Questions Popped, Brides-To-Be Set To Shop

John Buckles of Issaquah expects romance in the air at Bellevue's Meydenbauer Center tomorrow and Sunday.

He organized the Bellevue Wedding Expo, where brides and grooms can pick out everything from cakes to rings.

Last week, Buckles and sex-advice columnist Dan Savage judged the area's zaniest marriage proposals on KOMO-TV's "Northwest Afternoon."

Contestant Howard Schmidt proposed to Raemarie Szymanski at a Pike Place Market fish counter. They live in Issaquah.

Kathy Clingan, who lives in the Everett area, dressed in a lobster costume to ask Erik Nyberg.

Woodinville resident Adam Bury staged a fake shoplifting arrest when he asked Emily Christianson to marry.

Washington State Ferries worker Jon Martin of Everett floated his proposal to co-worker Dorinda Lindsay on the Mukilteo ferry dock.

Martin and Lindsay won a $10,000 package from participants in the Wedding Expo.

There should have been a runners-up category.

Clingan, the lobster impersonator, deserved an award for bravery: She pulled her stunt in a full restaurant.

Ditto for Bury, who popped the question on a Bellevue Square walkway.

Local news twist: Elizabeth "Betsy" Brenner was named publisher of The News Tribune newspaper in Tacoma last week.

Her family ran Brenner Bros. Bakery in Bellevue.

Most recently she was publisher of The Sun in Bremerton.

Steering announcement: Sometime this winter the Evergreen Hospital Medical Center administration plans to add valet parking.

Stay tuned: Bargain hunters can expect high-end treasures at the first-ever Poncho (Patrons of Northwest Civic, Cultural and Charitable Organizations) Garage Sale on Feb. 6 and 7.

The organizer, Bellevue's glamorous Patty Barrier, guarantees this will be the classiest garage sale in town.

Although all contributions are welcomed, Barrier will persuade Seattle's social set to clean out their closets and cupboards. These are the folks who stage the Northwest's grande-dame gala: the Poncho auction that brings in more than $1 million annually.

"I promised Cathi Hatch that I would help her," Barrier said. "But I'm procured out (of donations for the Poncho auction). This should be fun."

Hatch, who lives in Bellevue, is this year's Poncho president.

In a word: Seattle Times copy editor Emmett Murray had no trouble with 36 down in The New York Times crossword puzzle on Christmas. The clue was "City east of Seattle."

Eight letters, first letter "B."

Ho, ho: Outside my Eastside home, I installed a sign for the holidays that reads, "No Parking: Sleigh Unloading Zone."

And what to my wondering eyes did appear there the day after Christmas? An empty sleigh.

Neighbor Nan Sanborn confessed.

"I'm sure the sled was one we borrowed from your house years ago," she said.

One last grin: Is your computer getting you down? Take heart with this line from a T-shirt: "Computers are not intelligent - they only think they are."

Sherry Grindeland's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in The Seattle Times Eastside edition. You can reach her by phone at 206-515-5633 or 425-453-2130, e-mail at sgri-new@seatimes.com, fax at 425-453-0449, or mail at The Seattle Times Eastside bureau, 10777 Main St., Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98004.