There’s nothing quite like a good love-at-first-sight story.
It was 1997, and Kelli Lott, then just 15 years old, had gone to the Florida Strawberry Festival with a group of friends. They were seeking good food and fun.
Little did she know she’d also find the love of her life.
That same day, Thomas Smith, then 19, had stopped by the festival to visit his grandfather and his food wagon, Blue Jay.
The two had a running joke.
Grandpa, are you going to find me a girlfriend? Thomas would ask.
That day, he said: ‘Yeah, sit down on that picnic table, and she’ll be back here in a second.’”
Thomas went along with the ruse and sat down at the picnic table. Within 10 minutes, a group of friends walked up to him to say hello. In the group was Kelli Lott.
“I noticed her right away,” Thomas says. “That cute freckled face. I’m a sucker for freckles and Southern accents. She was just beautiful. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.”
“He followed me around all night, begging for a phone number,” Kelli says, teasing.
Thomas left the festival that night with more than just a stomach full of strawberries. He left with Kelli’s phone number.
Now married for 11 years, Kelli and Thomas Smith won over the hearts at the Plant City Observer, and today, Valentine’s Day, we honor the couple as the Plant City Observer‘s first Love Story Contest winner.
PATIENCE PAYS OFF
At just 15 years old, Kelli wasn’t yet allowed to date someone four years older than her. For months, Thomas went to all her softball games and tried to charm her parents.
It worked.
“My dad was very strict, because he had two girls to raise and to look after,” Kelli says. “But, my parents are a good judge of character, and they knew that he was a nice guy. So, they felt safe and comfortable with letting their little girl go on a date with him finally.”
“I was raised really old-fashioned, and that was one prerequisite in our family, where I had to ask her dad’s permission, before I would get to take her out,” Thomas says. “So when he said, ‘Yes,’ I was ecstatic.”
The duo kept their first date as traditional as their families — a movie date to see “Fools Rush In,” a romantic comedy.
“After a couple months of us being together, I just knew it was meant to be,” Kelli says.
So did Thomas. During their first Christmas later that year, Thomas made her a wooden hope chest, engraving it with the date they met, March 14, 1997. Stuffing it with miscellaneous Christmas presents, at the bottom he hid the most important one — a promise ring.
That promise was carried out March 17, 2001, when Kelli and Thomas were married in a fairytale ceremony at Plant City’s First Baptist Church.
THE PROPOSAL
Thomas’s proposal was a complete surprise. He told her to come visit him while he was doing landscaping at his uncle’s condo, and he wanted to take her to dinner. When she got there, they walked down to the beach, where a giant sign was waiting for her: “Kelli Will You Marry Me.”
“He must have known I’d said, ‘Yes,’ because he didn’t put a question mark on it,” Kelli says.
THE FAMILY
Today, the couple has two young sons, Judson, 8, and Bronson, 3, who both take up most of their time.
When Kelli saw the Plant City Observer’s Love Story Contest online, she decided to enter.
“I was excited to know that, ‘Hey, we might have the chance to win something and actually take that time out for each other,’” Kelli says. “I was always hopeful. You always hope you’ll win. But I didn’t (think we’d win), because we’ve never won anything like that, but everybody always tells us we’re a good couple and just excited to see us be together for so long, because we were just babies when we met.”
Kelli and Thomas will be celebrating their 12th anniversary next month and they plan to use the one-night stay and dinner for two at the Sheraton Suites Tampa Airport Westshore.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
ROMANTIC GETAWAY
Kelli and Thomas Smith will celebrate their 12th anniversary with their Love Story prize — a one-night stay at the Sheraton Suites Tampa Airport Westshore and dinner at St. James Restaurant.
THE FINALISTS
We received dozens of great entries. Here are some of our favorites:
• Shelly Barfield. My husband and I met when we were 13 at Tomlin Middle School. He had his sister introduce us. We started dating for a few weeks and broke up the day after Valentine’s Day. We remained best friends for another four years. Then, when we were 17, we went out with a group of friends and we started dating again. When we were 18 he left for the U.S. Army. We talked all the time, and I went to different states to see him. When he got back, we got married, and this year, will be 13 years we have been married (but 20 we have known each other). I am so happy I married my best friend, we look forward to growing old together, and our kids enjoy hearing the story of how we met.
• James Wiggins. I started working in the warehouse of McCrory’s Five and Dime in 1958, when I got out of the U.S. Army. I stopped to eat lunch one day at the food counter in McCrory’s, and that’s when I spotted her — the young woman behind the counter. Clara Mae Cook was her name. I immediately knew I was going to marry her, and little did I know at the time, she had told the other two waitresses to “stay back; he’s mine.” That was 54 years ago, and this love story of “love at first sight” continues strong today.
• Les Scates. In July 1959, I met a beautiful young lady — for me, it was love at first sight. Two years later, on June 11, 1961, she became my bride. Her name you ask — Carole Joyce Valentine. We’ve been married now for almost 52 years, and for me, every day is Valentine’s Day.