HOLLY HILL, Fla. -- At 55 and out of the marriage scene for a decade now, the last thing political consultant Maureen France wanted to deal with was the hassle of a wedding, especially with family and friends in two separate locates more than 600 miles apart.
So she and her longtime beau, John "Gil" Adams, did the next best thing: "We eloped -- we ran away and got married!"
After all, she's living in a cottage she bought a couple of years ago on Riverside Drive in Holly Hill that is being renovated and he lives up in Beech Mountain, N.C., a distance of 610 miles. They were married July 31, at the Fairbanks House Bed & Breakfast in Fernandina Beach, with a justice of the peace performing the ceremony.
"We have both been single over 10 years and met in Beech Mountain, N.C., where he managed a ski resort," France told Headline Surfer. "I have been visiting Beech Mountain with my family since a teen. My parents built a home up there after their retirement and spend the summers there. We have been traveling back and forth for over four years as we enjoy the mountains and the coast and will continue to have a home in both places."
He's 64 and she's 55, and both have been previously married. They have four grown children between them -- he has four and she has two.
"We have both been single over 10 years and met in Beech Mountain, N.C., where he managed a ski resort," France told Headline Surfer. "I have been visiting Beech Mountain with my family since a teen. My parents built a home up there after their retirement and spend the summers there. We have been traveling back and forth for over four years as we enjoy the mountains and the coast and will continue to have a home in both places."
He's 64 and she's 55, and both have been previously married. They have four grown children between them -- he has four and she has two.
France, no relation to the NASCAR Frances, is a former executive director of MainStreet DeLand and a one-time DeLand city commissioner in the early 2000s. She owns her own consulting firm: France & Company, where she specializes in marketing, event planning, physician recruitment, government affairs and political campaign management. She managed Volusia County Sheriff Capt. David Brannon's campaign for Sheriff of Volusia County, finishing third ain a field of five.
In addition to running the ski lodge, France's new husband, Gil, and his brother, Mark Adams, have an old time mountain music band, "The Corklickers," where he plays the fiddle and his brother plays the banjo.
Maureen France is a member of the inaugural 2017 Headline Surfer® Hall of Fame.
Maureen France Bio: