(Photos copyright Timothy S. Lusk)
If you closely watched Laura James‘ “Sunny Saturday on Alki” video clip atop today’s WSB “West Seattle Monday” preview – without blinking – you probably glimpsed a short shot toward the end, with people rolling up a banner. We asked Laura about it when we previewed her clip, and she said she just happened to catch the tail end of a fly-by proposal – with the proposee in a helicopter overhead. She, and we, agreed we wished we’d heard about it in advance; what a tale to tell.
Then, this afternoon, the WSB inbox brought a note from the proposer, Jason Hawkes. He had e-mailed to ask if we had any more visuals (even though he had a professional photographer documenting the excitement on the ground – this story has three of those photos). We managed to coax some details out of him so we could share the story with you.
Jason explained, “Last Saturday, around 6:30 PM, I proposed to my girlfriend (Robin Pritchett) via Alki and a helicopter. Family and friends were on Alki Beach holding a 12-foot banner with the words ‘Robin, will you marry me?’ Meanwhile, Robin and I were in a helicopter that I chartered and had the pilot fly right over Alki Beach so she’d see the banner.”
He says they are Alki residents, too, in a condo near the Lighthouse. Jason says, “I grew up in Kent, but always came to Alki for barbecues and get-togethers. During that time, I knew that when I graduated from WSU, I’d move to Alki. 
Sure enough, 4 months after graduating, I bought a condo on Alki Ave.” That was three years ago. He and Robin have been together about a year, though they’ve known each other since their freshman year in Pullman.
So, we asked, where did the helicopter idea come from? “I wanted my proposal to be something memorable, but also meaningful. Our first kiss was at Alki (Alki Beach), our first date was at Alki (Cactus), we fell in love at Alki (everywhere), and we live on Alki (next to the Lighthouse), so proposing hundreds of feet above Alki sounded like a pretty cool idea.”
Oh, and of course, Robin said “yes.” They’re looking at a wedding date in July of next year.
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