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The need for middle-aged-and-over hotties to hook up and find companions was huge, thought Angel AlFord, who founded Sophisticated Singles, a group where successful and affluent adults meet and development connections. Even romance.
"The more successful people are, sometimes, the harder it is to meet someone," said Angel, who's making it her mission to change part of the face of Western North Carolina's dating scene.
"We started in March 2005 and get together twice a month and hold a theme party once a month," Angel said. She personally has sifted through hundreds of men and women who fill out applications to join the Sophisticated Singles.
On Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. at 247 Charlotte St. in Asheville, anyone 45 and older and with good hygiene, a decent job, teeth or good dentures, or those who've retired and are still active are invited to join the group for music, chili, cornbread and dancing.
This month's theme, Angela said, is related to cowboys.
"At Christmas everyone wore coats and tuxedoes, and the ladies had on formal gowns."
Angel said she began the service after finding it more difficult for the more professional types to meet one another.
"They are high achievers who may find it difficult to balance their lives," she said. ""Never before has there been more emphasis on healthy relationships and emotional well-being."
Angel said more than 300 area singles have called her salon, The Mona Lisa, where she's a hairdresser and operates the singles hotline along with her curling irons and beauty potions.
She says the attractive people with the good jobs and exciting lives are the ones having the most trouble meeting people.
She stresses, "We are not a dating services, but we do have a lot of people who meet and make a couple."
Asked if she'd met anyone special. She put her finger to her lips and said in a whisper: "I've met a couple, but I'm keeping them a secret. Don't want one to find out about the other."
Too late now.
"Ah, they'll know I'm kidding."
Angel said her clients range in age from 45 to 72.
"More men come than women," she said. "And they're all in shirts, ties and polished shoes."
Unless it's a theme party, which Angel enjoys putting together about every other month.
When not partying with themes and music, the groups of Sophisticated Singles meet at Asheville's Renaissance Hotel downtown in the lounge at 7 p.m.
If one is a bit worried about meeting creeps, Angel's done her leg and detective work. She requests members fill out an application form and then runs a background check on each applicant. While the group doesn't charge dues now, it is her goal to find a clubhouse where it can pay rent and have a permanent place to enjoy one another's company.
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