GOSHEN — Thompson Square rocked the grandstand at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair Monday night, but Dillon Gerber may have stolen the show when he proposed to his girlfriend, Jessica Grahovac, under the jumbo-tron.

Gerber, 21, of Goshen, and Grahovac, 20, of Elkhart, met while serving as junior leaders in 4-H.

Gerber proposed at the end of the concert. A police officer, in on Gerber's set-up, approached the couple while the band was taking a break and took them toward the front left of the stage before the band returned to play a couple more songs. As Thompson Square began playing their hit single “Are You Going To Kiss Me Or Not?” the officer told Grahovac that Gerber had something to ask her and then left the couple.

Gerber talked to her for about 15 seconds, then dropped to one knee and proposed. Grahovac said yes.

Gerber said the song was fitting because it describes a relationship progressing from first kiss, to engagement, to the wedding day, through first kisses. And while he had been planning to propose for some time, he said he was nervous and shaky all day, as plans were still coming together even an hour before the concert began.

“All I can think of is she's the one,” Gerber said, a week before the proposal. “I can't imagine life without her.”

Their first date was Feb. 13, 2008, at a Valentine's Day dinner with Gerber's church's youth group. Since then, they've been falling in love.

Grahovac will begin her junior year at Purdue University this fall, where she is studying animal science. Gerber is an electrician.


Joe Kuharic and Amelia Hooper of the Digital Division contributed to this story.