‘A Modest Proposal’ 
accepted by Tiskilwa girl

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Brooke Jensen of Tiskilwa and Andy Schmeck of Princeton pose in front of the Apollo Theater where they got engaged two weeks ago. For the surprise proposal, Andy created a three-minute video titled, "A Modest Proposal," which was shown on the theater screen before the feature film. (BCR photo/Donna Barker)

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PRINCETON — Andy Schmeck of Princeton is a man of surprises, as witnessed by his girlfriend, Brooke Jensen, and about 50 other people.

On July 30, Brooke thought she was going to the movies with Andy to see “G Force,” a Disney movie, at the Apollo Theater in Princeton. They arrived a few minutes before the show was to begin. The darkened theater auditorium was crowded, especially for a Thursday night.

Before the feature film began, Jay Schneider, owner of the Apollo Theater, announced there would be a special showing of “A Modest Proposal,” a short video. That video, which had been created by Andy, set the stage for Andy’s wedding proposal to Brooke.

The premise for “A Modest Proposal” documents the courtship of Andy and Brooke, as portrayed 50 years into the future by Dick and Mary Dorsch of Princeton. In the video, Andy and Brooke have dated for years, but Andy has never been able to get over his fear of commitment and ask the girl he loves to marry him.

At the end of the video, “Andy” wakes up from his dream, looks over to the nightstand and sees the engagement ring he’s had for Brooke all these years.

As the video credits roll, Andy (the real Andy) grabs Brooke’s hand, takes her to the front of the theater auditorium, where a spotlight is shined on the young couple. Andy gets down on one knee and proposes to Brooke, a modest proposal which she, of course, accepted.

Two weeks later, Brooke said she’s still amazed at the thought and work that went into her proposal. It took her a solid minute into the video before she realized what was happening and that her boyfriend was going to propose to her. The couple had started looking at engagement rings on Valentine’s Day, but Andy had always led Brooke to believe they would wait to get through college and maybe even into his planned seminary studies before he proposed. The movie theater proposal was totally unexpected.

Andy had also arranged for the couple’s families and friends to arrive early at the Apollo Theater, so they could watch “A Modest Proposal” and witness Andy’s proposal to Brooke.

After hugs and cheers, the newly-engaged couple, their families and friends made their way to the lobby and celebrated some more. Brooke and Andy never did see the movie that night.

Looking back on that special evening, Andy said he couldn’t have pulled off the video without some extensive help from Jay Schneider and from Ethan Smith, his good friend who spent hours helping him edit the video and served as the documentarian for the video. Brooke’s brother and sister, Lance and Lacey, also appeared in the video.

Brooke and Andy, both 2007 Princeton High School graduates, have been dating since seventh grade. For the last couple years, their courtship has been primarily long-distance, as he attends Trinity International University in Deerfield and Brooke attends Asbury College in Tennessee. Brooke expects to graduate next spring. Andy hopes to graduate in another year and one-half. From there, he plans to attend seminary.

Just like their courtship of the last couple years, their engagement will also be primarily long-distance, the Tiskilwa woman said. Their plans are to get married next summer, though they haven’t yet set a date.

The next few months will be busy ones, with college and planning a wedding. Though much of the wedding planning is typically the responsibility of the bride-to-be, Andy said he will also have his own planning to do. After all, what’s a wedding without a surprise or two, he said.

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