Couple Met At Black Friday Campout Six Years Ago

ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Waiting in line for deals on Black Fridays brought a Michigan couple close enough to wed.

Edward Burbo and Jennifer Dykstra tied the knot Thanksgiving night at the Best Buy in Allen Park, Mich.

They said “I do” hours before the store was to open for Black Friday shopping deals.

They first met during a Black Friday campout six years ago.

The two said they hope their marriage will be a symbol of hope and love for their four children.

“Black Friday is something that we’ve done together as a couple for a few years. And we couldn’t afford a big wedding and we thought that we should just try to do something that we would remember,” Burbo said.

“Something that we enjoyed doing together,” Dykstra added.

“This is something that I have done for about six years and, we’ve been doing it as a couple for about three years now or two years,” Burbo said. “It started off in just a chair and a blanket over my head and has increased every year. Now, we have tents and heaters and it’s always been Best Buy. They seem to have great door-busters, and we have four kids at home, so we have to save as much money as we can. And if means camping out for a couple of days, then that’s what we do.”

They started this year’s Black Friday pilgrimage Wednesday morning.

JACKSON, Mich.

LONDON (Nov. 20) — A British man who said he strangled his wife during a nightmare about fighting off an intruder has been found innocent in her death.

Prosecutors had originally asked a jury to find Brian Thomas not guilty by reason of insanity, which could see him sent to a psychiatric hospital. But they withdrew the case against him on Friday, and said expert opinion was that hospitalization was not appropriate.

“It is now clear that the psychiatrists feel that that would serve no useful purpose and the risk of reoccurrence is very, very small,” said Iwan Jenkins, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Dyfed Powys region in Wales. “We therefore have offered no further evidence and asked the jury to return a simple verdict of not guilty.”

Thomas had accepted he had killed Christine, his childhood sweetheart and wife of 40 years, the jury was told at the beginning of his trial earlier this week.

The Thomases, who lived outside Swansea, about 185 miles west of London, were on holiday in their camper van in July 2008. After having their sleep disturbed by cars racing nearby, Brian Thomas had a nightmare that someone was breaking into the van.

The court was told that Brian Thomas suffered from a long-term sleep disorder and was in a state of automatism

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Santa Claus should avoid kissing children and shaking their hands to prevent spreading the flu and should get vaccinated against the illness, Hungary’s state health authority said.

In a recommendation issued over the weekend and posted on its official website www.antsz.hu, the authority did not ban traditional Santa Claus activities but warned of increased risks of contagion due to a nationwide flu epidemic.

In Hungary, Santa Claus traditionally comes on December 6, when children find gifts in shoes placed on window sills the night before.

“For Santa Clauses, prevention is especially important as they meet lots of children in early December, and therefore they face a high risk of infection,” the authority said.

“If Santa Claus is elderly, overweight or has a chronic illness, and therefore belongs to a high risk group concerning the flu … then getting a vaccination against the flu is particularly important,” it added.

Hungary’s health authorities announced last week that the number of flu cases jumped by 22,100 in a week, partly due to the new H1N1 influenza virus.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Victoria Main)