Nominating Process Opens for 2021 Longest Married Couple Project
A series of internet and technical issues that caused delays in nominating couples for the 2021 Longest Married Couple Project (LMC) sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME) have now been corrected and nominations can be received without any problems.
“Normally we would have received many more nominations in the first three weeks of the project, but because of internet and technical issues only 6 couples have been nominated,” said Dick & Diane Baumbach and Fr. Dick Morse, the WWME Longest Married Couple Project coordinators, adding “Now, that everything is back on track, family and friends can nominate their couples who have long marriages without any problems.”
Due to the unexpected delays, the deadline for nominations has been extended to Sept. 10, 2021. This is the 11th year of the project which was started in 2010. What began as a simple idea to acknowledge couples whose marriages have gone the distance, has been so rewarding to WWME couples across the country. WWME honors a national winning couple along with couples from each of the 50 states and U.S. territories.
The first national winners for the project, which started in 2011, were Marshall & Winnie Kuykendall from Lordsburg, New Mexico who were honored for 82 years of marriage. National winners from Nevada, Connecticut, Kansas, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina and three different couples from California have also been honored.
State winners have also been recognized for their longest marriages. There have been over 2600 couples nominated for the honors since the project began. Both national and state winners of the LMC project are selected solely from nominations submitted.
The national and state winners will be recognized in October of this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s national winners were honored virtually by Tony & Sue Morris and Fr. Tom Ogg, the WWME National Leadership team, but this year they plan to do the recognition In person.
There will be a special ceremony with gifts for this year’s national winners at their location. The state winners will also receive personal recognition and a special certificate of achievement from the Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement.
The contact information for sending in a nomination simply requires the name of the couple, their wedding date and where they currently reside- plus a contact phone or email address of the individual nominating the couple. Nominations, which are open to all husband and wife couples regardless of religious affiliation, may be submitted online at longestmarriedcouple.wwme.org, via email to [email protected], by calling 321-652-8262, or by mail to:
Dick & Diane Baumbach
1332 Deer Trail
Rockledge, FL 32955
Nominations must be received by Sept. 10, 2021. As a matter of safety and protection, the nominators of the winning couples are initially contacted and not the actual winners.
Worldwide Marriage Encounter is the largest faith-based marriage enrichment organization in the world. To learn more about the Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends online, go to wwme.org, or contact the WWME national office at (909) 332-7309.
(SOURCE: Worldwide Marriage Encounter)
