‘Marry me?’ – Parade Proposal Swept Her Off The Sidelines

Memorial Day has always been special for Jarrett Rothschild and his new fiancé, Tina Casale. Four years ago, thanks to some cooperation between his fraternity brothers and her sorority sisters at Adelphi University, they had their first date on Memorial Day weekend. Rothschild, 26, started as a volunteer firefighter at Manhasset-Lakeville Company No 4. in Great Neck at about the same time.
“They got me the information and I followed through on it,” Rothschild says, adding, “It worked out okay.” Jarrett, who has also been a member of the New York Police Department for over 7 years, got further cooperation from their friends and the other firefighter’s wives, and engineered his marriage proposal to Ms. Casale, 24, who teaches 1st grade at a local Catholic school. “We always meet up after the parade, so she didn’t know it was coming,” he said.
Nobody in the crowd knew it was coming either. Suddenly amidst the sound of fire engine klaxons, Rothschild broke ranks from his marching unit, dashed to his girlfriend, who had been jostled to the front of a group of their friends, and popped the question.
What did she say? “Yes, of course,” Rothschild said.
They have not set a date, but officials at the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade say that the couple has a special place reserved for them at next year’s parade.