More than half a century after their weddings, Patti Haaima and Marilyn Bennett still look great in their dresses – and even better inside a 2008 Chevrolet Corvette Indy 500 Pace Car replica.
The car belonged to Haaima’s late husband, Simon, who cherished it for details like the signature of famed driver Emerson Fittipaldi inside the centre console.
Haaima lost her husband in late 2024. Bennett’s husband, Stephen, passed away earlier this year.
As one way of processing their grief, the two put on their wedding dresses, slapped a “vintage widows” sign on the front of the Corvette, and joined Friday’s car parade that opened the 2026 Fireweed Festival in Fort Smith.
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The festival was later disrupted by a shooting in the early hours of Saturday morning. But to organizers, the parade – and the participation of a duo like Haaima and Bennett – is the far more accurate reflection of life in Fort Smith and the characters who make up the small town of 2,000 people in the NWT’s southeastern corner.
“I like bringing people together and helping create something like this. Anything that can get community members out and moving around and make the community better, I’m for it,” said Terry Freund, who organized the car rally.
The parade’s route was designed specifically to ensure seniors who couldn’t otherwise participate in the festival would have a chance to see classic cars go by and feel included, Freund said.
“We had our wedding dresses hid away, so we went looking, and the kids all got involved, and here we are,” said Bennett.
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“I wanted to come as Santa Claus, but I figured it’s too early to come as Santa.”
Bennett added she saw the act of coming to the parade in memory of Stephen as a way of advancing the process of coming to terms with her loss.
“You can only sit and grieve for so long,” she said.
