Match-Maker Group Turns Rural Singles Into Couples

Match-maker Group Turns Rural Singles into Couples AG WORLD Ag World 14-4-18 Danny Webber (not his real name) is a 25-year-old attractive, honest, hardworking bachelor from the Jamestown, N. Dak., area. He describes himself as easygoing and says he loves animals and the outdoors. He would not mind settling down with a wife, but at the moment he does not even date. Why not, you wonder? Well, he lives and works on a farm, that's why. According to Webber and many others like him, if you live in the country, there are slim pickings when it comes to finding a potential mate. "Once you are out of high school, it's hard to meet anyone new," says Webber. "About the only thing you can do is go into town to bars and hope to meet someone by chance." Although the rural dating scene can be bleak, hope is on the horizon for Webber and others like him willing to reach out. Singles in Agriculture is a national non-profit organization that recognizes this problem and seeks to remedy it. Singles from a rural background can join the club for the opportunity to meet others of a similar background. Marcy Gahm, the club president from Pearl City, Ill., claims that at least75 couples have met and married since the group was formed in 1986. "We have a `singles no more' album filled with pictures and souvenirs from people who met through the club and got married," she explains. "Of course, not everyone gets in touch with us to let us know, but if we hear of a marriage, we try to track it down and document it for the record," she says. Marcy herself is a bona fide "single no more", having married Marlyn, the club trasurer. She was a cattle rancher's widow living in Stacyville, Iowa, looking for someone to share her life and love of the land. Marlyn was a perennial bachelor, raising cattle on a 300-acre farm in Pearl City. Their relationship began through letters. Then they agreed to meet halfway between their two towns. It was love at first sight, according to Marcy, and wedding bells rang a few months later in 1987. Marcy guesses the club currently has somewhere between 650 and 700 members from across the country. Basic membership is only $20 annually. This entitles a person to voting privileges and to receive fliers on all club activities, an ID card and the quarterly newsletter. For an additional $15, the members are put into a directory with a photo and paragraph about themselves. Everyone entered into the directory also receives a copy of it in order to contact anyone that sparks their interest. Members, who do not want their address published can pay another $15 for confidentiality. All correspondence directed to them will then be forwarded through the club's main office. Marcy asserts that Singles in Agriculture has high moral standards; a member who has had complaints made against him or her could be voted out by the board. "We cannot screen everyone who joins, but we do expect a certain amount of integrity from our members," she says. "People who join do so because they are looking for someone who understands the schedule of farming and loves that kind of lifestyle," says Marcy. "A lot of people assume it's mostly men out there on the farms, but we have a surprisingly large number of women who drive tractors, plant and harvest, and take care of animals," she says. "They want a guy who will under-stand their life." The sex distribution of members leans slightly toward women, but attendance at club activities is usually pretty evenly distributed, according to Marcy. "As far as age, we have some younger people in their early 20's but we get most of our member-ship from the late 20's through 65." Although the main motivation for joining Singles in Agriculture is to meet members of the opposite sex, Marcy says a lot of people just like to have the opportunity to meet others with the same background. Elvina Allan of York, N.Dak., has been a club member for two years. She says she is not necessarily looking for a husband through the group, but rather joined for friendship. "I'm not against getting married," she says, "but I enjoy just meeting n

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