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Couple Ties the Knot in Maine Dump

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

Dave Hart and Rockie Graham exchanged vows on Monday, pledging their hearts and souls to each other underneath next to a cardboard recycling container.

The couple tied the knot at the Bethel Transfer Station, where they met and love bloomed next to the piles of recycled cans and garbage.

"What a contrast. The tux and the trash," Hart told the Lewiston Sun-Journal.

It was nearly three years ago at the transfer station that Hart met Graham, a committed recycler who now works part-time there. Hart is the station's manager.

When they decided to marry, it was Hart's idea to hold the ceremony where they first met, and where everyone knows them.

But what started out as a low-key event turned into a national news story.

"Inside Edition" flew the couple to New York City last month and outfitted them with expensive wedding attire. The couple were wired with microphones to capture the wedding, which will be shown on the television show this week.

All the hoopla also attracted a lot of guests. Around 250 people attended the wedding, standing on either side of a red carpet laid in the middle of the dump.

Hart wore gloves, top hat and tux. His bride wore a $7,000 wedding dress with sparkling sequins and white roses.

Next to a handmade sign that read "Tires $2 paid at town," guitarist Sam Chapman sang a tune he composed for the couple: "I hope you won't dump me when we marry, or toss me out like a bag of trash, I wouldn't want your burning love to turn to ash."

The crowd pressed in close as local lawyer Mike O'Donnell led the exchange of vows. Dave choked back tears as Rockie told him he was the love of her life.

They exchanged rings, and Hart stomped on the ceremonial champagne glass. Whoops and laughter and clapping filled the air.

The coverage on "Inside Edition" will air at 7 p.m. Sept. 2 on Boston channel WCVB and 12:30 p.m. Sept. 3 on WMTW Channel 8.

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