They’ve only just begun: Masontown mayor enjoys helping people start their lives together
Toni Petrus, left, performs a wedding ceremony for Amanda Dwire, 28, and Aaron Mann, 37, at the Fayette County Courthouse on Monday in the Register of Will’s office. Petrus has performed more than 250 weddings as mayor of Masontown.
Amanda Steen | Herald-Standard
Toni Petrus, signs a marriage license at the Fayette County Courthouse on Monday in the Register of Will’s office.
“We are gathered here…”
Reciting those well-known words, Toni Petrus began performing a wedding ceremony Monday for Aaron Mann, 37, of Hiller, and Amanda Dwire, 28, of Point Marion, in a quiet room in the register of wills office at the Fayette County Courthouse in Uniontown.
The bride wore a white dress. The couple exchanged vows and rings while Brandon Doerfler, a friend from Daisytown, served as witness.
“Congratulations. You may kiss your bride,” Petrus announced, ending the three-minute ceremony with a smile.
The new Mr. and Mrs. Mann kissed each other for the first time as a married couple.
“I’m thrilled,” Aaron Mann said after the ceremony.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said his bride.
Petrus, 60, who was scheduled to perform one more ceremony in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, said, “It makes you feel good to help people achieve happiness and start their lives together.”
This was the 258th wedding ceremony performed by Petrus since she became mayor of Masontown in 2010. While she prefers to do the ceremonies at the Masontown Borough Building, Petrus also conducts them on her lunch hour from work at the courthouse where she has been employed in the sheriff’s office for 20 years.
Sandra Bieniek, marriage clerk in the Fayette County Register of Wills office, said each month a few couples who apply for a marriage license ask to be referred to someone who could conduct a civil ceremony for their wedding. Bieniek gives them a list of officials who perform marriages. Petrus is on the list.
“I don’t like to do it in the courthouse because I like to keep it separate from my job, but if it’s a hardship for people, I will. I try to juggle it around my lunch hour,” said Petrus. “I try to be as accommodating as possible.”
Petrus is a widow who has two grown daughters — she served as officiant at the 2013 wedding ceremony for her daughter Rebecca. Petrus and her late husband, Ronald, were themselves married in a civil ceremony in 1973 before a magistrate. Her father, the late Walter Scarton, also performed a few wedding ceremonies when he served as mayor of Masontown from 1991 to 2005. In fact, Petrus noted, her father conducted a ceremony for Masontown police chief Joe Ryan and later one for his stepson while Petrus performed a ceremony for the chief’s stepdaughter.
“It’s something I never thought I would be doing,” she said. “I’ve always been the type of person that if you need something, I would do it for you. This is an extended part of that.”
Petrus performed her first wedding about six months into office when she was approached by a couple she knew.
“The first one was so nerve wracking,” she said. “I thought there would probably be a few people and there were about 40. It was a little disconcerting at first.”
But Petrus overcame her nerves as the requests continued. She enjoys helping couples.
At the Masontown Borough Building, Petrus conducts ceremonies in her office but prefers the foyer, which has more space and a white wall suitable for taking pictures.
At the courthouse, Petrus performs ceremonies in the register of wills office, in the first-floor hallway near the David Blythe sculpture “General Lafayette” and in the small park across the street.
She has also been officiant at weddings that have taken place at German-Masontown Park, the Lardin House and Inne at Watson’s Choice in German Township, Historic Summit Inn at at Chalk Hill, Tharp Kob at Ohiopyle and Jumonville in North Union Township where she’s performed ceremonies at both the Whyel Chapel and Green Cathedral.
Brides and grooms have appeared in everything from formal wear to jeans.
Petrus said she’s met some interesting people.
“One couple – he was from Russia. One lady came from Nemacolin. She was from Argentina and I think her husband was from Puerto Rico. I’ve had gas well people. I’ve had a few same-sex marriage weddings,” she said.
Some couples go to Petrus because it’s a matter of time — they want to get married as soon as possible. Some couples were planning destination weddings but wanted a civil ceremony before they left. Some couples don’t want the fuss of a big wedding.
“A lot of people don’t want to go through the hoopla. Some take the money they would spend for a wedding to put on a house. Some can’t afford it, and some just want a simple ceremony,” Petrus said. “More than several couples were divorced and remarried each other. I guess they found out that’s really what they wanted.”
Petrus finds herself especially busy in December and summer but she never knows when someone might ask her to perform a ceremony.
“Sometimes I get two or three in a day, and sometimes I don’t get any for weeks,” said Petrus.
The mayor finds something unique in every wedding.
“Even though they’re the same,” Petrus commented, “they all have a different twist.”