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Winning giveaway entry means couple are ... GOING TO THE CHAPEL
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Matt Batcho and Rachel Serenko
WEDDING GIVEAWAY
Major contributors
Bartell’s Cupcakery in Poland recently hosted its first free-wedding contest, which featured 64 entries. Winners were Matt Batcho and Rachel Serenko of Boardman, who will have most of the expenses for their Nov. 30 wedding covered. Businesses involved and their contributions are as follows:
American Commodore Tuxedo, four free tuxedos.
Bartell’s Cupcakery, free wedding cake.
Blazed & Bedazzled, bridal-shower services.
Escape Salon, hair styling for the bridal party.
JM Designs LLC, floral arrangements.
Jacqueline’s Bridal LLC, a free dress for Serenko.
Jubilee Limousine, a party-bus limousine.
Komara Jewelers, two wedding bands.
Limelight-Images, a photography package.
Love, Laughter & Elegance, wedding planning.
Stambaugh Auditorium, site of the ceremony and reception.
Tables of Temptation, a candy table.
The Elm Tree, catering services.
Tune Weavers Disc Jockey Service, music.
Source: Josh Bartell, owner of Bartell’s Cupcakery
By Sean Barron
BOARDMAN
It’s been said that sometimes two people’s hardships can bring them closer together.
But in the case of Matt Batcho and Rachel Serenko, longtime life challenges have taken closeness a step further.
Ironically, major difficulties they overcame likely will lead to wedding bliss for the Boardman couple.
“I looked at contests and ways to find help with my wedding,” said Serenko, who plans to marry Batcho on Nov. 30. “My aunt [Carol Serenko] said, ‘Go to Bartell’s Cupcakery. They’re giving things away.’”
As a result, the couple entered Bartell’s first Wedding Giveaway contest and took top honors with 315 votes during a three-hour bridal show last month at the Saxon Club in Youngstown.
Sixty-four couples entered by writing stories detailing their struggles and triumphs before the competition was narrowed down to three entries, noted Josh Bartell, owner of Bartell’s Cupcakery, 82 N. Main St., Poland.
Because of Batcho and Serenko’s top finish, which featured a poem Batcho had written, Bartell’s Cupcakery and a group of other local vendors will pay for music, tuxedos, food and other major expenses of their wedding.
Second-place honors went to Nicole Cunningham and Ryan Sebrasky of Cleveland, who received roughly $2,200 for their entry, Bartell said. Coming in third were Amy Anderson and Brian Hudzik of Boardman, who won a free cake from Bartell’s.
Serenko suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by severe burning pain, changes in skin color and texture, swelling and stiffness in joints and extreme sensitivity to touch.
“My body feels like it’s on fire; the area from my foot to my knee has turned black,” explained Serenko, whose health problems increased during the last nine years but whose condition has for several months been in remission.
In 2004, the marble portion of a table fell on Serenko’s foot while she was at work, which led to muscle atrophy and her RSD diagnosis. Numerous surgeries and medical procedures followed, she noted.
“For the past nine years, it seemed problems rolled into each other. It was one thing after another,” Serenko said, noting that she also wears a pacemaker device.
Batcho, an assistant manager for Huntington Bank, said he has suffered a series of family hardships since childhood. Consequently, his grandmother, Sue Batcho of Niles, has raised him since he was an infant, Batcho explained, adding that he also helped raise three siblings.
His poem describes the couple’s challenges as well as how they met. It reads, in part: “Both RSD and pacemakers would seem to be enough, but picture having countless surgical operations like Rachel and ask yourself if you’re tough. … Raising two sisters and a brother would be hard for anyone, but Matt did his best for them to make their lives amazing and very fun.”
Batcho recalled having met his future wife rather fortuitously, shortly after he moved into his East Parkside Drive home in October 2011. Serenko’s father, who lived across the street, introduced himself as Batcho’s neighbor. Within a few days, she asked Batcho and a few of his friends to dinner, which planted the seeds for their relationship to blossom.
“It was an instant connection,” said Serenko, who was a hairdresser and now performs volunteer work at area nursing homes and at Struthers Elementary School, where her mother, Laurie Serenko, is an intervention specialist.
Bartell praised the couple’s ability to overcome adversity and place others’ needs before their own.
“They are two of the most kind and big-hearted people I’ve ever met,” Bartell said. “It’s hard to find two people as friendly as they are — not to mention they’re so perfect for each other.