Sarasota Couple Will Renew Their Vows At February’s Fresh Friday Event

SARASOTA, FL — Peter and Carol Ferranti met 32 years ago on their first day of work at the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.

At the time, January of 1990, Peter was sworn in as a sheriff’s deputy, while Carol was a civilian employee with the agency, though she later went on to serve as a deputy, as well.

They became fast friends before they started dating, eventually marrying on Feb. 26, 1994.

Now, just ahead of their 28th wedding anniversary, they’ll publicly renew their vows during February’s Fresh Friday event, held the first Friday of each month. Mayor Erik Arroyo will perform the ceremony, which takes place at 7 p.m. at Selby Five Points Park.

Couples were invited to submit themselves for consideration for the public vow renewal or wedding ceremony. City leaders ultimately chose the Ferrantis.

Carol, 56, is a Sarasota native with deep ties to the community. Her grandfather was a manager for Publix, helping to open some of the first stores in the area. And when she was born, she was baby of the year at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in 1965.

She moved around a lot as a child, attending a number of schools in Sarasota, including Booker High School. She graduated from New Directions, an alternative high school, in 1983.

“I didn’t really like school much,” she said. “Now, here I am with a master’s degree in emergency management.”

Peter, 57, was born in New York, moving to Miami as a teenager. After high school, he headed to Gainesville to study at the University of Florida.

When he graduated, he and a friend began searching the state for law enforcement job openings and discovered Sarasota. They both accepted positions with the sheriff’s office and moved to the area.

SCSO is “a wonderful department,” he said. He loved the Sarasota region.

When they got married in 1994 at Phillippi Estate Park, more than 100 people were in attendance thanks to Carol’s Sarasota roots and their sheriff’s office connections.

“It was such a wonderful day,” Carol said.

As much as they loved Sarasota, they wanted to experience something different, and moved to Nevada in 1997.

Carol loved the diversity out west, which was quite different from the Sarasota area at the time.

“There were so many different people and cultures,” she said.

Meanwhile, Peter was drawn to the “bigger city feel” of Las Vegas. He took a position with the city’s police department and was eventually assigned to help launch the agency’s body-worn camera program.

While their children were young, Carol focused on staying home with them and also went back to college. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from the University of Nevada and a master’s degree in emergency management and homeland security from Arizona State University.

She also worked as a coroner investigator for Clark County and later the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department as a special victim advocate, task force coordinator and a crime prevention specialist.

Despite being on the other side of the country, they kept strong ties to Sarasota, visiting the area once a year, sometimes more. At the same time, they built a close network of friends in Las Vegas.

Then, tragedy struck in 2017 when Carol’s oldest sister died. Wanting to be closer to family, they moved back to Florida at the end of 2020.

When they returned to Sarasota last year, they found a very different city. Carol was thrilled to discover a more diverse population and Peter was glad to see a bustling downtown scene with restaurants, bars, shops and other places staying open later.

He took a job with Sarasota Police Department to roll out its new body-worn camera program, while Carol has been working with the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County as a public health educator and as a medical investigator for Florida Emergency Mortuary Operations Response System.

Their family has dealt with additional losses since their return. Carol’s other sister and her aunt passed away last year, and Peter’s brother also died.

“It’s been really tough on all of us,” she said.

Their wedding vow renewal Friday night is a bright spot in a difficult year, she added.

Peter submitted their application for the event as a surprise for his wife.

“I just wanted to do something special for her,” he said.

He burst into tears when he learned the city had chosen them for the ceremony and asked her, “Would you marry me again?”

Carol said, “Yes,” of course, but also asked him, “Why are you crying?”

“Because we won,” he said.

When she learned about the Fresh Friday event, she was excited to share their love with the public, especially so close to their anniversary.

“It’s just a cool way to celebrate it and this crazy life we’ve had,” she said.