Ben Goldsmith, a descendent of Titanic survivor Frank Goldsmith Jr., wants to wed his fiancee on the Titanic staircase replica at Center Of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio. According to Mansfield News Journal, the couple is taking part in an online competition by COSI to select a couple to wed there in September. Five couples are competing for the chance and votes are taking place online until 31 May.

“It would be an incredible way to honor my family’s legacy,” said Goldsmith, a 1999 Madison Comprehensive High School graduate.

Ben learned of his legacy from his uncle, Tom Goldsmith. Tom, who is an electrician, does presentations at schools on Titanic. It is way to memorialize his family’s loss. Tom got the account directly from his grandfather, Frank Goldsmith Jr. His grandfather never got over what he saw.

“He would tell me part of the story, but I would never get it from beginning to end,” said Tom Goldsmith, a 1981 Madison graduate. “He would tell portions of it like he was still a child. It wasn’t a morbid story, kind of matter-of-fact.”

There are many people who desired to be part of the Titanic experience after the movie. Some tried (and dangerously so) the famous bow scene from the movie. The trend today is the dinner theme by dressing up in period outfits and having a meal based on what was served on Titanic. Getting married on a replica of Titanic’s grand staircase is memorable and even novel. I hope they win the competition. It shows that while Titanic took many lives, those that survived remember the loss and honor their memory.

Mansfield News Journal, Madison Grad Wants ‘Titanic’ Wedding, 17 May 2010