don Gray said that after their wedding during
Labor Day weekend, they had a reception with a
backyard-barbecue theme, and then they had a
honeymoon just a few miles from their backyard.
