Mark and Janet Jones of Oregon fell in love with Oak Bay during their honeymoon last year, and one of the highlights was the street market on Oak Bay Avenue.
The newlyweds were especially taken with Brian Bloomfield's handcrafted cedar chairs and wanted to buy one as a memento of their honeymoon. But the couple had taken the bus to the market, and had no easy way of transporting the large piece to their hotel.
The simplest solution was for Bloomfield to deliver the chair a few days later to Sidney, where the Joneses would be hopping on a ferry to Anacortes.
That plan fell through when Bloomfield had a mishap while unloading equipment and had to go to a clinic for stitches on his face and lips.
Once back home near Salem, the couple asked about getting a chair sent to them, but the shipping costs were double the value of the chair. A first-anniversary return trip provided the Joneses with another chance at getting the chair.
The couple hoped to meet Bloomfield in Sidney, but the furniture-maker is at home in Courtenay preparing for another event.
So the task of delivering the chair to the couple fell to the Oak Bay Business Improvement Association.
Heather Leary, the association's project manager, met the pair Wednesday afternoon at Sidney's ferry terminal.
"The chair has a really special attachment for them, to their honeymoon," she said. "They really, really wanted it and they've been quite diligent in following up with me."
Leary said it was heartening to see how much impact a relatively small event like a street market can have on people, both locally and beyond.
Mark Jones said Wednesday that he and Janet are happy to finally have a chair to take home.
"We were swapping emails back and forth, and a couple of calls here and there, and here we are," Jones said.
The chair will always make them think of their honeymoon, he said.
"We got a few things to remember it, but the chair was something we really liked and just really wanted to have on our back porch back in Oregon."
jwbell@timescolonist.com
