A guardsman returned home to surprise his wife – and a demo derby crowd

Angelo Lucarelli, 30, a sergeant in the Ohio National Guard, had been gone for 11 months, serving in Syria, Jordan and Kuwait. 

His wife, Lauren Lucarelli, 27, has been home working for the Cleveland Clinic in its department of emergency management. 

Tuesday night they were both in the grandstand of the Randolph Fair at the demolition derby among thousands of Portage County residents. Even though Lauren was looking right at him, she didn’t recognize her husband. He was dressed up as a horse.

Angelo arranged the whole surprise, but the animal costumes were not his idea. He figured he’d be wearing a derby helmet or something. But then Christy Esler and Charlotte Jermy, the fair officials in on the plan, came out of a back room of the fair office as a St. Bernard and a cow, respectively.

They handed Angelo his costume and talked strategy while Jermy helped him into his hooves.

Later in the grandstand, the announcer called Lauren’s seat number. She’d won a prize. But the prize was not in the blue decoy bag Angelo was holding. It was Angelo himself, still wearing the military fatigues he flew home in earlier that day.

Angelo and Lauren met in 2015 and married on July 15, 2022, before Angelo’s deployment in September. 

Angelo is a Cleveland police officer and was deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve helping partner forces in the Middle East. Lauren, whose last name was Fletcher, graduated from Waterloo High School in 2015 and studied criminal justice and political science at the University of Akron.

Now that he’s home, they will be renewing their vows in October.

As Lauren walked down from the stands, she couldn’t believe she’d won anything. “I’m the unluckiest person in the world,” she said. The revving of engines quieted down.

After she took her bag and hugged the horse, Angelo pulled off his horse head. Her mouth dropped and she hugged him for real as the crowd cheered. The plan went off perfectly.