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PrintThin pieces of untouched cheese are sweating grease on the buffet table and there is a lone dancer doing the “YMCA.” The Singles Mixer has begun.
At first glance, Singles Mixer has all the signs of a bad party. It takes place at the Riechmann Indoor Pavilion at Stephens Lake Park. There is no alcohol, and everybody is wearing a name tag. It seems like an unlikely place to find the most courageous of Columbia’s citizens, but there they are, sitting around rented tables on folding chairs, looking for love or friendship.
About 75 people showed up for the first Singles Mixer in June and the turnout Friday was similar.
Erin Carrillo, 25, an employee of Columbia Parks and Recreation, came up with the idea for the mixer with her supervisor. Because she is single herself, she said, “My heart goes out to singles.”
Her empathy for single people extends beyond people her age to those her senior who tend to shy away from Columbia’s student-crowded bar scene. When Carrillo and her supervisor began planning singles night, they discussed the crowd they might draw.
“We were thinking for the 45 to 50 range, but our age range is about 40 to 60,” she said.
Darlene Lacy, a single woman in her 60s, came for her second Singles Mixer.
“One of the ladies I met last time and I have really become friends,” Lacy said.
For Lacy, the mixer is an opportunity to make friends and expand her social network, an achievement that is often hard-won.
“It’s so hard when you’re single and older,” Lacy said. “You really, really have to work at it.”
Lacy said challenges such as inclement weather and a fear of driving in the dark contribute to older people’s hesitations about social interaction, as do activities like senior center dances where the majority of people are married couples.
Robin King, 33, came to the mixer to meet men outside of the bar scene at the suggestion of a friend.
“Most of the guys I find in bars don’t share my lifestyle,” King said.
Beyond lifestyle differences, King says Columbia can be a difficult place to meet men because they tend to be either students or married. Singles Mixer offered her an opportunity to meet a man she might want to date, and, if nothing else, to have a great time out with her friend.
Joe Sprague, 35, came to the mixer out of simple curiosity and a desire to meet new people. He read about Singles Mixer in Go! Magazine and decided it could be fun.
Joe describes himself as an adventurous person.
“I don’t have friends here, yet,” he said, “but I’ll make some.”
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