The request wasn’t for a favorite Frank Sinatra song, though Giovannetti and his 20 piece band had received many of those throughout the evening.
Hermosa Beach resident Dustin Perry, 29, wanted his girlfriend called up to the stage.
Giovannetti happily obliged.
After a few agonizing moments, when it appeared Perry’s girlfriend might not have heard her name called over the PA system, Caroline Pinal, 24, emerged from the crowd.
Giovanetti escorted Pinal across the stage to her pacing boyfriend.
Then, as the thousands of New Year’s Eve celebrants packing the plaza cheered wildly, Perry knelt down on bended knee and brought out an engagement ring. After a few more agonizing moments, while Pinal swooned and reeled with emotion, she steadied herself and held out her left hand for Perry to slip the ring on her finger.
Pinal said afterwards that she doesn’t remember her boyfriend actually proposing.
“He said he did, but I guess I was in shock. I do remember saying yes and hearing the crowd cheer,” she said.
The couple had walked to the pier from their Hopkins Street home shortly before midnight for the New Year’s Eve countdown. They were accompanied by Perry’s sister and a couple who are friends of Pinal. None of them were aware of the proposal plan. Nor was Pinal.
“Dustin wanted to propose, but didn’t know how he was going to do it. I think he approached the band leader on a whim,” Pinal said.
Pinal said she and Perry grew up in California City but didn’t begin dating until a few years ago, when she was attending Long Beach State and he had graduated from Cal State Fullerton.
Pinal said they haven’t set a date for the wedding, but hope Giovanetti and his big band will perform at the reception. Giovannetti said he doesn’t do weddings, but in this case may make an exception.
