Epic marriage proposal spans the globe By LYNNETTE HINTZE/The Daily Inter Lake It took four years and trips to 26 countries for Jack Hyer of Whitefish to put together his wedding proposal. In the end, she said yes and now the whole world is watching. Hyer filmed video of himself lip-syncing the Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” in multiple spots around the globe to create an extraordinary video marriage proposal that’s taking social media by storm. In the video, Hyer climbs the Great Wall of China, rides an elephant in Thailand, pets a tiger in Thailand, does the robot dance in China and dances in front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., among many other theatrical moves. In Tanzania it appears as if a group from the Masai Tribe are dancing with him in native dress. “People thought I was a lunatic,” he told the Whitefish Pilot. Hyer and his fiancee, Becca Strellnauer, both 22, are 2010 Whitefish High School graduates who graduated this month from the University of Montana. The couple dated briefly in junior high school, a relationship Hyer told ABC News ended in “middle school drama.” They remained friends, though, and rekindled their relationship during their freshman year at UM. Not long after they began dating, Hyer was waiting in the London airport and heard the popular song by the Scottish-born Proclaimers about a man willing to walk great distances and do all he can for the woman he loves. With help from his sister Jenna, close friend Joe Mazur and other travel companions, Hyer began singing the song’s lyrics in countries that ranged from Cambodia and Vietnam to Turkey, Israel and China. Hyer posted the video to YouTube on Tuesday and by Friday afternoon it had more than 700,000 views. ABC News, The Huffington Post and Yahoo! News picked up the video and Hyer has been contacted by “Good Morning America.” On the night of their college graduation, he showed the video to Strellnauer as friends and family gathered for a celebratory dinner. He waited for the video to end, then showed her his journal in which he had written after their first date on Sept. 30, 2010. The journal entry: “I’m going to marry this girl. Eventually.” Then he got down on one knee and proposed. It was a Prince Charming move, and Hyer has some experience being a prince. He was Prince Frey during the Whitefish Winter Carnival’s 50th anniversary year in 2009. “The best adventure I’ve had is loving Becca,” he says in the video. “And I never want to go on another adventure without her.” Hyer told the Pilot he enjoyed watching Strellnauer’s reaction to the video as she began to realize what was happening. “That was awesome,” he said. “She was mesmerized.” Strellnauer accompanied Hyer on a few of the trips. In the clip of Paris she is in the background waving at the camera, unaware of Hyer’s ultimate mission. The couple volunteered together at an orphanage in Africa, but he sneaked away for a few minutes away to film one of the many video snippets that were edited to create the four-minute proposal. Hyer has been surprised by the response to the video and decided to turn the views into something positive by adding a link at the end of the video that allows viewers to donate to the orphanage in Africa where the couple volunteered. The couple hope to honeymoon in Belize. Watch the proposal at youtube/watch?v=Bsz2Noi925M
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 00:13:10 +0000
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