An Oz Proposal

On Saturday, June 3, 2006, Kristin Foltz sang a beautiful version of "Over the Rainbow" for their annual show, Steppin' Out '06. Kristin is the manager of the company, Tap-n Arts a dance studio for children to better their education in learning for the arts in dancing. After Kristin finished her versions of "Over the Rainbow" Craig Petrou came on stage and proposed to her...using a very interesting Oz themed speech...and then of course he presented her with a engagement ring. Their marriage proposal was viewed by over 1,000 family, friends, parents and guests in the Forum Building Auditorium, in downtown Harrisburg, PA where their event took place. They have set a date for their wedding and it is to take place on Saturday November 25th 2006 on Allentown Blvd in Harrisburg, PA. See the interview below and the complete videos of Kristin's version of "Over the Rainbow" and Craig's proposal.

CRAIG SAID...

Kristin and her family own the Tap 'n Arts Dance Studio. Every year they perform a dance show, entitled Steppin' Out, at the Forum Building, in downtown, Harrisburg, PA. Every year during the show, Kristin sings a song. In 2005, she performed "Wicked" from "The Wizard and I." Since we were both fans of American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee's performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," from "The Wizard of Oz," Kristin decided to perform it in the 2006 show.>>

CRAIG SAID...

I''ve known for a while I wanted to propose to Kristin, but I was just waiting for the right time and place. Kristin has always been performing in front of audiences ever since she was a child. After Kristin said she wanted to sing "Over the Rainbow" at the 2006 show, I couldn't think of any better time. I knew she would love to share this magical song and special moment of our lives with an audience of 1,000+ family, friends and students. Since the show was being filmed for a DVD, I knew this would be a great memory we could share with our future children.

KRISTIN SAID...

I really didn't know Craig was going to propose. We went to the Forum together before anyone arrived. I went up to the stage to make sure everything was set-up, while Craig was getting the music ready. Craig said he had to sneak out of the building when I wasn't looking to get his suit that was in the trunk of his car, but I never saw it. He had it hidden under the soundboard and when the show started and he knew I would be too busy, he actually changed out of his "street" clothes and into his suit. He was actually changing his clothes, while he was working the soundboard and playing the music for the entire show.

CRAIG SAID...

I've watched "The Wizard of Oz" every year on TV. I guess you could say it was somewhat of a tradition in my family. My Mother told me that her Mother, my Grandmother, told her that her father, my Grandfather, was the Scarecrow in the movie. She would actually believe it and cry when the Wicked Witch set him on fire. I didn't know until recently that a new DVD was released.

KRISTIN SAID...

I've always enjoyed watching Judy Garland and hearing her sing. When I was younger, I remember we recorded "Rainbow," a made for TV movie of her life from the 1980s. My family and I would watch it over and over again - memorizing it. Recently, I actually won a copy of it on DVD from eBay. Over the years, it was also a tradition in our family to watch "The Wizard of Oz." I also never saw the new DVD.

KRISTIN SAID...

In October 2002, we met on an AOL Harrisburg/York chat room. At the time, I was still living at home, in Harrisburg, working at Highmark Blue Shield during the day and teaching at the studio at night. Craig was working as the Webmaster for PSECU and owned a town home, in Carlisle, PA. Throughout the years, we would chat online and talk on the phone, but never had the opportunity to meet. At the time, our lives were busy, complicated and going in different directions. We eventually lost touch. During the last week of January 2005, I was online and saw Craig on AOL IM. We once again began chatting and finally decided to meet after work on Friday, February 4, 2005, at Starbucks for coffee (for me) and hot chocolate (for him).

CRAIG SAID...

I wouldn't recommend anyone under the age of 18 meeting someone they may have met online. There are too many unknowns that may hurt a younger person or get them into trouble. If someone would like to meet, they should wait a while to get to know them through emails, photos, chats, videos and phone calls. Make sure they send at least one photo, but several would be even better. You wouldn't want to be talking to one person and and they are actually someone else. When they do meet, go some where that may be busy and bring a friend (or two, or three). The more around, in case of trouble, the better. When they do go out, make sure family and friends know about the date, as well as their name, screen name, email, phone number and any photos they may have sent. In case anything would happen, this would be valuable information to be given to the police.