Disney debut features magical moment Sheriff’s department officer creates enchanted evening with marriage proposal

BANGOR – Disney often is connected with magical moments, and it was an enchanted evening for a Holden couple before the opening show of Disney on Ice held Wednesday night at the Bangor Auditorium.

This moment had been in the works for two months, a secret plan hatched by a Penobscot County sheriff’s officer and fostered by the marketing coordinator for Bass Park.

Troy Morton, a sergeant with the Sheriff’s Department, knew his girlfriend of two years, Christina Jellison, was a huge Disney fan. So he came up with a special surprise for her at the show.

The couple was in attendance, as were about nine relatives. Jellison, 23, had been told that Morton, 30, was making a presentation for the Sheriff’s Department at the show, and that’s why they’d received tickets. There also were about 60 of their friends and co-workers there, although she wasn’t aware of that.

Morton was pacing nervously around the floor beforehand. The moment arrived, and Steve Robbins, the marketing coordinator, handed him the mike. The strains of “Someday My Prince Will Come” faded, and the spotlight came up on Morton, who grew even paler than normal. But on he soldiered.

“Welcome to the magical world of Disney on Ice, where dreams come true,” he said. “I’m hoping one of my dreams will come true tonight, and I’m happy to have you all here with me.”

He strode forward and went down on one knee in front of Jellison, producing an engagement ring. With Robbins holding the mike, Morton said, “Christy Jellison, will you marry me, and make my dream come true?”

Jellison came out of her shock, and threw her arms around him. He then slipped the ring on her finger.

Robbins helped up the couple, and asked, “Do you know where you’re going on your honeymoon?” The newly engaged pair just shook their heads. “You’re going to Disney World!” Robbins exclaimed.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse skated across the ice, Minnie handing Christina a huge bouquet of flowers and Mickey giving the couple a brochure of their honeymoon package. The trip, courtesy of Bangor Travel, includes airfare and a stay at a Disney resort.

Jellison, a dental assistant for Associates in Orthodontics, said she had no idea what was happening until Morton went down on one knee.

“I was so overwhelmed,” she said. “It happened so fast. I was just shocked.”

“Her eyes were huge, and she started crying,” he said. “The crowd was so loud.”

The couple has no firm wedding date set, but said they’ll likely get married in the early fall and take the honeymoon soon afterward. It will be his second marriage and her first. She has been to Walt Disney World once before, but it will be his first trip.

As well-wishers congratulated the couple, Morton was relieved to have pulled off his big surprise.

“There’d been such a lot of planning involved, and I was hoping it would all come together,” he said. “I wanted to get the words out without stumbling.”