Corrections or additions?
This article by Jamie Saxon was prepared for the September 8, 2004
issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
A Club for Singles Who Think Others Are Too Old or Too
Young
I looked at all the descriptions of the singles clubs, but each one
was either for people a little too old or a little too young for me,"
says Laura Connolly, 40. "I talked to people about the tennis club and
they said the average age is 55." In Goldilocks fashion, she found
that none of the singles clubs in the area were just right. So she
decided to start A+ Singles Exchange, targeted specifically to 35 to
45-year-olds.
"It’s a tough little age group to be in. I do think there are a lot of
people out there like me," says Connolly, adding that she loves
socializing with her married friends and her younger friends, but when
it comes to looking for a partner, "you just have to be around your
peers."
A New York transplant, Connolly worked in sales and marketing in the
publishing field, first for Popular Science, then a start-up magazine
called Consult. "Like everyone, I was kind of traumatized by 9/11,"
she says. "When Consult folded two weeks after 9/11, it was an
opportunity to look closer at what I wanted to do with my career, and
I thought about what city I might want to live in." She moved to
Princeton to take a job as director of marketing for Princeton
Longevity Center in Skillman, and is now in sales and marketing for
United Business Media in Forrestal Village, a company that owns
several technology trade magazines and has an international trade show
business.
Connolly is quick to emphasize that she hopes to keep the club upbeat
and positive and attract singles who are happy with themselves and
their station in life. "I made a flyer with a checklist of 10
qualifiers for the club, and one of them is ‘If your little secret is
you’re actually happy being single but also remain open to the right
person…’"
Connolly, who is divorced, says: "I’m happy with myself and my life is
still enjoyable. I’ve had unmarried friends who are leading a great
life but they feel like half a person becuase they’re not married. I’m
not like that. Being single shouldn’t be a stigma."
She also plans to make the club’s activities very eclectic. "Some
clubs just meet for dinner and a movie," she says. "I want to dabble
in a little bit of everything culturally and really plan something
every week. The idea is for people to have a connection. Marriage and
family grounds you in a way that single people don’t always have. And
in college you see your friends every week. I want this to be like
that."
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— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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