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Asking your girlfriend to marry you before a fireworks show in Scranton, because you are a fan of the hit NBC show “The Office”: priceless.
Yes, that’s right. Twenty-one year-old Ron Mantel traveled from Michigan to Scranton to propose to his girlfriend Kristen McFall, because they are huge fans of “The Office.”
Prior to the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic concert and fireworks presentation Thursday night, Mantel grabbed the microphone to propose to McFall, who looked shocked.
After he asked her, McFall said “Yes,” prompting cheers from the crowd, and the scoreboard screen to read “Congratulations! She said yes.”
Mantel compares his and McFall’s relationship to Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly’s on the show “The Office.” Throughout the plot line of the show, Jim and Pam — known to diehard fans as the shortened “Jam” — had a friendship that constantly flirted close to romance.
Nothing developed in the show’s plot because either Jim or Pam was always involved with someone else. Recently in the series, though, Jim and Pam became an item, and a very serious one at that.
“How we came together and got together is very similar to that,” Mantel said. “We’ve thought of that as us in a silly way.”
During this season’s finale, “Goodbye Toby,” Jim was going to propose to Pam during a fireworks show. But Jim was upstaged by character Andy Bernard proposing to Angela Martin.
Mantel, however, was not about to let anyone, or anything, seize his moment — not even the threat of rain.
“I’ve known her for about two years, and chased her for about a year,” said Mantel. “She’s happy, and I’m so happy. It’s a nice thing when you find that person.”
Because of that episode, Mantel called the Scranton Chamber of Commerce, to ask who is in charge of the Fourth of July festivities, to see if he could ask McFall to marry him during the fireworks.
The Scranton Chamber of Commerce suggested he call PNC Field, where the annual fireworks are held. Representatives at PNC Field suggested he call the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, who embraced the idea of letting Mantel pop the question before the fireworks and Philharmonic concert.
“However we can help people be happy in their lives, we are all for that,” said Stephen Parluski, marketing coordinator for the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic.
According to Parluski, this is the first time somebody proposed marriage during a Philharmonic performance.
Because they drove eight hours to Scranton, Mantel and McFall, University of Michigan students, will stay in the area until Sunday. They hope to visit the Scranton landmarks viewers see during the opening credits of “The Office.”
“People either like that sense of humor or they don’t. I find that dry, awkward humor to be hilarious,” Mantel said.
csheaffer@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2083
