Florida's 'Queen of the Conch' gets surprise marriage proposal

Mary Lou Smith is proposed to by Rick Race
(Image credit: Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)

Mary Lou Smith is known as the Queen of the Conch. The 70-year-old has been joyously blasting the large pink shell at weddings and parties on Key West, Florida, for nearly two decades and has won the island's annual conch-blowing contest several times.

But Smith's shell talent inspired a particularly special moment this week when, shortly after she won this year's women's division contest, her beau, Rick Race, 73, jumped onstage, got down on one knee, and proposed. It took Smith a moment to gather her thoughts. "I didn't know what to say, so I blew the conch," she told the News Herald. "Then, I said yes."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Christina Colizza

Christina Colizza is chief researcher and writer at The Week magazine.