SpringfieldNewsSun.com

Springfield, Ohio — A party for Clark County couples married at least 50 years celebrated its fiftieth anniversary this year.

Nearly 800 guests entered the Golden Wedding Party at the Clark County Fair through a white arch decorated with flowers and paper bells Tuesday, July 22.

Hundreds of voices joined to sing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and "Across the Field" to the music of the Fred Hughes Combo band, which has provided music for the event for its entire 50 years.

Party king and queen William and Catherine Baader, of 4183 Hominey Ridge Road, arrived in a limousine. The two met at business school and they married in 1939. They celebrated their sixty-ninth anniversary April 29.

"I guess we're too old to remember the romance," Catherine Baader said, adding that she can't remember her first impression of William or their first date.

She does remember the tough times when they were first married and lived on a combined salary of $30 per week, she said.

"I never thought we'd make it," she said. "They always ask me to what I attribute our long marriage, and I have no idea."

Marriage is hard work, she said, but couples need "to stick with it. The high divorce rate is silly. They're not trying hard enough. Things will get better if you stick with it."

Emily Donaldson, the 2008 Clark County Fair queen, crowned a grinning Catherine, and Clark County commissioner Roger Tackett praised the Baaders' long marriage. He noted that the couples sitting in front of him were "role models for their families, friends and neighbors" and thanked them for their "valuable contribution" to their communities.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0349 or dselden@coxohio.com