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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."