Discovery Park of America is known for its educational aspect, but Sunday, Nov. 12, was a very special day for Susan Douglas, a senior Elementary Education major from Hornbeak, Tenn., because that day was about love and new beginnings for her.
Jeremy Burpo, a Titan Tire employee from Kenton, Tenn., asked her to be his fiancé inside the quaint, red-brick, one-room schoolhouse at the north end of the park.
“I chose Discovery Park, because I thought it would be something that we and our families wouldn’t forget and it would be special,” Burpo said. “I also chose the schoolhouse because she is about to graduate with an education degree from UTM, so I figured she would appreciate that.”
Douglas, a graduate of Obion County Central High School, didn’t find it fishy that Michael Hardin, the photographer that did her senior pictures in high school, just happened to be at Discovery Park at the same time with his camera. She said she even had a conversation with him before Burpo popped the question. Hardin followed them to the schoolhouse and was able to get a picture of him on one knee while she sat at the teacher’s desk in front of the classroom.
“I was extremely shocked and excited when it happened, and I actually asked him if he was serious,” Douglas said, laughing. “I couldn’t believe it, and it meant a lot that he did it in the schoolhouse.”
Burpo asked her parents before and had the idea planned for about three weeks.
“Once I decided on the park, everything went pretty quickly,” Burpo said. “I was very nervous up until it was time to kneel down and ask her. After she said yes, I felt a lot better because I saw how happy she was.”
The high school sweethearts have been together for seven years. Douglas said that her sister introduced them. The couple has not yet set a date for the wedding. Douglas did consider having the wedding at Discovery Park, but she said she has always wanted to get married in her church back home.
