Boerne Radio’s Baron Wiley and Shan Wiley are among 2,000 couples vying for Variety Magazine’s “America’s Favorite Couple” contest — but they have an edge.
The Wileys are in first place in their group in the quarterfinals, with voting continuing through Thursday.
“It’s been both fun and wonderful,” Baron Wiley said Tuesday as the couple watched the votes roll in via a tag at their Boerneradio.com site.
Wiley, a longtime area radio veteran, operates Boerne Radio KBRN at 103.9 on the FM dial and 1500 on AM.
The magazine contest started in July with 150,000 couples competing nationwide.
Through four rounds, that number has been trimmed to 2,000, with semifinals set to begin Aug. 28-Sept. 3, and the finals Sept. 4-10.
The winning couple will be featured in a Variety advertorial, take home $20,000 and celebrate with an exclusive Hollywood Hills dinner alongside actor and musician Jeff Goldblum, star of “Jurassic Park” and “Independence Day,” and his wife, Emilie.
Each couple in the contest filled out a three-part questionnaire posted on the Americasfavcouple.org website:
• How did your love story begin?
• What is your favorite memory you’ve shared as a couple?
• What would you do with the $20,000?
Shan Wiley said her introduction to the man who would become her spouse started when she met his mother at a Bible study class. Then, one thing just led to another.
“In July of 1999, I met Baron at a birthday party celebrating all the July birthdays in the Bible study group,” she said. “I met him on July 16, 1999 — the best birthday present of my life.”
Their “favorite memory” was purely coincidental.“We both signed up for a trip to Israel before we met,” Shan Wiley said. “I signed up with my roommate; Baron signed up with his mother. By the time the trip rolled around in March 2000, we had been dating for four months.”
She added, “He decided to ask me to marry him overlooking the city of Jerusalem.”
The answer? “Of course, I said yes,” she added. If they win, she said, the funding will be used in part to assist the Boerne community.
“I know that part of it must be spent helping a ministry or people in need,” she said. “The other portion could be spent on an anniversary trip.”
She added, “It has been about 10 years since we last went on a special trip; COVID and children in college disrupted any plans for a trip. But I wouldn’t change a thing.”
The competition is run by Colossal and benefits Oceana and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
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