Davalos wedding raises money for charity

A wedding day: for most people, a day to make it all about themselves.
But Nikki and Anthony Davalos, who were married Sunday afternoon in Black Eagle Park, wanted a way to make their wedding about much more than the two of them.
So the Davaloses concocted the idea of the “Let’s Run Away Together” charity wedding and 5-kilometer race to raise money for some causes they care about.
“He’s a runner and I like being involved in the community — and we don’t need any gifts — so we thought we would just shove it all together, and if people wants to give us gifts we can give back somewhere else,” Nikki explained, arm-in-arm with Anthony, just across the finish line from the couple’s 5k stroll as newlyweds.
Black Eagle Park was already alive with the post-wedding facilities. Live music and food, and drinks (courtesy of VFW Post 1087), as well as raffle items benefiting different charities decorated the anything-but-traditional reception.
The 5k race — 20-some entrants ran to Black Eagle Dam and back from the park — raised money for the Young Parents Education Center in Great Falls.
Nikki had organized the rest, including a canned food and socks drive benefiting the Great Falls Rescue Mission.
“The main thing was just asking, seeing if people wanted to be a part of it. And from there it was just having fun putting it together,” she said. “… Everything just kind of came together. I would have a moment where I had an idea, and then I’d figure out how I could tie that in.”
Her new husband — Anthony is an avid runner, hence the 5k — was all about it. It’s a chance to give back to his home. (Anthony is originally from Texas, Nikki from California. Anthony is an airman in his fourth year serving at Malmstrom Air Force Base.)
“We’re not from here, but we live here,” Anthony explained. “We have some family here and stuff, but I think it was more to see if we could get people to come out and enjoy the day. It was our big day, but if we can get people to come out and enjoy it with us that’s even better.”
The music and refreshments were as much part of the reception as Nikki’s “community day” idea, open and welcoming to the public.
“We like that feeling when you go out in the summer and you’re in the grass and everybody is having a good time,” Nikki explained. “… You meet someone else and you laugh with them, and you don’t know them but you feel like you’ve known them for 20 years now. We just wanted that feeling at our wedding.”
The happy couple also extended an invitation for other couples to tie the knot with them (for a small fee with proceeds going to the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art), but no other couples took the step.
That didn’t mean Nikki was the only attendee wearing a wedding dress. Family friend Ace Williamson ran the 5k in a wedding dress and high heels and in the process raised $100 for the Mercy Home to help battered children.
“I figured those kids are always in pain, so I could do this for an hour in pain,” said Williamson, holding the remnants of a broken high-heeled shoe and walking gingerly but with a grin.
The inspiration? The bride.
“She’s a very caring person, and she’s always trying to do stuff in the community,” Williamson said. “I figured I’d give her a hand.”
And for Nikki and Anthony, watching people trickle in to have a good time while Black Eagle Park listened to the joyful sounds of a guitar and saxophone, that’s what it was all about.

“We weren’t sure what it would be like,” she said, “but we figured if people want to show up then that’s great. And if not, we would still have fun.”