If you walk into the firefly this week you might find something missing.  Well, someone. Okay, two someones.  Niall and Kristie will be noticeably absent this week because they have a long- standing promise that they have to make good on.

Almost five years ago Niall and Kristie were married at Alden Camps
in Maine.  This union of love and ultimately business had a very appropriate beginning as Alden Camps is where Niall launched his culinary career. So starting his marriage there just felt right.

Guests came in for the weekend and participated in a wide variety of events.  Some just relaxed and enjoyed the beauty of the lake.  Others played horseshoes, volleyball, tennis, and water-skied. Some tried their hand at fishing; others just enjoyed the scenery in kayaks and canoes.  There were midnight canoe trips, evenings around the campfire and of course, the catching of fireflies.

On September 10, 2004,  almost 200 guests from all four corners of the U.S. feasted on a classic New England lobster bake to celebrate the upcoming Campbell wedding.  Giant pots were stacked with layers of lobster, seaweed, corn, potatoes and hard-boiled eggs (it's a Maine thing), put on a grill, and boiled to perfection in a few inches of seawater.  

Guests were seated at picnic tables covered with butcher paper, where shells were communally dumped in the center of the table as everyone feasted.  After all were good and full the partying began and went right into the next morning.

On Saturday, September 11, Kristie & Niall were married at 4 p.m. and the festivities commenced.  Guests danced, ate and celebrated throughout the evening.  The wedding cake featured something unique, Barbie and Donkey.  Barbie, because Mattel had just issued a limited edition Barbie that wore Kristie's dress, and Donkey, well, he's the jack-ass from Shrek,  Niall's choice.

Guests celebrated into the wee hours of the morning (we don't think Alden Camps had seen the likes of anything like the wedding before) but they may again.  That's because such a good time was had by so many, that at the end of the evening, Niall and Kristie promised to return to the site of their wedding at their five-year anniversary to have a follow-up reception. 

So if you come into the firefly this week, you won't see Niall and Kristie. Because they're back at Alden Camps making good on their promise, reliving the love story, the marriage of two best-friends and business partners. What was, unknown to all at the time, the beginning of the firefly grill.