Harold and Beverly (West) Erwin of Augusta, Kansas, celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary on August 30th. They are childhood sweethearts who grew up around Allen and graduated from the Allen High School. Both attended East Central State in Ada and were married in Ada in 1963.

Beverly is the daughter of the late Duard and Dee West, of the Allen area. She is now retired, but has had a busy life in both church and business world activities. She raised the family pretty much on her own while Harold traveled several states in the oil business. In their early years, she held numerous children’s crusades in various states and has always been very active in church activities, especially working with the children. Beverly also had her own event and wedding planning business called Bev’s Creative Expressions, where she put together many beautiful weddings, anniversaries, and other events.

Harold is the son of the late Marshall and Juanita Erwin also of the Allen area. His grandfather was Charlie Kennedy and one of the barbers in Allen for many years. Harold is a retired director emeritus of BG Products, Inc. of Wichita, Kansas, and several of his family members are still part of the company.

The two have three children: Melissa Tilton and husband Frank of Douglass, Kansas; Michelle Brown and husband Robert of Wellington, Kansas; and Jay and wife Nicole Erwin of Augusta, Kansas. They have 28 grandchildren including seven spouses. Bev’s rule is: you MARRY one of our grandchildren, you automatically become one of OUR grandchildren. They also have three greatgrandchildren with four more on the way. They count it a blessing that the children and most of the grands and greatgrands live just a few minutes away.

Harold and Beverly have always loved to travel and thanks to the companies they have been associated with, especially BG Products, they have been able to make several trips to Hawaii, California, and most of the other 50 states as well as Canada and Mexico. They also love the Allen area and have many fond memories of their early years there.

They especially want to thank the publishers of the Allen Advocate for keeping them up to date on the hometown news.